Immediately the bombs exploded, the then governing right-wing Popular Party (PP) blamed the Basque separatists of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna—Basque Homeland and Freedom). When it became clear that intelligence services were pursuing links to Al Qaeda, a wave of popular hostility swept the country.

The vast majority of the Spanish people had opposed participation in the war in Iraq, and saw the bombings as confirmation that the foreign policy of José Maria Aznar had made Spain a target. The PP’s lies about ETA involvement focused this anger. A massive backlash swept Aznar from office. The general election three days after the bombings returned the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) to power under Jose Zapatero. The PP accused the PSOE of having mounted a coup to steal the election.

Anger against the PP continues. Three years after the attacks, one woman remains in a coma. Hospitals are still treating 110 people for their injuries, and another 68 are receiving psychological help to cope with the trauma. At the unveiling of a monument to the victims, Pilar Manjon, president of one of the victims’ associations, attacked the former government for its willingness to exploit the bombings to justify its policies. “To the friends of the former prime minister,” she said, “to the friends of the former interior minister, to the friends of Bush, to those who get mad when they lose an election, to those who bless bombings... To all of them, in my name, my most scornful contempt.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/madr-m24.shtml