Mourning the loss of 200 people, mostly working-class commuters [Provisional List of Wounded in Madrid], in Thursday, March 11th's deadly train explosions, millions of people gathered in the streets on Friday to show mass opposition to terrorism and war. With Spain's right wing Popular Party pushing blame for the bombings on to the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), many small electoral manipulation ahead of Sunday's elections. In rallies and cacerolazos across the Spanish state, they defied an official ban on demonstrations to denounce lies about the attack -- now claimed by al Qaeda [text] -- and the war in Iraq that nearly all agree provoked it. Chanting "The dead are ours, the war is theirs," and "We already told you, NO WAR," and "We are not all here, 200 are missing," they heralded a flood of rejection of the war and its party. By Sunday night, poll results showed a sweeping defeat for Aznar and his Popular Party. Incoming socialist Zapatero has pledged to withdraw Spanish troops by June unless a UN mandate is created for them.
Reports: Indymedia Barcelona: What's going on? | How the horror of Spaniards turned to rage | The view from Madrid | Robert Fisk: The West was warned | Comunicado de Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe [including English translation] | Los movimientos sociales frente al atentado | Jornada de reflexión | UN's Credibility Critically Wounded |
Independent Media: Madrid Indymedia | Indymedia Barcelona | Berria: Basque Newspaper | kaos en la red | La Haine