20 Years On. A Walk Through the Memorialisation of the 11M Attacks

Abstract

The 11 March 2004 attacks in Madrid (11M) constituted a moment that would mark the political and social dynamics of collective remembrance in contemporary Spain. These processes of commemoration of traumatic events are inherently complex. They intertwine intimate and collective mourning experiences that are not straightforward practices. Added to this equation is the difficulty of managing these practices for institutions. The immediate aftermath of the 11M attacks was characterised by expressions of solidarity and mutual support. Yet, an impending general election and the complex pre-existing political landscape fostered controversy, and the institutions’ handling of both the aftermath and the subsequent memorialisation has been fraught with difficulty. This is made visible through a closer look at the sites of memory that commemorate the victims of the attack in the Spanish capital.

11 March 2004, Madrid

Madrid shuddered on 11 March 2004. A shock of violence and terror caused scars that, although no longer visible on the walls and floors of the train stations and railways where the bombs detonated, will be present for generations to come. As Zweig (1927/2002) wrote, there are moments that endure over time and define the course of generations and peoples. Dates, hours, minutes, destined to persist in time. Moments that sink their roots in the past and extend their impact into the years to come. Over the three minutes between 7:37 am and 7:39 am on Thursday 11 March 2004, ten bombs detonated on four trains on Madrid’s public transport network. 191 people, mostly workers and students, lost their lives on the trains they had boarded that morning as they passed through Madrid's Calle Téllez and the Atocha, El Pozo and Santa Eugenia railway stations. A further 1,841 people were injured to varying degrees (Audiencia Nacional, 2007: 174–175). A few days later, on 3 April, a policeman was killed and 34 others were injured in a blast caused by seven of the perpetrators of the 11 March massacre who, when surrounded by the police in the house they were staying in the Madrid town of Leganés, committed suicide by detonating several charges of explosives (Audiencia Nacional, 2007: 172 and 710–711). The minutes between 7:37 am and 7:39 am on 11 March 2004 constitute one such moment that will endure.

No event takes place in a vacuum. New happenings are intertwined with previous occurrences and have an impact on future developments. A variety of geopolitical and social factors interwove the paths that led to the events of 11M and to the various reactions these events provoked. The violence experienced over the previous decades at the national and international levels largely influenced the way in which these attacks were understood and responded to.  In turn, such reactions have had and continue to bear an impact on the way Spanish society remembers the past and anticipates potential acts of violence in the future. One of the ways communities respond to these traumatic events is by memorialising the victims through the creation of spaces of remembrance. Memorials allow the expression of feelings of solidarity, mourning or outrage. They also serve the purpose of formulating demands such as that the events should not be repeated or that the authorities take certain measures. The elaboration of spontaneous memorials in the early stages and of permanent spaces of remembrance later on, marks the first stages of society’s management of trauma, but also its further evolution. The study of these sites can reveal a number of issues related to this collective grief and remembrance. Today, a walk through the city can serve as a tool for understanding the impact that the events of 11M have had on the country.

Reactions to the 11M attacks were mixed. Initial public displays of mourning in public spaces were soon followed by politically charged demonstrations. Beyond the trauma caused by the massacre, the bombings had a major political impact. The attacks took place just three days before a general election. The conservative Partido Popular (PP, People’s Party in English) had been in power for two terms and was the favourite in the upcoming elections (El País, 2004). One of the most pressing domestic problems in Spain at the time was the violence perpetrated by terrorist organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA, Basque Country and Freedom in English). Another political issue was the government’s controversial decision to send troops to Iraq. As ETA had been carrying out terrorist attacks in the country for four decades, it is not surprising that many people suspected the Basque separatist group behind the attacks. However, the ruling party continued to blame ETA when evidence began to point in a different direction. Part of society, meanwhile, saw the attack as a direct result of the then Prime Minister's decision to send Spanish troops to Iraq, thus joining the US-led ‘war on terror’. This dissonance materialised in demonstrations in front of PP headquarters the day before the elections. Despite the conservatives being the favourites in the polls, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party in English) emerged as the winner of the electoral process (El País, 2004). It was against this background that several conspiracy theories were formulated, revolving around the involvement of ETA or foreign secret services in the elaboration of 11M (Fernández Soldevilla, 2021: 365, Avilés Farré, 2008), which were then spread by journalists and of which some traces remain. Political representatives, social groups and part of the media went so far as to question the police and judicial investigation (Alonso, 2008: 124). Such theories were later discredited both by the court ruling (Sentencia de la Audiencia Nacional 4398/2007, 2007) and by subsequent academic research (Reinares, 2014). The causal link between the attacks and the sending of troops to Iraq has also been rejected (Reinares, 2014). The commemoration of the events of 11M has been equally contested.

Initial Reactions: Grassroots Memorials

In the immediate aftermath of the traumatic event, waves of spontaneous mourning emerged, driven by the public's urge to express feelings of solidarity, grief, pain or anger, and the need to attempt to make sense of the devastation, thus initiating the process of coming to terms with the violence experienced. Grassroots memorials were created in the locations where the bombs had detonated, turning the public space into a stage for mourning. In a context where the aftermath of the attack merged with an imminent general election, these spontaneous altars were composed of words of solidarity, letters, photographs of the victims, drawings, religious offerings and other objects conveying mourning, as well as politically charged messages.

With the aim of preserving, describing and digitising these initial manifestations of grief, which due to their temporary nature and circumstances tend to disappear, a group of researchers from the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) launched a project focused on the study and conservation of these initial displays of mourning: El Archivo del Duelo (The archive of mourning). The project included two aspects: a scholarly and an archival one. On the one hand, a book entitled El Archivo del Duelo (Sánchez-Carretero, 2011) compiled the work that resulted from their research. On the other hand, they ensured that the collection of almost 70,000 documentary units gathered by the project was deposited in a place accessible to the public. Thus, this documentary collection, named after the project and the publication, was handed over by the CSIC to the Fundación de Ferrocarriles Españoles (Spanish Railways Foundation) for its management and conservation.

Within two months of the attacks, the decision was made to remove the grassroots memorials from the stations driven by issues such as the size they had grown to and the maintenance they required, but also by the desire to restore the stations to their normal life. As has been reported, station workers found these memorials too adversarial to be faced on a day-to-day basis (Tanović, 2019: 149). These altars were replaced by a virtual alternative called Espacios de Palabras (Word Spaces). These consisted of virtual screens placed in the lobby of Atocha and El Pozo stations that displayed the messages left by citizens. They also allowed for new messages of condolence or remembrance for the victims to be added until the construction of a permanent memorial (Tanović, 2019; Truc, 2011; Ortíz, 2008). It was also possible to leave such messages on the website www.mascercanos.com. Grassroots memorials thus became, since 9 June 2004, an institutionalised memorial (Sánchez-Carretero, 2011: 21).

In the year following the attacks, a range of socially initiated memorialisation took place. On 12 March 2004, the Rafael Alberti bookstore in Madrid invited poets to send them their poems or testimonies of the attacks. The booksellers set up the shop window as a platform to pay tribute to the victims and the citizens who had come to their aid. The window was filled and their initiative ended up becoming a book: Madrid, Once de Marzo. Poemas para el Recuerdo (VV.AA, 2004). Sánchez-Carretero (2011) has written about this and other examples. Valuable samples are other publications such as the compilation of poems and testimonies 11-M. Palabras para el recuerdo (Asociación de Vecinos, 2004) by the Asociación de Vecinos y Amigos del Pozo del Tío Raimundo association, the artistic project Trazas y puntadas para el recuerdo (Traces and stitches for remembrance), as well as other publications and creative initiatives including graphic novels, photography projects, journalistic works and musical compositions (2011: 22–23).

Institutionalisation of Remembrance: Official Memorials

On the institutional side, several memorials were also erected in different locations throughout both the city and the autonomous community of Madrid. In addition to the most prominent ones, such as the memorial at Atocha station and the Bosque del Recuerdo, a commemorative site in Madrid's El Retiro park, several others have been set up in different places. Monuments exist at the other three points where the bombs were detonated. At El Pozo del Tío Raimundo station, a fountain with 192 spouts and ceramic figures commemorates the victims. So does a sculpture called Ilusión Truncada (Truncated Illusion) at Santa Eugenia station. Calle Téllez, the last of the locations to have its own tribute (2019), features an olive tree and a plaque dedicated ‘to the victims of the jihadist attack on the train next to Calle de Téllez on 11 March 2004’ (translation by the author). Other commemorative monuments can be seen in the Madrid towns of Valdemoro, Alcalá de Henares—from where 27 of the victims came from—Getafe, Leganés—5 of its inhabitants were killed—or San Agustín del Guadalix. The latter, placed in 2005, was initially installed in the local sports centre and, years later, relocated to the vicinity of the Civil Guard barracks. In 2018, a plaque displaying the names of the 248 Civil Guards killed by terrorist violence in Spain—210 of whom were killed by ETA and 38 by other organisations—was placed on it. That is, it was relocated and resignified. This practice, which responds to the lack of agreement on whether these monuments should memorialise some or all of the victims of terrorism in Spain, has not been exclusive to this particular one. There, a plaque reads ‘En memoria de las víctimas de los atentados del 11 de marzo de 2004 que fueron trasladadas al hospital de campaña que se estableció en esta Instalación Deportiva Municipal Daoiz y Velarde. Como muestra de solidaridad de los ciudadanos de Madrid y en agradecimiento al coraje y generosidad de todos los servicios y personas que acudieron en su socorro’ (In memory of the victims of the 11 March 2004 attacks who were taken to the temporary hospital that was set up in this Daoiz y Velarde Municipal Sports Centre. As a token of the solidarity of the citizens of Madrid, and in gratitude for the courage and generosity of all the services and people who came to their aid). Another such memorial plaque is placed at Madrid's Real Casa de Correos (headquarters of the regional government) on which the following message is inscribed: ‘Madrid agradecido. A todos los que supieron cumplir con su deber en el auxilio a las víctimas de los atentados del 11 de marzo de 2004 y a todos los ciudadanos anónimos que las ayudaron. Que el recuerdo de las víctimas y el ejemplar comportamiento del pueblo de Madrid permanezcan siempre’ (Grateful Madrid. To all those who knew how to comply with their duty in aiding the victims of the attacks of 11 March 2004 and to all the anonymous citizens who helped them. May the memory of the victims and the exemplary behaviour of the people of Madrid always remain). Other tributes exist both within and beyond the capital. In the digital tool Espacios para la memoria (spaces for memory) accessible from the website of AROVITE (Online Archive on Terrorist Violence in the Basque Country), an interactive map with the monumental landmarks dedicated to the victims of terrorist attacks in Spain is available (AROVITE).

This overview will focus on the two major memorials in the heart of the capital: the Bosque del Recuerdo (Forest of Remembrance) and the Atocha memorial. Both can be explored along a short walk between El Retiro Park, home to the first, and the nearby station which hosts the latter (Image 3.1).

Image 3.1

(Photograph by Mireya Toribio Medina)

Signs throughout the park indicate the direction of the Bosque del Recuerdo

The First Major Official Memorial: El Bosque del Recuerdo

The itinerary thus begins in El Retiro Park, one of the largest—1.4 square kilometres—and most emblematic public parks in Madrid. The grounds, located a few metres from Atocha station, are home to the Bosque del Recuerdo (Forest of Remembrance). It consists of a mound with 192 trees—, one for each of the fatalities of the 11 March attacks and the 3 April explosions (Image 3.2).

The memorial was unveiled at its current location on the first anniversary of the bombings. Prior to that, it had been placed on a different site. A little over two months after the bombings, on 22 May 2004, the wedding of the then-future King and Queen of Spain took place. The then mayor of Madrid stated that the city would ensure that the victims of the terror attacks were not forgotten during the wedding celebrations. ‘We want Madrid to be a feast, albeit not from oblivion, but from the tribute to the memory of the 192 victims, who will be present on the route’ (translation by the author), he declared according to the press at the time (ABC, 2004). For this reason, the memorial originally named Bosque de los Ausentes (Forest of the Absent) was initially placed in the Atocha roundabout: close to the station and within the route that the future monarchs would take following the ceremony. According to the plan, the ensemble of trees would be placed around the fountain in the roundabout and returned to the municipal greenhouses once the event was over. It was later decided to rebuild the forest in the nearby El Retiro Park. Following the plea of victims and relatives who argued that those killed in the attacks would always remain present, the name of the monument was changed to Bosque del Recuerdo (Forest of Remembrance) (Tanovic, 2019: 150).

The Bosque del Recuerdo today is composed of 192 trees—olive and cypress—arranged on a mound along a circular ascending path leading to its summit. The hill is surrounded by a stream of water that is crossed by small bridges, composing a space that invites the visitor to a walk secluded from the city noise. During a visit, it is common to see visitors strolling along the path or sitting on one of the benches placed in the space (Image 3.3).

Image 3.2

(Photograph by Mireya Toribio Medina)

Front view of the Bosque del Recuerdo

As the visitor approaches El Bosque del Recuerdo, two different inscriptions can be seen on the frontside of the memorial. One to the left of the entrance to the monument and the other to the right. The first was placed on 11 March 2005, marking the first anniversary of the attack. It reads ‘En homenaje y agradecimiento a todas las víctimas del terrorismo cuya memoria permanece viva en nuestra convivencia y la enriquece constantemente. Los ciudadanos de Madrid, 11 de marzo de 2005’ (In homage and gratitude to all the victims of terrorism whose memory remains alive in our coexistence and constantly enriches it. The citizens of Madrid, 11 March 2005). The inauguration ceremony was presided over by the King and Queen of Spain and attended by a number of international dignitaries. The monarchs laid a wreath with two ribbons: one reading ‘A todas las víctimas del terrorismowo’ (To all the victims of terrorism), and one with the colours of the Spanish flag. The second inscription, located symmetrically to the right of the access to the mound, was placed in 2022 by the Madrid City Council (PP) and reads ‘Monumento construido como homenaje a las víctimas de los atentados del terrorismo yihadista del 11 de marzo de 2004. Ayuntamiento de Madrid. 2022’ (‘Monument built as a tribute to the victims of the jihadist terrorist attacks of 11 March 2004. Madrid City Council. 2022’). While the first commemorative plaque, placed to mark the first anniversary, refers to all victims of terrorism, the second, installed eighteen years later, refers specifically to the victims of the jihadist terrorist attacks of 11 March. This is another example of a memorial to these events that was first relocated and then assigned two different significations.

The Asociación Víctimas del Terrorismo—Asociation of Victims of Terrorism (AVT)—, one of Spain's leading associations of victims of terrorism, holds an annual commemorative event at this site every 11 March, which marks the anniversary of the bombings in Madrid as well as the European Day for the Victims of Terrorism. This group has traditionally been associated with the conservatives, with which it has demonstrated greater alignment on counter-terrorism policy. However, there have also been disagreements between the two organisations on these matters. In particular, concerning penitentiary issues. The association's presidency flatly rejected the plan to transfer ETA prisoners to Basque prisons announced by the Conservative government in 2012. On 11 March 2014, the date marking the tenth anniversary of the attack, the AVT paid tribute to the victims in the Forest of Remembrance. They were accompanied by a large representation of public officials including representatives of the government and other associations. The Asociación 11M Afectados por el Terrorismo was not present. This is one of the examples of the discrepancies that surround the commemoration at the institutional level, but also in terms of the approach to counter-terrorism.

Image 3.3

(Photograph by Mireya Toribio Medina)

The path into the Bosque del Recuerdo

The Big Project: The Atocha Station Memorial

Due to the major impact of the massacre, the idea of creating a permanent official memorial was conceived. After considering the planning of two separate monuments, the national (PSOE) and local (PP) governments opted to tackle the project jointly. This agreement was accompanied by disagreements. Once again, one of the most prominent disputes revolved around the question of which victims the memorial should commemorate: whether it should pay homage to the victims of the 11M attacks or whether it should encompass all the victims of terrorism in Spain. Those who defended the latter option referred in particular to those killed by ETA, the organisation with the most fatalities in Spain, which had caused 841 deaths since the 1960s until then. These victims were not commemorated in a national memorial. Neither were those of other groups which, albeit in smaller numbers, had also caused fatalities in recent decades in the country. To give an example, the president of the AVT was of the opinion that the victims of ETA must also be commemorated in the new national monument, while the then mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón (PP), was of the opposite view. Furthermore, disputes arose over the project. The monument, whose location in the Atocha station area had been agreed by consensus, was eventually chosen from among the proposals received by an official jury. The memorial was to be inaugurated on the first anniversary but was not unveiled until three years later.

Leaving El Retiro park behind, down Alfonso XXIII street, the Atocha train station is less than a kilometre away. Upon approaching the area surrounding the station, a cylindrical structure 11 metres high and 9.5 metres in diameter rises on the horizon (Image 3.4). It is the external part of the Atocha memorial. Next to it, the station building can be seen with reddish columns. Inside, descending into the building, is the inner part of the memorial.

Image 3.4

(Photograph by Mireya Toribio Medina)

View of the Atocha memorial as seen from the outside (grey cylinder in the centre of the image). The red structure on the right is part of the station

On reaching the square between the cylindrical structure and the entrance to the station, another landmark attracts the attention of pedestrians: a monument named El Dia y La Noche (Day and Night), by sculptor Antonio López. It consists of a pair of pieces portraying two children's heads, one open-eyed and another with its eyes closed representing two different states: wakefulness and sleep (Image 3.5). It was commissioned before the attacks (2002) to mark the remodelling of the station. Influenced by the later bombings, the artist decided that it should be resignified as a memorial to the victims. It too underwent changes in its location. The sculpture was originally erected in the arrivals hall at Atocha station in 2008 and was later moved to its current location in 2010. According to the information available on the official website of Madrid's Heritage, the author's intention was to convey the idea of the passing of time accompanied by the passing of trains; seeking to comfort travellers with hope, rather than the fear or anguish that comes with remembering the attacks (Dirección General de Intervención en el Patrimonio Cultural y Paisaje Urbano). Here we are faced with another sort of re-signification. In this case, a previously planned project was later marked by the events of 11M.

Image 3.5

(Photograph by Mireya Toribio Medina)

El Dia y La Noche. Another monument, resignified, located in the square in front of Atocha station

The Atocha station memorial was finally inaugurated on 11 March 2007, on the third anniversary. It consists of two parts: the cylindrical structure visible from the outside and an inner space, housed inside the station. Its design has also undergone modifications. The cylinder consists of a structure made of glass bricks. After entering the station, and descending through the mechanical ramp, a signal indicates the direction to the entrance to the memorial. Soon after, a long blue hall comes into sight on the other side of the translucent glass wall that separates it from the rest of the station area. The first impression is that the space goes unnoticed by travellers. Moments later, however, the employee in charge of the memorial explains that they receive visitors on a constant basis. Sometimes larger groups. Sometimes a steady trickle of guests. The memorial is accessed through a double-door system. On entering the first door, the visitor finds oneself in a small vestibule. The first thing that comes into view in this first space is an illuminated panel with the names of the victims who lost their lives in the attack. When entering the second door, a wide, deep intense blue space opens up before the observer. The borders between the walls, ceiling and floor are not perceptible. The light coming through the central cylindrical structure through its translucent material acts as a point of attraction. On approaching it, it invites to look up. Gazing upwards, the visitor is able to see the interior of the structure that rises up towards the sky. There, one can read the messages inscribed on its inner walls. These are the texts, in multiple languages, that citizens wrote on the impromptu memorials in the aftermath of the attack. The combination of the design of the space and the absence of noise offers an intimate and serene space, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the station and the city. Reading the messages leads the observer to the feelings expressed in the spontaneous memorials created in the aftermath of the attack (Images 3.6 and 3.7).

Image 3.6

(Photograph by Mireya Toribio Medina)

Interior of the memorial at Atocha Station

Image 3.7

(Photograph by Mireya Toribio Medina)

Inside the cylinder are inscribed messages written in various languages by different individuals in the aftermath of the attacks

At first, the messages inside the cylinder were engraved on a large plastic bubble that was held in the air with the help of an air compressor. Two years after the inauguration (2009), the upper part of the monument suffered a breakage. Its deterioration generated strong criticism from victims’ associations. By the end of 2015, the bubble had fallen to the ground up to five times due to the malfunctioning of the mechanism holding it in place. By November that year, the bubble had been on the ground for over two months. The external part of the monument had turned a blackish colour as a result of the fumes emitted by the constant flow of traffic at the roundabout (El Periódico, 2015). According to the press, its poor condition was largely due to the quarrels between the administrations that were in charge of taking care of its maintenance (Gualtieri & Olaya, 2015). In 2019, a major renovation of the monument was undertaken by the Madrid City Council (lef-wing party Ahora Madrid) following a request from some of the 11M victims’ associations. ‘For us, the conservation and maintenance [of the monument] is fundamental, because it means preserving the memory of the victims’ (translation by the author) stated the president of the Asociación 11-M Afectados del Terrorismo as quoted by El País (Costantini, 2018). Changes were made to the design and lighting. The commemorative messages were permanently engraved inside the cylindrical structure. Some victims’ representatives hoped that the reform would also be accompanied by changes to the external space where the 11-metre-high structure emerges and the creation of green areas with the future remodelling of the station. In July 2023, however, the permanent removal of the memorial on the occasion of the works to be carried out as part of the reform of the metro network that will affect the Atocha station was announced by the regional government (PP) (Peinado, 2023). This time we are presented with a site of memory whose development was addressed jointly by two different administrations but which has been fraught with controversy.

The memorial at Atocha station has been the space where the Asociación 11M Afectados del Terrorismo has organised its annual acts of homage to the victims. This association was started in the aftermath of the 11M attacks on the initiative of several of those who were affected by the attacks. According to the statement on their website, it arose against the deficiencies in the care provided by public authorities and pre-existing associations, and with the aim of demanding ‘the various administrations to fulfil their commitments so that all those affected receive the medical, psychological, social and legal support they are entitled to’ (translation by the author) (Asociación 11-M Afectados del Terrorismo, 2004). It has been associated with the political centre-left. It is worth pointing out that in addition to this organisation and the aforementioned AVT, there are other associations of victims of terrorism in Spain, both dedicated to the victims of 11M and to victims of terrorist violence of different origins. Some have also played important roles in the political and memorialisation processes following the Madrid bombings.

After Nineteen Anniversaries: Anatomy of the Last Tribute to Date

The last anniversary before this publication was sent to print, the nineteenth, reflects what has already been outlined throughout this text: the contested nature of the memorialisation of the 11M attacks. In addition to the tributes that would take place in various localities in the Madrid region, several different ones were held in the capital, making visible, as would also be the case in previous years, the lack of consensus. On 11 March 2023, the acts of homage began early in the morning at the Real Casa de Correos de Madrid—headquarters of the regional government (PP)—with a ceremony in which the president of the region and the mayor of the city (PP) placed a laurel wreath next to the commemorative plaque that stands there, followed by the tolling of the bells of the churches of Madrid and a performance by the regional orchestra and choir. Shortly afterwards, a homage took place by the memorial at Atocha station. This second tribute organised by the Asociación 11M Afectados del Terrorismo consisted of a minute's silence and the release of 192 white balloons. Under the slogan ‘11M Living Memory’, other neighbourhood associations would replicate it in the other locations where the bombs exploded. On the other hand, the Bosque del Recuerdo, would once again host the tribute organised by the Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo in which its president was accompanied by different political representatives among whom were the president of the region (PP), the mayor of Madrid (PP), the president of PP, the government delegate (PSOE) and some representatives of other conservative political parties. In the tribute, reference was made to both the victims of the 11M attacks and those of ETA. During the event, the government’s (PSOE) policy of transferring ETA inmates to prisons in the Basque Country was criticised. There were also protests against the acts of homage with which these former prisoners are often received when they return to their places of origin after serving their sentences. Both have been some of the most controversial issues linked to the terrorist organisation after its dissolution in 2018. The resignation of the minister of internal affairns (PSOE) was demanded. The Prime Minister (PSOE), meanwhile, issued a message from an event he was attending outside the capital: ‘a heartfelt remembrance to the victims of the biggest terrorist attack in our history’ (translation by the author) (Europa Press, 2023).

20 Years On. Final Reflections on a Contested Memorialisation

The processes of commemoration of traumatic events are inherently complex. They intertwine intimate and collective mourning experiences that are not straightforward processes. Added to this equation is the difficulty of managing these processes for official institutions. The Madrid attacks took place in a country that for the past four decades had not ceased to count fatal victims of terrorist violence. Mainly caused by the activity of ETA, but also to a lesser extent by other groups of different ideological persuasions. At that time, the differences in anti-terrorist policy between the two main political parties (PP and PSOE) and their social bases were the substratum of the permanent disagreement over approaches to terrorism. This was combined with the authorities’ handling of the aftermath of the outbreak of violence at a key moment: on the doorstep of a general election. The public's response to these attitudes was influenced by the recent outcry against Spain's participation in the war in Iraq, which came to be seen as the cause of the attacks by part of society. This climate of confusion and conflicting political interests gave rise to conspiracy theories that contributed to the confrontation of different social sectors. Subsequent police and legal investigations would later be questioned by part of society and some political representatives and media outlets. It was from this foundation that institutionalised commemoration initiatives were to begin.

The immediate aftermath of the 11M attacks in Madrid was characterised by expressions of solidarity and mutual support. Yet, an impending general election and the complex pre-existing political landscape together with the questionable initial management of the situation by authorities fostered political controversy. The institutions’ handling of both the aftermath and the subsequent memorialisation has been fraught with contestation. These disagreements have been, and continue to be visible, both in the processes of creation of spaces of memory, and in the commemorative events that are annually held around them. The first is perceptible both in the complex decision-making processes surrounding the determination of which victims are to be commemorated in these spaces—visible in the habitual re-signification of these sites—and in their lack of appropriate maintenance. The latter is observable in the ongoing tensions that exist in the commemorations on anniversaries in which different groups autonomously organise events in distinct locations across the city.

The attacks of 11 March constituted a moment that would mark the political and social dynamics of collective remembrance in contemporary Spain. Twenty years after the violence, its consequences are still tangible. The forthcoming disappearance of the official memorial at Atocha station means the loss of a place of remembrance but also an opportunity for the future. Successful memorialisation processes must meet the objective of being appropriate for their users. Their development needs time and the cooperative involvement of different stakeholders in balancing multiple interests. The opportunity offered by a new memorial project should not be missed to take into account the lessons learned over the past twenty years.