The Madrid Train Bombings (11-M)
Jihadist bombs on Madrid commuter trains kill 191 people, the deadliest terrorist attack in modern European history, three days before a general election.
- The 2004 Madrid train bombings — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Spain: A History — Raymond Carr (ed.), Oxford University Press (2000)
On the morning of 11 March 2004 ten bombs exploded on four commuter trains heading into Madrid’s Atocha station, killing 191 people (the official toll was later put at 193) and wounding some 1,800. The cell responsible was inspired by al-Qaeda and partly motivated by Spain’s role in the Iraq war. José María Aznar’s government blamed ETA for days, and three days later the Socialists under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero won the election and withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq. Madrid’s response, with millions marching in the rain, is remembered with pride.
- The 2004 Madrid train bombings — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Why it matters today
11-M is a shared trauma and also a political scar: the government's insistence that ETA was responsible, when evidence pointed to jihadists, helped it lose the election and poisoned trust between left and right for years.