The deadliest terrorist attack in Spain's history killed 193 people and influenced the outcome of a national general election held three days later.
Key Facts
- Deaths
- 193 people
- Injured
- ~2,500 people
- Date
- 11 March 2004
- Days before general election
- 3 days
- Individuals convicted
- 21 people
- Target
- Cercanías commuter train system
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Radical Islamists opposed to Spain's indirect involvement in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq planned a coordinated bombing campaign against Madrid's commuter rail network. The attacks were intended as retaliation for the Aznar government's support of the Iraq War, which had proceeded without approval from the Spanish Parliament.
On the morning of 11 March 2004, a series of nearly simultaneous bomb explosions struck the Cercanías commuter train system in Madrid. The blasts killed 193 people and wounded around 2,500, constituting the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain's history and the deadliest in Europe since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
The bombings and the government's contested handling of the attribution—initially blaming ETA—triggered nationwide protests demanding transparency. The ruling Partido Popular lost the general election three days later, and the incoming Socialist government withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq. A 2007 judicial ruling found 21 individuals guilty while finding no direct al-Qaeda operational link.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent