Sánchez weighs sacking Óscar Puente after poll shows 90-95 seats

Sánchez weighs sacking Puente after poll shows 90 to 95 seats

What does a minister cost? In seats, the tally doing the rounds at La Moncloa (the Spanish PM's office) puts the PSOE at between 90 and 95 deputies, up to 31 fewer than in 2023. That is the trigger for the earthquake: Pedro Sánchez is contemplating the immediate dismissal of Óscar Puente as Transport Minister, according to the account that has gained ground in recent hours. The meeting with the King, described as extremely urgent, completes the picture of a crisis that is no longer being managed in private.

The origin of the wear and tear has a date and a place: two rail disasters in barely ten months, with the Urda accident the most recent focus. The Transport Ministry's handling of things is being directly called into question with the next elections approaching, and in that context the internal poll reads like an ultimatum. Up to 31 seats is the bill nobody wants to sign.

Resign or be sacked? The distinction that matters

The debate is not so much whether Puente goes, but how. Part of the analysis holds that his exit is a foregone conclusion and the only question is the timing: if he is not removed, the party will sink at the ballot box. Another line of thinking points to a more convoluted exit: keeping him as the top candidate in Valladolid, holding on to the seat and, with it, parliamentary immunity. Resigning and being dismissed are not synonyms, and that is where the fine print comes into play.

Puente himself has a pending appearance before Congress, which complicates any staging of an immediate exit. Some see that appearance as the minister's final act, while others believe the announcement will come earlier, to defuse the parliamentary focus. Neither version is confirmed: as of this discussion, everything is speculation about what might happen.

Scepticism about the 'bombshell' story

Not everyone buys the story. From various quarters, the announcement is discounted because of the track record of whoever published it, who is credited with a grandiose, thin-on-substance headline style. Distrust is just another antiestéticature of the media ecosystem: when the message arrives wrapped as an exclusive, the reader trains their frown before their credulity.

The other objection is more fundamental. If the problem is the Transport Ministry's management after two serious accidents, sacking the minister does not answer the question left hanging: what happens to the department. Changing the face does not change the tracks. And that is where the official story falls short.

The meeting with the King: what is at stake for La Moncloa

The meeting with the King, presented as extremely urgent, adds an institutional layer to the mess. It is not usual for a cabinet crisis to overlap with the Head of State's agenda, and even less so when the internal poll is so damning. The gesture conveys one thing: the situation is considered serious enough that it cannot be resolved with a press conference alone.

Meanwhile, the figure that orders everything remains the same: 90 to 95 seats. With that scenario, any minister is expendable. The question is whether the electorate rewards the dismissal or reads it as what it probably is, a defensive move months away from voting.

One detail remains unexplained: whether the dismissal comes before or after the parliamentary appearance. And if it comes, does anyone really believe the problem was the minister?