For whom the bell tolls

Spanish voters oust the right-wing government in the wake of the worst terrorist attack in the country's history. Serene Assir reports

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A Spanish girl looks up, Saturday 13 March 2004, as others light candles outside Madrid's El Pozo's railway station during a commemoration of the victims of a terrorist attack which killed 201 people in the Spanish capital

Against the backdrop of the massacre of 201 commuters in Madrid on 11 March, the Spanish people decided to take their fate into their own hands. In an unexpected and unprecedented turn of events, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (the Spanish Socialist Workers Party -- PSOE) took power by storm last Sunday. President- elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero promised in his first interview with Cadena SER radio the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq on 30 June and to govern "with humility".

This week's general elections were stained in the blood of the victims of explosions timed to go off simultaneously in trains approaching three of Madrid's mainline stations. More than 1,400 were injured in the blasts. The three days leading up to the elections were declared national days of mourning by the incumbent Partido Popular (Popular Party -- PP) in honour of the victims of the single largest terrorist attack to take place on Spanish soil in its history.

So horrific were the attacks that the country witnessed the spontaneous creation of a new kind of activism, leading to a massive 77.2 per cent turnout to the polls, by far exceeding anything seen in recent Spanish elections. The PSOE won with almost 11 million votes, capturing more than 42 per cent of the country's approval. Spokesmen from every side of the political spectrum described the turnout as a "triumph for democracy".

Zapatero's first words following the announcement of the election results were ones of condolence with the families of the victims of last week's attacks. "At this moment my thoughts are of the lives broken by terror last Thursday and with those who mourn their loved ones," he said.

As outrageous as the PP's disregard for Spanish public opinion on the failed "war on terror" was the procrastination in the investigation of possible perpetrators of last Thursday's attacks. The PP sought to capitalise from the precedence of terrorist attacks by the Basque separatist group ETA throughout Spain since 1976 to try and distract voters from the question of whether Jose Maria Aznar's incumbent government actually made the right political choice with regards to the US-UK venture in Iraq.

The policy of distraction, however, did not fool voters but rather served to heighten anger against the rightist government, to the extent that editorials in the Web pages of the Madrid-based Independent Media Centre argued that the votes were not so much for the PSOE as they were against the PP. As Aznar and the PP candidate for the presidency, Mariano Rajoy, went to cast their ballots, they were greeted with calls of "Liar! Liar!". All in all, not only did the PP fail to survive the effects of the blasts, but it lost any chance it had to retake the government through its "lack of human touch" and blatant vacillation, according to lawyer Alberto Monreal.

Spanish security forces have stated that the explosions were carried out by the same group that carried out the attacks on Western targets in the Moroccan city of Casablanca on 16 May 2003. Matters came to a head when three Moroccans and two Indians with Spanish citizenship were arrested in connection with the massacre. Investigations have led to the discovery of ties between one of the Moroccans, Jamal Zougam, and the perpetrators of last year's attack. Furthermore, videotape was found in a rubbish bin near Madrid's largest mosque whose footage led to a conviction that the attack was indeed carried out by Islamist insurgents. The tape shows a man identifying himself as Abu Dujan Al- Afghani, speaking Arabic in a Moroccan accent, saying: "We declare our responsibility for the events in Madrid, carried out exactly two and a half years after the attacks in New York and Washington."

In the first instance, though the blame was put on ETA by both the incumbent administration and the population, the fact that there had neither been a warning prior to the blasts nor that the Basque group confirmed that it had carried them out following interrogation raised the question of whether it was actually an Al-Qa'eda affiliated group seeking revenge for Spain's alliance with the US and the UK in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. After all, ETA has consistently warned of all attacks it was about to make since 1978. The ETA-affiliated Web site www.gara.net has consistently denied any links to the attack, and furthermore, the group's political wing called for silent and respectful demonstrations to be held throughout the Basque Country in the wake of the massacre.

A few hours after the timed explosions had gone off, Al-Quds Al-Arabi received a letter signed by the Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades stating, "we have at last successfully infiltrated the heart of Europe and destroyed one of the main pillars of the alliance of the crusaders, Spain." The letter referred to the attacks as "Operation Death Trains". The London-based newspaper is the usual recipient of letters and statements from Al-Qa'eda groups. The claim came to light immediately after incumbent Minister of Interior Angel Acebes announced the recovery of a stolen van in Alcala de Henares (a town within the province of Madrid from which the blasted trains headed into the city) carrying various explosives and a recording of Qur'anic verses.

Speculations have been rife. One must bear in mind that in the weeks leading up to the elections, various members of ETA had been captured and attempts to plant dynamite in public areas in major Spanish cities foiled. However, the scale of the attacks and subsequent findings indicated that the PP's investigation was not sufficient in its reach and that it was trying to downplay the possibility that its "war on terror" had come home and severely struck the population. Egyptian journalist Hossam El-Hamalawi commented: "It's really ironic. Al-Qa'eda has fought for years to topple 'infidel' Arab governments with little success. The first government it managed to oust was instead a European 'democracy', Spain."

What remains certain is that out of the tragedy of the attacks came bitterness and a subsequent decisiveness in the Spanish population. The sheer scale of the attacks had brought the capital to a halt for hours on 11 March. Various main roads were blocked, two Metro lines were temporarily closed and the telephone networks were heavily crammed with calls from worried family members and friends. Hospitals and emergency clinics came under severe pressure as there were not enough ambulances to transport the injured to hospitals further away from the immediate vicinity of the affected train stations. "The situation in the Gregorio Maranon Hospital was chaotic and there weren't enough stretchers," said Dr Rosario Melchor. Many of the wounded remain in intensive care.

The day after the attacks, over 11 million Spaniards took to the streets and expressed their solidarity with the victims and condemnation of the atrocity. In Madrid, Aznar and Rajoy walked calmly amid the two and a half million-strong demonstration. In Barcelona, however, the PP's Josep Pique was harassed out of the crowd, as those protesting deemed his presence at such a solemn event insulting in the light of his party's lies.

The demonstrations did not stop there. On the night before the elections, spontaneous protests took place outside the PP's headquarters in Madrid demanding the truth on the investigations into the massacre. It is worth noting that the night before a general election in Spain is the only time when protests are not usually condoned. This time, however, was different. "We are sick and tired of watching people die and kill each other every day on the news; this attack is yet another example of revenge and it stinks. This business of war has been going on for too long and we're just the coin that's bought and sold in the weapons market," said Julio, a musician from Madrid.

The question remains as to how far the new government will be able to uproot the effects of the PP's domestic and foreign policies. Top on Zapatero's agenda are terrorism, Spanish regional diversity and immigration. He has already stated that "any government will respond in the same way" to a terrorist attack and that he will pursue full investigations to root out the perpetrators of the 11 March explosions. He has, however, promised to follow a more social line, cohesive with the PSOE's traditional focus on the needs of the people. Whether his government will be as popular as that of former President Felipe Gonzalez until he was embroiled in his administration's corruption scandals remains to be seen, but it is certain that the PSOE's victory carries a tremendous responsibility.

One possible effect of the increased socialisation of the economy, according to state- employed engineer Jesus Senra, will be that Spain will naturally forge closer ties with Germany and France, as the Mediterranean state does not have resources enough to remain on a war footing while addressing domestic concerns. Spain is in dire need of development investment, and although it might face debts early on in the process, the fruits of a change in economic direction would be significant. "Spain's investment in development and research amounts to 30 per cent of that made by Germany and France," said Senra.

Thus, by simply bearing in mind the realities of the Spanish economy, the PSOE would already have begun to address the key issues of Iraq and alignment with the US and the UK. If Zapatero keeps his word, the new Spanish government will withdraw troops from Iraq, thus satisfying the demands of the overwhelming majority of Spaniards who have been consistently opposed to unilateral intervention by their government in the Arab state. He described the occupation to La Razon newspaper as "disastrous" and symbolic of "the PP's style of government -- embroiled in lies and characterised by a failure to recognise and take responsibility for its actions".

It seems both germane and tragic that it took such a terrible event for there to be any hope of finding a way out of the misadventure that Aznar arrogantly walked into.