March 11, 2004:
"Ten bombs ripped through four commuter trains in Madrid during the morning rush hour on Thursday, killing at least 192 people and wounding more than 1,400 in the deadliest terrorist attack on a European target since World War II." --The New York Times
Exactly 3.5 years to the day after September 11, Spaniards suffered their own version of an Islamic terror attack, and it completely rocked Madrid. For several days, officials were convinced that the attacks were caused by ETA, Spain's own, home-grown terrorist organization that 'fights' for the independence of the País Vasco. Some people are still convinced that somehow, ETA was involved, even though this would mark a complete shift in their MO.
In the end, the police captured the perpetrators and determined that they were indeed Islamic radicals connected to Al-Qaeda, and the Spanish government built this memorial in the Atocha train station as a commemoration.
From the outside, it's kind of underwhelming. Just a big glass circle, sticking up from a round-about. But from the inside, it's really quite impressive: a large blue room, with a circle of light piercing the center. And within this circle of light, lots of words in lots of languages.
"Ten bombs ripped through four commuter trains in Madrid during the morning rush hour on Thursday, killing at least 192 people and wounding more than 1,400 in the deadliest terrorist attack on a European target since World War II." --The New York Times
Exactly 3.5 years to the day after September 11, Spaniards suffered their own version of an Islamic terror attack, and it completely rocked Madrid. For several days, officials were convinced that the attacks were caused by ETA, Spain's own, home-grown terrorist organization that 'fights' for the independence of the País Vasco. Some people are still convinced that somehow, ETA was involved, even though this would mark a complete shift in their MO.
In the end, the police captured the perpetrators and determined that they were indeed Islamic radicals connected to Al-Qaeda, and the Spanish government built this memorial in the Atocha train station as a commemoration.
From the outside, it's kind of underwhelming. Just a big glass circle, sticking up from a round-about. But from the inside, it's really quite impressive: a large blue room, with a circle of light piercing the center. And within this circle of light, lots of words in lots of languages.
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