Madrid | Issue #166 | The Bubble is Spain's #1 English-language newsletter. We offer paid and free subscriptions (which you can customize). For sponsorships, click here.
đ A second high-speed train disaster leaves at least 68 dead
Tragedy has struck Spainâs high-speed train network for the second time this year, with even more deadly repercussions. Just before 9 a.m. yesterday, an AVE train travelling south toward Sevilla rear-ended a stationary Iryo train near the town of Urda (Toledo), killing at least 68 people and leaving more than 100 injured.
Horrible echo of an earlier tragedy. It is the second major fatal train accident in 2026, after a January crash where 46 people died when a speeding southbound train slammed into a northbound train whose last two cars had derailed and slid across the tracks just outside Adamuz (CĂłrdoba) on the same Madrid-Sevilla line. (Two other crashes killed one person each.)
Further complication. This crash will likely elicit even more bitter political recriminations as the tragedy comes in the midst of the tense and highly polarized pre-election season.
What we know:
The monitoring system failed. At 8:30 a.m., the LZB safety system (a German railway safety technology â Linienzugbeeinflussung â that continuously monitors train speeds and transmits traffic instructions to the train engineers) failed across a 63km stretch of the Madrid-Seville line, automatically stopping at least six trains in the affected area. Protocol then required the control center in Madrid's Atocha station to manage traffic manually.
A bad decision was made. At 8:36 a.m., the controller authorized the stopped trains to resume at normal speed â despite a red signal, a still-occupied section of track, and the Iryo sitting stationary at Urda station. One driver on a different train pushed back, telling the controller that protocol required moving at âmarcha a la vistaâ (max 40 km/h) â the controller apparently corrected the instructions for that driver, but never relayed this to the other trains, including the AVE.
The stalled train issued a warning. At 8:48 a.m. â five minutes before impact â the Iryo driver called Atocha to say she still couldnât restart. Still, no warning was made to the speeding AVE. For 17 minutes, controllers could see the AVE bearing down on the stationary Iryo on their screens. Nobody stopped it.
The crash. Impact was at 8:53 a.m., at km 118. The AVEâs front car drove into the rear of the Iryo. Three Iryo wagons and one AVE wagon fell down an embankment. Rescue workers described scenes âindescribable and horrific.â The controller has been questioned by the Guardia Civil and is with a lawyer and psychologist. All control room staff have been interviewed separately.
Officials are still baffled. Transport Minister Ăscar Puente called the decision to resume normal speed âinexplicableâ and pointed to human error. He declined to say whether he would resign. The machinistsâ union, which had a strike planned for tomorrow over railway safety concerns, is maintaining it.
What we donât know:
There's a lot. The AVEâs speed at impact (potentially up to 200 km/h, but still unconfirmed). The final death toll â rescuers were still extracting bodies from two crushed Iryo wagons as of this evening, and the government has not yet released a count of the missing.
The identities of all the victims, including confirmed foreign nationals. (One missing: former labor minister FĂĄtima Båñez of the PP.) And, most critically: why a controller with a stationary train on his screen, a red signal, a driverâs warning, and a second call from the Iryoâs own driver still sent a 397-passenger train hurtling into it.
Everyone wants answers. Most parties suspended their campaign activities as condolences gave way to demands for explanations. But while campaigns paused, recriminations didn't.
Prime Minister Pedro SĂĄnchez traveled to the crash site and, speaking from there, announced three days of national mourning and promised a full investigation, saying, âIf there has been negligence, it will come to light.â
PP leader Alberto NĂșñez FeijĂło called for an immediate government investigation, a judicial inquiry âwithout interferenceâ and a complete, independent review of the railway network, saying Spain âhas a right to know what is happening to its infrastructure.â
The pressure was coming from the left too. Frente Amplio, the left-wing coalition that includes the government's Sumar junior partner, demanded an independent audit and accountability âat every levelâ, explicitly including political responsibility.
Vox was the outlier. Santiago Abascalâs far-right party was the only one to maintain its campaign agenda, arguing that mourning was being used to silence criticism. At a rally in Valladolid, Abascal said the government was a âcriminal organizationâ and blamed the tragedy on the government's corruption and ideological fanaticism. (Vox also filed a criminal complaint alleging negligent homicide against those responsible at Adif, the train network, specifically the control-room operators who authorized trains to continue after the signal failure.)
Anger in the streets. Police broke up protests that were held outside the Transport Ministry and PSOEâs headquarters on Madridâs Calle Ferraz.
SĂĄnchez's uphill campaign to retain power got steeper. With roughly a month until the Nov. 29 vote, he was already fighting a battle to persuade voters to give him another term. This will likely make it much more difficult.
After eight years in power⊠Sånchez will have to explain how another catastrophic failure happened on his watch, months after Adamuz, and convince the public that the railway is safe.
Who was in charge? The questions about competence and accountability will follow him to election day, making re-election nothing short of a miracle.
More news below. đđ
đïž A new episode 8 of The Bubble Podcast is out!
Foreign policy and guiri confessions: former Foreign Minister Arancha GonzĂĄlez Laya joins our latest podcast to discuss Spainâs place in the world.
We also tackle the pension debate and hear American creator Danielle Grobmanâs tips for escaping Madridâs âexpatâ bubble. Escaping The Bubble remains discouraged. Listen now on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
đŹ Five things to discuss at dinner parties
1. đ„ Who is Blocus, the mysterious movement behind Barcelonaâs riots?
Burn it all down. Last weekend, hundreds of masked teenagers took to the streets of Barcelona, smashing storefronts, looting businesses, and setting fires. Similar unrest surfaced in Bilbao on Monday night (although that seems to be unrelated).
The images were similar to those from France during the recent student protests. But hereâs the strange part: In this case, nobody seems to know whoâs organizing them or what they are protesting.
What happened? Around 500 young people descended on central Barcelona on Saturday, leaving a path of destruction.
A night of chaos. Luxury shops were looted, and more than 30 fires were started while police arrested 130 people (76 of them minors).
An atypical event. The protest was⊠not really a protest. No one could identify any organizers (it had no relation to the ongoing housing or education protests), and there were no clear political demands. In fact, Catalan authorities say the gathering seemed to be designed for vandalism and theft, not political activism.
So whoâs behind it? Thatâs the million-euro question. The whole thing was promoted under the mysterious name Blocus (French for blockade), which borrowed imagery from the protests in France.
How it works. Anonymous TikTok accounts recruit teenagers using viral videos and QR codes linking to WhatsApp and Telegram groups. Inside, participants receive meeting points, instructions to dress in black, and lists of shops to target.
But whoâs pulling the strings? Nobody knows (Google âquiĂ©n estĂĄ detras de Blocus?â and youâll see every major media outlet in Spain is wondering the same thing). Some experts suspect political or even foreign interference, but for now thereâs no evidence establishing whoâs responsible or that foreign actors are involved.
Of course, itâs now become an election issue. PP leader Alberto NĂșñez FeijĂło has blamed the SĂĄnchez government and the far left for the chaos. Leftist leaders, however, say that itâs the far right who benefits politically from scenes of chaos. Neither side has produced evidence identifying the organizers.
Authorities arenât amused. Catalan president Salvador Illa warned that parents could face consequences if their underage children cannot pay for the damage. Meanwhile, police have enlisted Spainâs counterterrorism and organized crime intelligence center to help shut down Telegram groups encouraging further violence. (Three have already been closed).
Apparently itâs not over. Blocus-linked accounts have been calling for another round of gatherings this Saturday, Oct. 31 (Halloween), including in Barcelona. Police are monitoring the calls and preparing for possible unrest.
2. âșïž Solâs campers are packing up (at least some of them)
The housing protest in Puerta del Sol may be entering its final chapter after a month of tents and enough blue tarpaulin to gift-wrap downtown Madrid.
A recap of Camp Sol. The occupation began after the eviction of Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman who died two weeks after losing her home, and grew into a sprawling protest against Spainâs housing crisis.
At its peak, it allegedly housed around 2,000 people in 1,800 tents. Camp Sol had its own âneighborhoodsâ, kitchens, and volunteer teams. It also provided food and shelter to dozens of homeless people, a responsibility that wonât disappear when somebody folds up the last camping chair.
Reality check. Now, some of the original organizers say itâs time to leave on their own terms and focus on the Nov. 11 general strike (apparently packing will take days).
Chao! While some tents have already disappeared, thereâs still a core group insisting this is merely a reshuffle, with campers moving into the central enclosure. They are saying that âthe camp continuesâ and that âthere is no withdrawal.â
Patience, meet limit. Madridâs regional government has sort of had it after spending time demanding an eviction, a request that has been denied twice by the Madrid High Court.
Please clear them. The administration of Madrid regional president Isabel DĂaz Ayuso asked the central governmentâs representative in the region to clear the square and went to court when that didnât happen. But it couldnât simply send in the police itself: responsibility for a public-order eviction rests with the national authorities, which have defended the right to peaceful assembly.
From bad to worse. On Sunday, police arrested a 26-year-old man after a woman reported that he entered her tent and sexually touched her while she slept. He is also accused of punching someone who intervened.
Thereâs still no agreed departure date. But the argument for leaving is gaining ground. Better to pack up voluntarily than wait to get tossed, right?
3. ✠Everyone is sorry that MbappĂ© pissed off China
Donât be so sensitive! âDictatorâ was just a joke! Now, weâve all made jokes that we thought were funny but upset someone. But weâre not all Real Madrid star Kylian MbappĂ©, and the guy we pissed off wasnât the entire country of China.
The 411: On a French talk show, MbappĂ© was asked which meme of himself makes him laugh most. His answer: the one where his face is superimposed on âsome guy â I think heâs a Chinese dictator.â (That guy is Mao Zedong. And honestly? The resemblance is uncanny.) He didnât say Maoâs name â didnât need to. The clip went viral in China, and the rest, well, is diplomatic history.
Wait, why does MbappĂ© even have a dictator meme? Itâs been circulating since 2024 when he supposedly had his lawyer tell a Marseille kebab shop to stop using his name in the description of bread âas round as Mbappeâs skull.â (Some trace it to 2022.) It came to refer to his notoriously controlling behavior at PSG â reportedly demanding squad decisions, directing ground crew, and being acclaimed by a literally bowing Didier Deschamps, the national team coach.
One PSG insider told The Athletic that âthe dictator thing is not wholly inaccurate.â The meme spread to showing MbappĂ© as or alongside Kim Jong Un, Stalin â and eventually Mao, which is where things got complicated.
How complicated? The problem wasnât the meme per se â but MbappĂ©âs claim that he liked it. Three Chinese sponsors terminated their contracts immediately. CCTV suspended its showing of Spainâs La Liga games. MbappĂ©âs Chinese social media accounts were muted. The Chinese Foreign Ministry weighed in.
Sorry! La Ligaâs president Javier Tebas apologized. So did Real Madrid. And MbappĂ© apologized â in French, English, and Mandarin.
This is also a good moment to note that China does this a lot. The NBA was blacklisted by Chinaâs state CCTV broadcaster for almost two years after a Houston Rockets executive tweeted support for Hong Kong in 2019. Airlines have been forced to list Taiwan as part of China on their websites.
And itâs really bad for Spanish fĂștbol. La Liga has a Shanghai office, 380 games a season on Chinese streaming, and hundreds of millions in revenue at stake (some peg it at âŹ400m). When Beijing frowns, the apologies arrive very fast.
So far, not quite enough. CCTVâs verdict on MbappĂ©âs apology: âWe will listen to his words, but watch his actions even more closely.â In other words, grovel harder.
4. đ Madridâs oldest bookstoreâs got massive drama
PĂ©rgamo, in Madridâs Barrio Salamanca, is the cityâs oldest bookstore at 80 years of age. Itâs also the scene of⊠a great double-cross! False victimhood! Betrayal! Underhand contract shenanigans! Just like a good book, we suppose.
What happened? The 27-year-old bookseller who was brought in to save it quietly registered the PĂ©rgamo trademark behind the ownerâs back, then went on TV claiming they were being evicted due to Maricarmen-style real estate pressure â when his rent had never been raised once in four years.
Juicy! Whatâs the full story? In 2022, Ana Serrano, 72, and her sister decided to retire and close PĂ©rgamo, the bookshop their parents opened in 1946. Enter Juan JosĂ© Janeiro, a Mexican investor who happened to walk in one day and decided, on a whim, to save it.
Janeiro rented the space from Serrano for âŹ2,600/month â never raised, 40% below market â and brought in a literary contact, writer Jorge HernĂĄndez, and a young, enthusiastic Sevillano named Pablo Cerezo to run the day-to-day.
For two years, it worked beautifully. Cerezo built a 61,000-follower Instagram, filled the old shelves with events and Saturday vermĂșs, and became the public face of Madridâs most storied bookshop.
But, but, but⊠Then Hernåndez left, the finances got messy, and the investor offered Cerezo and a colleague 30% each of the operating company, Xeito Libreros.
Hereâs where things get interesting. In 2024, without telling Serrano, Xeito quietly registered the PĂ©rgamo trademark â the name, the distinctive slanted font, the purple color â with Spainâs patent office. Serrano only found out when El PaĂs called to ask her about it đź. She described it as âa shell game.â
Everything falls apart. A missed rent payment in August 2026 finally broke the relationship between Serrano and Cerezo. The original three-year contract had already expired in April 2025 and was month-to-month. The investor Janeiro walked, calling the business unviable.
The housing crisis coattails. Even as the relationship was collapsing, Cerezo rode the Maricarmen wave â appearing alongside politicians, becoming a spokesperson for a booksellersâ association campaigning against rent hikes, and telling Cadena SER, âTheyâre not renewing our lease.â
Huh? Serrano was bewildered. She had never raised his rent once nor kicked anyone out, she says.
Really?! Cerezo says PĂ©rgamo is moving â with him, because he owns the trademark. Serrano says the name belongs to her family, and sheâs already got four offers to keep a bookshop in the space.
Who says owning a bookshop is boring?
5. đ MĂĄlaga was extending its metro but found 1,000 Romans instead
Just in time for Halloween. Imagine digging a hole in the ground and finding skeletons! Thatâs exactly what happened to a bunch of construction workers who were extending MĂĄlagaâs metro and suddenly uncovered an enormous Roman cemetery right under the cityâs streets.
The ruins contained the remains of more than 1,000 people buried nearly 2,000 years ago. The discovery is so significant that archaeologists may have to rewrite part of the cityâs history.
What exactly did they find? A 400-meter-long necropolis (an ancient cemetery in nerd speak) beneath Calle Hilera, near Corte Inglés. So far, archaeologists have identified 984 burial structures dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, when Målaga was part of the Roman Empire.
And itâs all remarkably well preserved. The graves include everything from simple burial pits and elaborate stone structures to bodies covered with Roman roof tiles. Some infants were even buried inside amphorae, the large ceramic jars Romans used to transport wine and olive oil.
FYI, this wasnât discovered overnight. Archaeologists first identified 274 graves in December 2025. By last week, that number had climbed to 984, making it one of Spainâs most significant Roman burial discoveries.
Wait, MĂĄlaga was Roman? You should know this, but yes, very much so. The city was originally founded by the Phoenicians around the 8th century BC and was known as Malaka.
Under Roman rule, it became Malaca, an important Mediterranean trading port famous for its fish-salting industry and garum, a fermented fish sauce (yum!) the Romans couldnât get enough of. Its Roman theater, still standing in the city center, dates from the 1st century BC.
So why is this such a big deal? Because archaeologists previously believed this part of MĂĄlaga had been reclaimed from the sea during the Islamic period, centuries after the Romans. Finding an enormous Roman cemetery here suggests the ancient coastline and city boundaries were different from what historians thought.
Thereâs another clue. Romans generally buried their dead outside city limits, often alongside major roads. Researchers think this necropolis followed an ancient route leading from Malaca toward the coast, potentially revealing an entirely forgotten part of the cityâs geography.
What happens now? Archaeologists and anthropologists are studying the remains to learn more about the people who lived and died in Roman MĂĄlaga. Most finds will eventually be transferred to the Museo de MĂĄlaga, while some of the best-preserved burial structures will be displayed near Guadalmedina metro station.
Wait, what about the metro? Construction is continuing alongside the archaeological work, which is expected to last into early 2027.
đ Donât forget to follow us on Instagram!
If youâre not following us on Instagram yet, youâre missing out. Weâre posting exclusive content with our collaborators across Spain, breaking news updates, and pop culture coverage. Click on the post above and come hang with us!
đ Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information weâll be able to offer each week.