Barcelona commuter train crashes, killing 1, days after deadly train
collision in Spain
[January 21, 2026]
By JOSEPH WILSON and SUMAN NAISHADHAM
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A Barcelona commuter train crashed Tuesday after
a retaining wall fell onto the tracks, Spanish regional authorities
said, killing at least one person and injuring 37 others.
The crash in Catalonia in northeastern Spain came just two days after a
separate deadly train collision killed at least 42 people in the
country's south and injured dozens more.
Emergency workers Tuesday were still searching for more victims in the
wreckage from Sunday's deadly train accident that took place some 800
kilometers (497 miles) away as the nation began three days of mourning.
Emergency services in Catalonia said of the 37 people affected by
Tuesday's crash, five were seriously injured. Six others were in less
serious condition. Emergency services said 20 ambulances had been sent
to the site of the crash, and that the injured were taken to hospitals
in the area. Regional firefighters said most of the injured had ridden
in the first train car.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez acknowledged the Barcelona area
crash, writing on X: “All my affection and solidarity with the victims
and their families.”
While Spain’s high-speed rail network generally runs smoothly, and at
least until Sunday had been a source of confidence, the commuter rail
service is plagued by reliability issues. However, accidents causing
injury or death are not common in either.
The commuter train crashed near the town of Gelida, located about 35
minutes outside of Barcelona.
Spain’s railway operator ADIF said the containment wall likely collapsed
due to heavy rainfall that swept across the northeastern Spanish region
this week. Commuter train service was canceled along the line, it said.
More bodies discovered in Sunday derailment
The Sunday crash happened at 7:45 p.m. when the tail end of a train
carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid,
derailed and crashed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to
Huelva, another southern city, according to rail operator Adif.
Authorities were still recovering more bodies on Tuesday.
Fidel Sáez lost his mother in the wreck, but his two children, his
brother and a nephew survived. Their trip to the capital to see musical
“The Lion King” turned into a nightmare on the way home.
“My brother has been taken off respirator. He told me that it was a
miracle that he is alive. He had to get the children through a window,”
Sáez told national TV broadcaster TVE. “He also asked me to tell the
story of our mother, how good she was."
Health authorities said 39 people remained in hospitals on Tuesday
morning, while 83 people were treated and discharged.
Among them was Emil Johnson, a Swedish citizen based in Malaga who was
traveling to Madrid to renew his passport.
“It was probably two, three seconds. And everything was broken,” Jonsson,
sitting in a wheelchair due to bruises on his ribs and back and dressed
in part of a hospital gown, told reporters. “When we crashed, I didn’t
know who was alive and who was dead.”
Amid the tragedy, it emerged that a 6-year-old girl who survived the
wreck was virtually unscathed, while her parents, brother and cousin all
perished.
The mayor of their hometown called her survival a “miracle.”
Carriages came off tracks
The front of the second train, which was carrying 184 people, took the
brunt of the impact, which knocked its first two carriages off the track
and down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Some bodies were found hundreds of
meters (feet) from the crash site, according to Andalusia regional
President Juanma Moreno.
Associated Press images taken Tuesday showed the remains of the first
two cars of the second train, severed from the rest of the train and
lying beside the tracks. Train seats had been ejected onto the rocks
that provide packing under the tracks.
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Emergency crews respond after a commuter train derailed when a
retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona,
Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
Further along the tracks, Civil Guard officers inspected the
interior of the first train with dogs as passengers’ belongings lay
scattered on the floor, according to the video distributed by
authorities. The last carriage was lying on its side on the tracks,
and the second-to-last carriage was leaning to one side with all its
windows shattered.
'All hypotheses are open'
Officials are continuing to investigate the causes of the accident
that Puente has called “truly strange” since it occurred on a
straight line and neither train was speeding.
Puente said officials had found a broken section of track that could
possibly be related to the accident's origin, while insisting that
is just a hypothesis and that it could take weeks to reach any
conclusions.
“Now we have to determine if that is a cause or a consequence (of
the derailment),” Puente told Spanish radio Cadena Ser.
At this time, “all hypotheses are open,” Grande Marlaska told a
press conference. Accident investigators will analyze “the rails at
the point where the derailment began and inspect the wheels" of the
first train in a laboratory, he added.
The train that jumped the track belonged to the private company Iryo,
while the second train belonged to Spain’s public train company,
Renfe.
Iryo said in a statement Monday that its train was manufactured in
2022 and had passed a safety check on Jan. 15.
Puente and Renfe president Álvaro Fernández said that both trains
were traveling well under the speed limit of 250 kph (155 mph) and
“human error could be ruled out.”
The accident shook a nation that leads Europe in high-speed train
mileage and takes pride in a network that is considered at the
cutting edge of rail transport.
“It is undoubtedly a hard blow, and I have to work so it doesn’t
affect the credibility and strength of the network,” Puente told
Spanish national radio RNE on Tuesday when asked about the damage to
the reputation of the rail system.
Royals visit scene
Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited the scene of the
accident, where they greeted emergency workers as well as some local
residents who helped in the initial stages of the rescue. Afterward,
they went to hospital in Cordoba where many of the injured remain
under care.
“We are all responsible for not looking away when the debris of a
catastrophe is being cleared away," said Letizia to reporters after
the visit.
Spain's Civil Guard is collecting DNA samples from family members
who fear they have loved ones among the unidentified dead.
High-speed trains resumed service Tuesday from Madrid to Sevilla and
Malaga, the largest cities in Andalusia, Spain’s most populous
region, but passengers had to travel a stretch of the journey by
buses provided by the rail service. Minister Puente said that the
normal train service won’t resume until early February.
Spanish airline Iberia added more flights to southern cities until
Sunday to help stranded travelers. Some bus companies also
reinforced their services in the south.
___
Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain. Naishadham reported from
Madrid.
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