Pedro Sanchez has said it is ‘not normal’ or acceptable for Spain to suffer two high-speed rail disasters in one year.

The prime minister made the comments as the death toll from Wednesday’s Toledo collision reached 68.

Speaking at the emergency command post alongside Castilla-La Mancha president Emiliano Garcia-Page, the PSOE leader pledged to restore public confidence in the high-speed network and guarantee passenger safety.

His remarks followed the collision between a Renfe AVE and an Iryo train, which came nine months after the Adamuz disaster in Cordoba.

Although he distinguished between the two accidents, Sanchez acknowledged that their occurrence within the same year was ‘not acceptable for a country like Spain’.

He announced three days of national mourning and expressed solidarity with bereaved families, injured passengers and those still waiting for news of loved ones.

‘Behind every person who has died are shattered lives, the anguish of families who do not know where their relative is, and immense pain,’ he said.

Sanchez said the immediate priorities were finding survivors, caring for the injured and providing practical and psychological support to affected families.

The second priority, he said, was establishing what happened and why.

He confirmed that the Railway Accident Investigation Commission and judicial authorities were examining the disaster, while the Transport Ministry was also working to establish the circumstances.

‘We will get to the bottom of this. If there has been negligence, it will become known, and if there have been failures in the system, we will respond with the utmost firmness,’ he said.