In memory of 11M

Lanzarote’s Cabildo commemorated the 20^th anniversary of the Madrid train bombings of 2004 with a minute’s silence yesterday.

President Oswaldo Betancort said “20 years on, we still remember the victims of the attack which shocked the country and show that we absolutely reject any form of terrorism.”

The bombings of March 11^th 2004, remembered as 11M, occurred on four busy commuter trains and killed 192 people. Although originally blamed on Basque separatist group ETA, it was later proven that the bombers were members of an Islamist group.  It was the worst European terrorist attack that has ever taken place in mainland western Europe and led to massive demonstrations of solidarity with the victims.

The attack also transformed Spain politically, occurring three days before a general election. Prime Minister Pedro Aznar’s response to the incident saw his party lose a 5% poll lead to lose the elections to José Luís Zapatero’s Socialist party.