Islamist terror
20 years: Spain commemorates the worst attack in its history
A woman lights a candle at the memorial plaque for the victims of the Islamist bombing terror at Atocha train station in Madrid
© Bernat Armangue / Picture Alliance
An unprecedented series of bombs shook Madrid 20 years ago. More than 190 people died and almost 2,000 were injured. The country remembers the victims with sadness, but also with courage.
Thousands of Spaniards commemorated the victims of the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history 20 years ago at numerous events on Monday. Within a few minutes on the morning of March 11, 2004, a Thursday, ten bombs exploded on four packed Madrid commuter trains. According to official information, a total of 193 people died as a result of the series of Islamist attacks. Almost 2,000 people were injured.
“This date unites us in a memory that is at once personal and public, and that does not fade with time,” said King Felipe VI. at a ceremony to mark the European Day for Victims of Terrorism, which has been commemorating the train attacks since 2005 Madrid and all other terrorist attacks remembered. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez emphasized that remembrance must also be an incentive for the present and the future. “So that something like this never happens again,” he said in a speech.
EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson: “Attack on us all”
The EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, also took part in the commemoration. Terror attacks like the one in Madrid are an attack “on all of us,” said the Swede. Survivors of other terrorist attacks in Europe reported on their ordeal and the great solidarity they experienced.
At the city of Madrid’s central memorial event on the Puerta del Sol, Vera de Benito, whose father was killed in the series of attacks, thanked the Spaniards for their enormous solidarity. “My father and I, we were a great duo. I wish he could be here today,” said De Benito, who was a little girl at the time. “They could take away our loved ones, but never our memories,” she reiterated.
Madrid: Security forces underestimated the danger
At the time, the Spanish security forces underestimated the danger of Islamist terror because the focus was on the fight against the Basque terrorist organization Eta. However, investigators quickly tracked down the bombers. The police located the suspected terrorists in the suburb of Leganés. The seven men blew themselves up when their apartment was surrounded by security forces. A police officer also died.
The attacks also opened up a rift in Spanish society at the time. The left accused the then conservative Prime Minister José María Aznar of making Spain a target of Islamist terror because he led the country into the US war in Iraq. The right accused the socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of having won the parliamentary elections on March 14, 2004 only thanks to the bombings.