Óscar Puente

Óscar Puente Santiago (; born 15 November 1968) is a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) politician who has served as Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility since 2023. He served as a city councillor in Valladolid from 2007 to 2023 and as the city's mayor from 2015 to 2023.

Biography Born in Valladolid, Puente was the son and grandson of socialists. He achieved a master's degree in Political Management in 1992 and a Law degree from the University of Valladolid a year later. After two years of internship, he began practicing law in 1995.

Active in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1990, he began working for the party as a General Vice Secretary in the provincial executive in 2004, having secretary-general four years earlier. Elected to Valladolid City Council in 2007, he replaced Soraya Rodríguez as party spokesperson in the city hall the following year, and in 2009 became secretary general of the PSOE in the city. In the elections in May, People's Party (PP) incumbent Francisco Javier León de la Riva took a majority and rose from 15 seats to 17, while the PSOE fell from 13 to 9. In the 2015 local elections, the PSOE had eight seats, and with the support of the seven seats held by local left-wing parties, they gained the majority to make him mayor and end the 20-year tenure of León de la Riva.

In the 2023 local elections, Puente's party took 11 of 27 seats, the same as the PP of Jesús Julio Carnero, though the PSOE received marginally more votes. Carnero was able to form a majority government with the three councillors of Vox, becoming mayor. He served as Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility during the 2024 Spain floods. A controversial minister for his blunt communication style, he received attention online for his frequent social media updates on repair work to damaged highways and train lines.

Controversies In a municipal session in June 2018, Puente questioned the management skills of Citizens spokesperson Pilar Vicente by pointing out that she used to work as a store assistant at a shopping centre. Citizens leader Albert Rivera accused Puente of classism and male chauvinism over the remark, calling for him to resign. Puente said that he was referring to what he believed to be falsehoods in Vicente's curriculum vitae, and that Rivera had exaggerated the episode.

In May 2024, a diplomatic row erupted between Spain and Argentina after Puente suggested that Argentina's president Javier Milei had used drugs during his election campaign the year prior. In response, Milei released a statement condemning the "slander and insults" against him, and accusing prime minister Pedro Sánchez's policies of having brought "death and poverty" to Spaniards. In turn, Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Milei's statement as "unfounded".

In July 2025 Puente faced controversy for online comments that incorrectly referred to French Jewish students as "Israeli brats" following their disputed removal from a Spanish flight.

Personal life Puente is married to judge Laura Soria Velasco and has two daughters. His daughter Carmen took part on the sixth season of La Voz Kids in 2021, reaching the semi-finals.