Aftermath of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
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The 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings were followed by an intensive criminal investigation, leading to the arrest of several people, and massive street demonstrations in numerous Spanish cities. Three days after the attacks, the presiding Spanish government was defeated in the Spanish general election.
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[edit] Investigation
[edit] Arrests
On 31 March news agencies reported that international arrest warrants for five suspects were to be issued by the Spanish judge investigating the attacks. A Moroccan national, Abdelkrim Mejjati, was named as the alleged mastermind of the Madrid and Casablanca attacks with the remainder believed to either have been among the perpetrators or to have played a supporting role. (BBC)
On 3 April 2004, as police moved in to arrest some suspects in an apartment building in Leganés, the suspects blew themselves up, killing a special forces agent and wounding 11 other police officers, according to a report from CBC News. No bystanders were reported injured, as the area around the apartments had previously been evacuated. Among the dead suspects were the Moroccans Jamal Ahmidan, Asri Rifat Anouar and Abdennabi Kounjaa, and the Tunisian Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet. Fakhet was described as the ringleader of the Madrid bombing. One dead suspect was not yet identified by April 5[citation needed].
On 6 May, Brandon Mayfield was arrested at his office in West Slope, Oregon on the basis that a fingerprint found on a bag containing detonating devices was identified as his by the FBI.
[edit] Political response
In Pamplona, an off-duty National Police agent shot dead his neighbour baker associated with an association of relatives of ETA prisoners. The police officer immediately gave himself up for arrest. Apparently, the baker was involved in an argument with the wife and son of the police officer, who demanded that the baker display a flag with a black ribbon and a banner against ETA[1][2][3]. Supporters of ETA prisoners protested demonstrating and rioting on the streets. During one of these demonstrations, a woman in Hernani died of a heart attack, that Arnaldo Otegi blamed on the police charge[4].
According to this story, one man, who claimed to have no connection to political parties but was angered by national TV station coverage of the investigation, sent a message to ten friends asking them to "pass it on", and did not expect thousands of people to join the demonstration.
[edit] Observances following the attacks
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Protest turnout 11,400,000 Image:Flag spain black ribbon.png
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| Madrid | 2,000,000 |
| Barcelona | 1,500,000 |
| Valencia (pop. 780,000) | 700,000 |
| Seville (pop. 700,000) | 700,000 |
| Zaragoza (pop. 620,000) | 400,000 |
| Vigo (pop. 290,000) | 400,000 |
| Oviedo (pop. 203,000) | 350,000 |
| Cádiz (pop. 160,000) | 350,000 |
| Murcia (pop. 380,000) | 300,000 |
| Bilbao (pop. 350,000) | 300,000 |
| Valladolid (pop. 320,000) | 250,000 |
| Alicante (pop. 310,000) | 250,000 |
| Logroño (pop. 120,000) | 100,000 |
| Jaén (pop. 110,000) | 120,000 |
| Pamplona (pop. 171,000) | 85,000 |
| Santander | 85,000 |
| Ourense (pop. 109,000) | 65,000 |
| Las Palmas (pop. 365,000) | 40,000 |
| Lugo | 40,000 |
Spontaneous demonstrations, largely directed against ETA, broke out across Spain on March 11 as the news of the attack became known, in advance of scheduled demonstrations set for the following day at 19:00. [1] Lehendakari (Basque Country President) Juan José Ibarretxe condemned the attacks, saying that "when ETA attacks, the Basque heart breaks into a thousand pieces". He invited the Basque population to demonstrate in silence in front of city halls and municipal buildings.
On 12 March, some 11.4 million people, more than a quarter of Spain's 40 million population, demonstrated in cities across the country. This tally competes with the imprecise figure of 10 million protesters worldwide for the protests against the Iraq war on 15 February 2003, which the Guinness Book of Records listed as the largest mass protest movement in history. On the same day, U.S. President George W. Bush led an observance at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Washington, laying a wreath at the flagpole and speaking there. He also gave interviews with a Spanish television network. [2]
3,000 people gathered before Popular Party headquarters at Calle Génova in Madrid starting after 5 p.m., marching through Puerta del Sol to Atocha after Midnight. The demonstration grew to 5,000 people at Atocha. Dwindling, but still in the thousands, demonstrators returned to Popular Party headquarters around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. In Barcelona, a march of 150 people banging pots started around 7:40 p.m. at Rambla de Canaletas and grew to 3,000 before it turned into a demonstration at Plaza de Sant Jaume. 7,000 people demonstrated in front of the Catalan Popular Party headquarters, also in Barcelona. 1,500 people demonstrated in Santiago de Compostela, 1,200 in Zaragoza and 1,000 in Valencia. In other cities gatherings numbered in the hundreds. -->
[edit] The Spanish general election
For details of the election result, see Spanish general election, 2004.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Amnesty International 2005 report on Spain.
- ^ [[El Mundo (Spain)|]], 14 March 2004: Muere a tiros tras una discusión con un policía por un cartel de 'ETA no'.
- ^ Deia, 28 June 2005: Berrueta fue asesinado por resentimientos ideológicos, según el jurado.
- ^ El Mundo, 2 April 2004: Balza le denunciará por culpar a la Ertzaintza de una muerte.
