Global Information2004 Madrid train bombings information
| 2004 Madrid train bombings | |
|---|---|
| Part of the spillover of the Iraq War, terrorism in Spain and Islamic terrorism in Europe | |
 Remains of one of the trains, near Atocha station | |
| Location | Madrid, Spain |
| Date | 11 March 2004 7:37 – 7:40 CET (UTC+01:00) |
| Target | Madrid commuter rail network, civilians |
Attack type | Mass murder, time bombing, terrorism |
| Weapons | Backpacks filled with Goma-2 explosives |
| Deaths | 193 |
| Injured | 2,050[1] |
| Perpetrators | Jamal Zougam and five other individuals |
| Motive | Opposition to Spanish participation in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars |
The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's general elections. The explosions killed 193 people and injured around 2,050.[1][2] The bombings constituted the deadliest terrorist attack carried out in the history of Spain and the deadliest in Europe since 1988.[3] The attacks were carried out by individuals who opposed Spanish involvement in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Controversy regarding the handling and representation of the bombings by the government arose, with Spain's two main political parties—the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Partido Popular (PP)—accusing each other of concealing or distorting evidence for electoral reasons. The bombings occurred three days before general elections in which incumbent Prime Minister José María Aznar's PP was defeated.[11][4] Immediately after the bombing, leaders of the PP claimed evidence indicating the Basque separatist organization ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) was responsible for the bombings,[4][12][13] while the opposition claimed that the PP was trying to prevent the public from knowing it had been an Islamist attack, which would be interpreted as the direct result of Spain's involvement in Iraq, an unpopular war which the government had entered without the approval of the Spanish Parliament.[14] The scale and precise planning of the attacks reared memories of the September 11 attacks.[4]
Following the attacks, there were nationwide demonstrations and protests demanding that the government "tell the truth."[15] The prevailing opinion of political analysts is that the Aznar administration lost the general elections as a result of the handling and representation of the terrorist attacks, rather than because of the bombings per se.[16][17][18][19] Results published in The Review of Economics and Statistics by economist José García Montalvo[20] seem to suggest that indeed the bombings had important electoral impact[21] (turning the electoral outcome against the incumbent People's Party and handing government over to the Socialist Party, PSOE).
After 21 months of investigation, judge Juan del Olmo tried Moroccan national Jamal Zougam, among several others, for his participation carrying out the attack.[22] Although claims were made that attacks were linked to al-Qaeda,[23] investigations and probes conducted by Spanish officials did not find any links to al-Qaeda.[5][7][8] Findings issued by the Spanish judiciary in September 2007 found 21 individuals of participating in the attacks, while rejecting the involvement of an external mastermind or direct al-Qaeda links.[24][25][26][27][28]
- ^ a b "El auto de procesamiento por el 11-M - Documentos" [The automatic processing for 11-M - Documents]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 11 April 2006.
- ^ ZoomNews (in Spanish). The 192nd victim (Laura Vega) died in 2014, after a decade in coma in a hospital of Madrid. She was the last hospitalized injured person.
- ^ Paul Hamilos; Mark Tran (31 October 2007). "21 guilty, seven cleared over Madrid train bombings". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d Genzmer, Herbert; Kershner, Sybille; Schutz, Christian. Great Disasters. p. 197. ISBN 9781445410968.
- ^ a b Elizabeth Nash (7 November 2006). "Madrid bombers 'were inspired by bin Laden address'". The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
While the bombers may have been inspired by bin Laden, a two-year investigation into the attacks has found no evidence that al-Qa'ida helped plan, finance or carry out the bombings, or even knew about them in advance. Ten bombs in backpacks and other small bags, such as gym bags, exploded. One bomb did not explode and was defused. The police did controlled explosions on three other bombs.
- ^ "Trial Opens in Madrid for Train Bombings That Killed 191". KABC-TV Los Angeles. 15 February 2007. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013.
The cell was inspired by al-Qaida but had no direct links to it, nor did it receive financing from Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, Spanish investigators say
- ^ a b "Al Qaeda, Madrid bombs not linked: Spanish probe". Toronto Star. 9 March 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 – via borrull.org.
- ^ a b "Islam and terrorism". International Institute for Strategic Studies. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ Javier Jordán; Robert Wesley (9 March 2006). "Terrorism Monitor | The Madrid Attacks: Results of Investigations Two Years Later". 4 (5). Jamestown Foundation.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Madrid: The Aftermath: Spain admits bombs were the work of Islamists". The Independent. London, UK. 16 March 2004. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2004. Retrieved 16 December 2004.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Lago, I. (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) Del 11-M al 14-M: Los mecanismos del cambio electoral, pp. 12–13. Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Selected bibliography on political analysis of the 11-M aftermath". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
multiref2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cf. Meso Ayeldi, K. "Teléfonos móviles e Internet, nuevas tecnologías para construir un espacio público contrainformativo: El ejemplo de los flash mob en la tarde del 13M" Universidad de La Laguna Archived 19 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine; accessed 1 June 2018.
- ^ "El Periódico – 11M". Archived from the original on 18 April 2009.
- ^ "El Periódico – 11M". Archived from the original on 18 April 2009.
- ^ "El Periódico – 11M". Archived from the original on 18 April 2009.
- ^ "Madrid Bombings and U.S. Policy – Brookings". Brookings.edu. 31 March 2004. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "José García-Montalvo". 30 June 2015.
- ^ Montalvo, José G. (2011). "Voting After the Bombings: A Natural Experiment on the Effect of Terrorist Attacks on Democratic Elections". The Review of Economics and Statistics. 93 (4): 1146–1154. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.717.8240. doi:10.1162/REST_a_00115. JSTOR 41349103. S2CID 57571182.
- ^ "Del Olmo sólo tiene ya un presunto autor material del 11-M para sentar en el banquillo". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ O'Neill, Sean (15 February 2007). "Spain furious as US blocks access to Madrid bombing 'chief'". The Times. London, UK. Archived from the original on 24 February 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
The al-Qaeda leader who created, trained and directed the terrorist cell that carried out the Madrid train bombings has been held in a CIA "ghost prison" for more than a year.
- ^ Barrett, Jane (31 October 2007). "The biggest surprise was that two men originally accused of planning the attack were convicted only of belonging to a terrorist group, not of the Madrid killings... 'We're very surprised by the acquittal,' said Jose Maria de Pablos, attorney of a victims' association linked to conspiracy theories. 'If it wasn't them, we have to find out who it was. Somebody gave the order.'". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "ETA, Irak, Zougam, el explosivo... y otras claves de la sentencia del 11-M". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "El 11-M se queda sin autores intelectuales al quedar absueltos los tres acusados de serlo". El Mundo. Spain. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "El final del principio en la investigación del 11-M". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "El tribunal del 11-M desbarata la tesis clave de la versión oficial en su sentencia". El Mundo. Spain. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.