Spain’s domestic cup competition stopped at the first round on Wednesday. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) postponed all 24 Copa del Rey first-round ties scheduled for that day within hours of the collision at Urda in Toledo province, saying it was “shocked by the tragic train accident” and acting “in solidarity with the victims.”

Among the ties called off were Navalcarnero against Real Betis, Salamanca against Celta Vigo and Tavernes against Valencia. All three top-flight sides, together with Alavés and Levante, now have to find a new date between October 29 and November 13.

Valencia, Real Betis and Celta Vigo have been pushed into the FIFA international break. Celta’s trip to Salamanca is scheduled for November 13. Alavés face Anaitasuna on November 3, Mallorca travel to CD Alcoyano on November 5, and Levante visit CD Tarancón the same evening.

Barcelona and Real Madrid, both exempt from the first round, issued statements of mourning. Barcelona said it wanted to “convey its support and solidarity to the families and friends of the victims.” Sevilla cancelled their head coach’s press conference and held a minute of silence at training.

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A silent matchday 11

The pause widened across the professional game at the weekend. Every fixture of LaLiga matchday 11 and LaLiga Hypermotion matchday 12 opened with a minute of silence, and so did the Copa del Rey ties that could still be played.

The federation had already made the same calls nine months earlier. After the Adamuz collision killed 46 people on the same Madrid-Andalusia corridor in January, Villarreal and Real Madrid stopped at the Estadio de la Cerámica for a minute of silence before kickoff, and the Copa del Rey round scheduled for that week was moved.

Puente blames an “inexplicable” order

Spain’s transport ministry has traced the Urda collision to a safety-system failure and a flawed instruction from a central control room. Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a computer malfunction disabled the security system across a 63-kilometre stretch at 8:30am local time and that central command then issued an “inexplicable” order allowing the Renfe train to resume at full speed despite an active stop signal. The collision followed 23 minutes later.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has promised an investigation and declared the country in mourning.

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“It is not acceptable for a country like Spain to endure two high-speed train accidents in the same year,” he said.

The crash landed four weeks out from Spain’s first national election since 2023.

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