Former Spanish Minister of Employment and Social Security Fátima Báñez, 59, died in a railway accident on the morning of Wednesday, 28 October, in the province of Toledo.
She was travelling on one of the two high-speed trains involved in the collision near Urda station. She was on the Iryo service bound for Seville, where she was due to attend a business day organised by the Andalusian employers' confederation. Sources from the Partido Popular and CEOE first confirmed she was aboard; her death was confirmed later that afternoon.
Báñez served as minister from 2011 to 2018 under Mariano Rajoy and was linked to the 2012 labour reform. Since 2020 she had chaired the CEOE Foundation. The collision killed dozens and injured hundreds; authorities are still identifying victims and investigating the cause.
