Spain marks 20th anniversary of deadly Madrid train bombings

OVIEDO, Spain

Spain on Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the Madrid bombings, which killed 193 people and injured around 2,050, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Europe since 1988. 

“We need to remember, but this remembrance should be active,” said Pedro Sanchez at a ceremony. “It should be an incentive for the present and future, so it does not happen again.”

He spoke of remembering as a way to protect the dignity of the people affected — from those who were killed to survivors who continue to deal with debilitating physical and psychological traumas; from families of victims to the associations that keep the memory alive and defend their rights.

Sanchez also added that “human rights” and the “rule of law” are the “best vaccines” against preventing and prosecuting terrorism.

“We need to emphasize principles of living in harmony and respect, which are the best antidote to terrorist violence and its breeding ground — fanaticism and intolerance,” he said.

March 11 has also become the European Remembrance Day for Victims of Terrorism, which also commemorates other violent attacks in Europe.

Speaking about Europe, Sanchez said “solidarity” is the main value that brings cohesion across the territory.

“Democracy, the state of law and social rights are the symbols of identity of Europe that fanatics, from whatever belief system they come from, could never destroy,” said Sanchez.

On Sunday, Madrid inaugurated a new memorial for victims of the attack in the Atocha train station, near where the attacks occurred.

The 2004 Madrid train bombings came three days before Spain’s general elections.

The attack was marked by confusion, not only due to the victims who were killed during rush hour on Madrid’s commuter rail network, but also regarding the authors of the attack.

The conservative government originally attributed the attack to the Basque terror group ETA.

However, in the following days, evidence pointed to the bombings being carried out by other groups opposing Spain’s involvement in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

In 2006, Judge Juan del Olmo found "local cells of Islamic extremists inspired through the Internet" guilty for the 11 March attacks.

In the elections in the following days, the Socialist Party, which opposed the war in Iraq was voted into government. Some studies, such as one published in the academic journal The Review of Economics and Statistics, suggest that the bombing swung the vote.

Fulfilling his campaign promise, Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero pulled Spanish troops out of Iraq soon after.