11th March Madrid terrorist attack: Funerals of the victims
This is the third day of official mourning, and the first funerals for the vicitims of Thurdays bombing in Madrid are being held today. I think it is time to withdraw a bit from all the suffering of the families, and to let them express their grief and anger in private with eachother. The camaras have covered every single detail of the past 50 hours in minute detail, and all of us in Spain have become a bit addicted to the television and radio reports. I suggest that after the massive protest marches held yesterday all over Spain (where we were all given the chance to publically express our outrage at the terrorist attacks and to show how our sympathy and solidarity lay with the direct victims), it is now time to look ahead rather than behind us, to insist that the authorities start to inform the population about the investigations being undertaken to discover who actually planted the bombs, and to allow the families of the victims to mourn in peace and privacy. I'm not going to include any more items about the aftermath of March 11th attacks, unless new information is discovered and offered, about who is behind them.

Anti-terrorism marches in Madrid - news the day after.
In the end over 11 million people in Spain protested on the streets yesterday against terrorism - not 8 million as I wrote last night while the protests were still happening. One of the chants most heard throughout the evening in all the demostrations was "Quien ha sido, quien ha sido?" (Who did it? Who did it?). This is the question which should have been answered already, but with elections looming tomorrow, it seems increasingly unlikely that the government is willing or able to offer a credible explanation. Government sources continue to point at ETA as the prime suspects.

Protest marches in Spain: We want Peace
According to the latest figures, over 8 million people have taken to the streets this evening to express their outrage at the terrorist attacks, their solidarity with the victims and their overwhelming desire for Peace. Millions of Spaniards in Madrid (2 million, according to the latest reports) but also in villages, towns and cities all over Spain have marched through the streets shouting "en estos trenes, ibamos todos" ("we were all travelling in those trains").

ETA denies responsability for the terrorist attacks in Madrid
About an hour ago, the Spanish terrorist group ETA denied any involvment with yesterdays terrorist attacks in Madrid. An anonymous person telephoned the Basque newspaper Gara, said he represented ETA and denied "any responsability" for the bombs planted in Madrid. According to the latest reports, the caller said that ETA played no part in the massacre perpetrated yesterday in Madrid. ETA usually uses the same tactic (telephone calls to Basque newspapers) to claim responsability for terrorist attacks. It is the first time ETA has used this tactic to explicity deny any involvement.

According to The Guardian, "Responsibility for the attacks on the packed Madrid commuter trains - which also wounded 1,430 people - could be crucial to the outcome of Sunday's general election in Spain, which is going ahead despite a halt to campaigning. Spanish commentators say that while an Eta attack could help the centre-right ruling party - which was previously campaigning on the strength of its hardline policies towards the group - an al-Qaida linked attack could increase criticism of Mr Aznar's unpopular decision to join the US-led Iraq war. Spain's foreign minister, Ana Palacio, said evidence "pointed towards" Eta, but the investigation could not exclude any other possibility."

Spain the day after suffering the worst act of terrorism ever committed here.

Most people in Spain got up this morning still feeling shaken after yesterdays events. Many schools and universities have closed for the day, most bodies have been identified, over 500 people remain in hospital, all pre-election activity has been cancelled and protest marches have been organised all over Spain this afternoon. The marches are expected to be as numerous as Spains last massive national mobilisation last year, when millions of Spaniards took part in demostrations to protest against the Governments decision to support the USA and UK in the war against Iraq. Ironically, as all major news agencies have already mentioned, latest evidence emerging from the first investigations into this mindless act of terrorism seems to point at a possible Al qaeda link.

One of the unique features of Spain is its Arab history. Arabs lived in parts of Spain for nearly 800 years and their contribution to Spanish culture, language, food and agriculture is still evident today. Until very recently, Spain was trusted by many Arab nations as a friendly State, and even though new democratic Spain did not have a major role in many international organisations in the 1980s, Spanish politicians and diplomats were deeply involved in all the major international peace initiatives undertaken in the Middle East during that time. Southern Spain is the first stop on the long journey of thousands of north African and Moslem people searching to escape from poverty and find a new opportunity in Europe. One of the challenges of modern Spain is how to address its changing demographics and how to integrate a growing community of immigrants into the Spanish social structure.

If this terrorist act turns out to have been perpetrated by Arab extremists, it reflects just how much Spains position has changed over the past few years. In a world where increasingly violence is used to determine events, Dialogue, Cooperation and Respect are more necessary than ever. And only values such as these will succeed in wiping out terrorism.

All major television and radio channels and news web sites continue to devote all their time to the aftermath of yesterday's events. El Pais can still be accessed for free today, and was one of the first Spanish sources to quote the possible Al Qaeda link. Cadena Ser and El Mundo are other good sources of latest information. People can access a list of names people injured in the attack here. The list of victims is not yet available, and is expected to be released some time today.

Spains worst day for years
This has been a terrible terrible day. The scenes on TV showing people and bodies being dragged away from the wreckage left by the bombs have been harrowing. Hundreds of people still don't know where their families are. The government all blamed the acts on ETA this morning, but since when has ETA had the capacity and resources to launch such a massive attack on Spanish civilians? Latest reports hint at a possible Al Quaeda link (see El Pais - normally you have to pay a subscription to read news in El Pais, but today all news is free). Events like today make us all feel sick, vulnerable and very very sad. I regularly go to Madrid from Alicante, and I get off the train, or catch it, at Atocha station. At 8.00 a.m., when the bombs went off today, the station is packed with ordinary people. No politicians, no rich people (the rich people in Madrid go to work by car, because they have an underground garage supplied by their company where they can park their car), no famous people, no army corps. At this time of day, the station is jam packed with working and middle class citizens going to work, school, univeristy etc. They and their families have never done anything to deserve this. Whoever is responsible for these acts has mistaken its enemy. If it is Al Quaeda, the members of this terrorist organisation should bear in mind that over 90 percent of Spaniards were against the invasion into Irak, and remained so throughout the "war". Ordinary Spanish people (like the ones killed today) demonstrated tirelessly against the war, and argued fiercely against their government's decision to back the "allies" policy. The world is sick.

The number of casualities continues to rise.
According to the BBC, latest figures are that 131 people have been killed by the bombs, but Spanish emergency services warn that the figure could rise further. At least 500 people have been injured and Madrid's hospitals, swamped with casualties, have made an urgent appeal for blood donations. Spanish speakers can read latest developments on main news websites, for example Cadena Ser and El Mundo. All web sites, radio stations and television channels are dedicating full-time coverage to today's tragedy. And although the whole theme of ETA has dominated the election campaign over the past month, nobody expected a massive tragedy on this scale. All political parties have cancelled their scheduled meetings. The images on the television are horrific. What a mad, barbaric act.

Terrorist attacks in Madrid.
2 hours ago varios bombs in Madrid have killed at least 70 people. The whole of Spain is in a state of shock and news coming from the scene is still rather confusing. For latest reports, see Cadena Ser

Elections in Spain - Antonio Banderas.
According to the Cadena Ser, Spain's most popular radio station, Antonio Banderas has declared publically his support for the Socialist party ahead of the Spanish elections this weekend. In an email sent to the Socialist President of Andalucia (up for re-election), Banderas encourages him and his Socialist party to continue with their projects and sends his best wishes from the world of culture which, in his opinion, needs them (the socialists).

Leicester City footballers disgrace their country and supporters.
"The three Leicester City footballers accused of sexually assaulting three women in a Spanish hotel room returned to jail last night after lawyers for the club failed in a renewed bid to have them freed on bail. Paul Dickov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair spent a fifth night in the Sangonera Jail in Murcia on the order of a senior judge who was handed the case yesterday and was expected to make a decision on bail by the end of the week. Hopes of an imminent release for the players, jailed for the alleged attack at a luxury hotel in La Manga last Monday, were dashed when the lawyer for the three women said she would continue to oppose bail unless new evidence emerged to challenge the allegations made by her clients".

Personally I'm tired of British football dragging itself into the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Why can't a British side win an international competition and hit the news because of that, instead of making headlines as a result of hooliganism or of the bad behaviour of professional players. If you want to read the rest of this story you can read it here, in the Independent.