Toledo Cathedral funeral honours 69 killed in Urda rail crash

Sixty-nine people killed in the Urda train crash were honoured at a funeral mass in Toledo Cathedral on Tuesday, attended by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, three days before Spain's election campaign opens and amid mounting demands for answers over the country's second rail disaster this year.

The monarchs met families of the dead and injured inside the cathedral, while 27 people injured in the collision remain in hospital, some of whom attended the ceremony wearing slings, neck braces or bandages.

Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chaves, who presided over the mass, said the tragedy has left Spanish society with "a grief that is difficult to come to terms with" and warned that solidarity "must also translate into a firm commitment".

"It is valid to demand that the causes be clarified, that those responsible be held accountable, that the victims' families receive justice and that all necessary measures be taken to ensure that a tragedy such as the one we have suffered never happens again," Cerro Chaves said in his homily.

What happened at Urda?

The crash occurred when an AVE high-speed train collided with a stationary Iryo service near Urda, a small town in La Mancha. Among the dead was David Benítez, 38, who was travelling in the first carriage of the AVE at the moment of impact.

The disaster is Spain's second rail accident this year. It has killed 69 people and left a substantial hospital caseload still under treatment.

The 27 patients remaining in hospital were named in the archbishop's address. "We are concerned about your pain, your health and also the emotional scars that such a traumatic experience can leave," Cerro Chaves said.

Who attended the ceremony?

The mass began shortly after 7pm, when King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia arrived at the cathedral's monumental Puerta de los Reyes — a doorway marking its 800th anniversary this year — and were welcomed by the archbishop and ecclesiastical dignitaries. The cathedral bells had begun tolling for the dead half an hour earlier.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez did not attend. With the election campaign starting in three days, his absence drew attention; the PM justified it by saying he has not attended religious events following similar disasters, although he was present at the mass led by the Pope at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona during the pontiff's official visit to Spain in June.

The government sent four ministers in his place:

• First Deputy Prime Minister Carlos Cuerpo
• Minister of Defence Margarita Robles
• Minister of Education Milagros Tolón, a former mayor of Toledo
• Minister of Health Mónica García

Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo travelled to the Castilla-La Mancha capital, as did all of Spain's regional presidents except those of Asturias, the Basque Country and Castilla y León.

Around 150 relatives of the victims waited inside the cathedral, together with injured survivors, emergency services personnel who took part in the rescue, officials and hundreds of Toledo residents. Many more stayed outside, where they cheered the king and queen on arrival and followed the mass on their mobile phones.

How did Urda and the victims' families take part?

Residents of Urda, the town that rallied to help after the accident, held a central place in the ceremony. Sixty-nine parishioners — one for each person killed — opened the mass by carrying candles in memory of the deceased and placing them at the foot of the statue of Cristo de la Vera Cruz de Urda.

The statue left the town for a religious ceremony in Toledo for the first time since 1596. It has left Urda on only one other occasion, travelling to Valencia for restoration after the Civil War.

Ana Benítez, sister of 38-year-old victim David, represented the families at the ceremony.

The victims' individual stories have circulated widely since the crash. Iván Romano was a police officer who had just become a father. Toñi Barba was travelling on the AVE on a trip to Seville that her daughters had given her to celebrate the retirement of her husband Antonio, who survived. Antonio Acedo, 36, was a senior AVE train driver described as someone who loved his job.

Cerro Chaves spoke directly to the bereaved. "We know that behind every life taken there is a love story, a family, plans, hopes and so many shared moments that are now just memories. There are hugs that have been left unshared, words that could not be spoken and absences that are hard to fill. We do not have enough words to ease such suffering," he said.

At the end of the ceremony, the king and queen spent more than 45 minutes greeting and embracing the family members present, stopping to pay their respects to each one individually. Outside, a downpour dispersed the crowd gathered to pay tribute while the choir continued to sing inside.

What happens next?

The archbishop's demand for clarification of causes, accountability for those responsible and "all necessary measures" to prevent a repeat frames the political and regulatory agenda now facing Spain's rail sector. With the election campaign beginning in three days and 27 crash victims still in hospital, pressure for a full investigation into the collision between the AVE and the stationary Iryo train near Urda is set to intensify.