The investigations into the Madrid bombings continue

Yesterday the Popular Party released confidential documents which they say prove that declarations made by the party spokesman, the Interior Minister and President Aznar immediately after the terrorist attacks in Madrid last week were based on documents pointing to ETA, and were not an attempt to manipulate public opinion. Whether or not the documents do prove this, depends on which paper you read. El Pais suggests that the documents released yesterday have been carefully selected and this morning Cadena Ser said that whole paragraphs are crossed out in places. El Mundo (whose owner and Editor is a great friend of Aznar and usually supports the Popular Party) limits its leading article to a simple reproduction of the press conference and the contents of the documents, although inverted commas here and there, when referring to "transparancy" and "honor", suggest it may be adopting a politely sceptical stance. Papers like ABC and La Razon remain fiercely supportive of the Popular Party of course, and take the documents as firm evidence that party leaders were misjudged last weekend by Spain's electorate as well as international public opinion.

Spanish police arrested five more suspects in the Madrid train attack yesterday, and this morning police have said that material evidence linked to the attacks has been found in the Lavapies area of Madrid.

Meanwhile, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero continues to form the government which will lead Spain for the next four years. So far he seems to be creating a mixed team of new faces ( Maria Jesus Sansegundo, a University professor, Minister of Education y Carmen Calvo, Minister of Culture...) and of PSOE heavyweights who have been very successful at a regional level (for example the future Defence Minister, Jose Bono, has been the President of Castilla la Mancha, one of Spain's largest regions, for the past 20 years and continued to be re-elected even during the PSOE's slump years, and Manuel Marin, future Leader of the House, was one of the key negotiaters of Spain's entry into the European Union).

Interestingly, according to El Mundo, Aznar's last visit abroad as acting President of Spain will be to Britain where he will be received by his friend Tony Blair next week. Apparantly they will have a meeting to discuss the attacks in Madrid, followed by dinner with their wives. He will also visit Brussels. These will be his only official visits before he hands the presidency over to Zapatero.

It is Saint Josephs day today (Father's Day) which is a fiesta and bank holiday in almost all of Spain. So congratulations and thank you to fathers everywhere, especially if you are called Joseph or Bryan. Anyone who is in Spain and near Valencia should try to check out Las Fallas.

Spain accused of easing up on the "War on Terror"

Several national and international newspapers this morning continue to interpret the decision of the new Spanish President to pull out of Iraq on June 30th (if the UN is not in charge by then) as a sign that Spain is weakening its stance on terrorism. Yesterday when asked about the possibility of Spain withdrawing from the alliance, President Bush used the term "cowardice" in his answer - although he didn't directly accuse Spain of this - and said he would continue to fight terror with friends. Quite a few papers in the USA are appalled at the result of the Spanish elections and are worried that it is a sign of Spain giving in to terrorism.

It is important to get the message across that Spaniards were still being led to believe, until the night before elections, that ETA was the main suspect, and although increasingly people were starting to question this fact, it certainly did not cross most voters minds that Al Qaeda had planted the bomb to coincide with elections and force a vote against the Popular Party. There is no reason for Al qaeda to feel that the PSOE party will take a weak stance on terrorism - the Socialists have supported all of the Popular Party's initiatives against terrorism throughout this legislature, and Zapatero has already promised to take a hard line on national and international terrorism.

For most Spaniards pulling out of Iraq is not a sign that the government is easing up on terrorism. The fact is that most Spaniards have never linked the "War against Iraq" to the "War on Terror" in the way that many North Americans and British people did. Spaniards believed that war was declared on Iraq for the wrong reasons, and that the allies were not being totally sincere about their reasons. They didn't believe that weapons of mass destruction existed, they were worried by the fact that this was an attack which neither NATO or the United Nations supported, and there was a feeling among Spanish people that their Government was leading them into a conflict which violated international law. President Aznar never argued his case to the extent that Blair and Bush did to Parliament and to public opinion. And he has never been prepared to explain his view of the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq after all.

Most Spaniards have a feeling of international responsability, they shared in the World's shock and grief when the USA were attacked on 11th September 2001, and identify with the fight against terrorism and their participation in this fight. But Spaniards lived in a dictatorship for 40 years, and their country was isolated from most international forums. There was great rejoicing in this country when Spain joined the European Union in the early 1980s, and the population voted to stay in NATO in a national referendum held in 1986. Spaniards enjoy participating in international bodies and international initiatives which are protected and approved by international law and the United Nations. They participated in the Gulf War, the Bosnian crisis, and Spanish troops are still working hard with their colleagues from other countries in Afghanistan. The fact that the war on Iraq was never approved by an international body will always be a sign for many Spaniards that the war should have been avoided at that stage, until there was more consensus or until other measures were taken.

All this means that in pulling out of Iraq, Spain is not necessarily giving in to terrorism. Zapatero announced in an interview on Onda Cero Radio this morning that he will take steps to improve national security, and he said two days ago that he would seek national and international consensus in the fight on terrorism. Spain wants to participate in the fight against terror, but in a global fight, not a fight carried out according to the rules and principles of one or two World leaders. And many Spaniards have never made the connection between the war against Iraq and the interntional war on terror.

Finally the Guardian publishes this article by a very popular Spanish writer, Almudena Grandes.

The investigation into the terrorist attacks in Madrid

According to El Pais, police in Spain have identified 6 Morrocans who could be linked to last week's terrorist attacks in Madrid. One of them, Jamal Zougam, is under arrest and being interrogated by police. Two witnesses travelling on one of the trains bombed claim that they saw him travelling on the same train before the bombs exploded. The names of the other five suspects have not been released. Spanish police warn that these 6 people may be part of a larger cell of one of the radical islamic groups related, directly or indirectly, to Al Qaeda and more nationalities could well be involved. Initial investigations point to a possible link between the attacks here last week and the attacks in Casablanca last year, and Morroccan detectives investigating that disaster are already in Spain working with their Spanish colleagues to pursue all possible links. Meanwhile, the Spanish government has announced that they will hold a summit meeting in Madrid to discuss the questions raised by the latest terrorist acts with all the anti-terrorist departments of members of the the European Union.

This evening at 8 O'clock, a mass is to be held in Madrid's cathedral, La Almudena, to remember the victims of last week's brutal attack.

Spains new President promises to introduce a new political style to Spanish government.

Obviously yesterday Spanish news was dominated by the election results. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was intereviewed for an hour first thing in the morning on the Cadena Ser (the only radio station who, last week, had invited Zapatero to talk about results the day after the elections) and also gave a long press conference later in the morning to a packed press room. He stressed the following points:
1. The Spanish political scene is going to change. His government will put the emphasis on dialogue, communication with all regional governments no matter which party is in power (one of the features of Aznar's government has been the terrible relationship between central government and any non-PP regional governments) and will respect and be willing to listen to alternative political ideas. The PSOE government will, according to Zapatero, remove the arrogance associated with the PP party, and will invite as many people as possible to participate in the political process and in democracy.
2. In the fight against terrorism, Zapatero intends to involve all parties and to seek consensus in policies
3. If the United Nations is not in charge of the transition in Iraq by 30th June, the Spanish troops will be called back to Spain. This announcement has been picked up by most of the international press, and interpreted by some as giving in to terrorism. This is not the case, since Zapatero (together with 90 percent of Spaniards who disagreed with the reasons presented to them by Aznar for invading Iraq) has been against the Spanish alliance with the USA and UK ever since Aznar signed the agreement in Azores a year ago. Zapatero always argued that the arms inspectors should be given more time, and that the supposed threat of the existence of arms of mass destruction had to be demonstrated before invasion was justified. He has always denounced Sadam Hussein, but has argued that violence can not be addressed by applying more violence, and has said that the allies policy in Iraq has been disasterous for world peace, for diplomacy and for the Iraq people. He has also repeatedly said that the invasion was an infringement of international law, and that for the transition in Iraq to reach any level of credibility, the United Nations (rather than the USA) needs to have the leading role. So he didn't say anything new yesterday and his decision to withdraw Spanish troops if the UN hasn't taken over control by 30th June should not be interpreted as reaction to the terrorist attacks last week.
4. Half of his government posts will be given to women.

According to the Catalan newspaper, La Vanguardia, "Spain is beginning a new era in the hands of a leader who is quiet and known for his willingness to discuss politics stubbornly and respectfully. With his first words following the victory he championed quiet change ... and promised to govern with humility".

Meanwhile, the losing candidate and new leader of the Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, appeared before the press yesterday flanked by Jose Maria Aznar (who has not yet spoken publically about the defeat since the night of the elections) and by other members of the PP Executive. He said that he was not going to resign and would lead the PP party in the opposition. Rajoy is considered to be much more open to dialogue than his predecessor, and his style is much less arrogant. So hopefully we will indeed see a new style of government in Spain.

Spanish elections: Democracy wins.

Last night Spanish voters taught the Popular Party a lesson they won't forget easily and used democracy's best tool to express their disagreement with their government and their desire for change and for a credible system. In a historic result, which we all found difficult to believe as we watched the television, and with a massive turnout of voters - 78% - the Spanish electorate defied all the predictions and pre-election polls. PSOE won 42.64% of the vote and the Popular Party just 37.64%, - 7% less than in 2000. Never before in Spain has a government with an absolute majority lost the elections in Spain.

This morning the Spanish media are all talking or writing about the historic nature of this election result and all tend to agree that the Popular Party has been punished by Spanish voters for the way they handled the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Madrid last week. Just before midnight Spain's new President appeared before the camaras and pledged to form a government based on respect, dialogue, transparency and integration. Zapatero has pledged to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq if the United Nations does not take control by June 30 (this was a promise he made in his election manifesto), and has promised to look to look towards Europe rather than USA when defining foreign policy. He has also promised to include all political parties in the fight against terrorism.

Some international press reports have expressed the worry that if it is confirmed that the radical Islamic terrorist group Al Qaeda was behind the bombing last week, then it will be the first time that this group has affected the outcome of democratic elections ("If al-Qaeda was responsible for Thursday's attacks, it appears to have had significant influence in changing the government of a leading Western democracy" BBC; "Did al Qaeda hijack Spain poll?" CNN.

Al Qaeda did not determine yesterday's election result. Spaniards have used these elections to punish the outgoing Government for its handling of the investigation of the train bombings. A democratic government must never be allowed to play political games with terrorism, and this is what a large percentage of the electorate felt their government was doing. Until last week, analysts and pre-election polls suggested that PP would lose their absolute majority, but would still win the elections. They only have themselves to blame for their defeat.

Aznar accused of manipulating public opinion

Spain's most popular radio station, Cadena Ser, has published a scathing attack on the Spanish government's attempts to make sure the Spanish media supported the thesis put forward by the popular parte that last week's terrorist attack was carried out by the basque terrorist group ETA.

Cadena Ser has published an unprecedented editorial on its website in which it denounces the government's tactics, explains how all the major television channels received clear instructions about how to cover events, and accuses Aznar and his government of manipulating the truth to suit their electoral ambitions. Foreign news correspondants say they received phone calls directly from the President's office claiming that the terrorist acts had been carried out by ETA. According to Cadena Ser, "Aznar's government has used all the state media, and all the private-sector newspapers, television and radio stations that are ideologically close to the goverment, in an attempt to keep alive their thesis that ETA was responsable for the brutal terrorist attacks last Thursday in Madrid. Aznar and his government have got involved personally by making telephone calls to the directors of national newspapers and to foreign correspondants in Spain" (El gobierno de Aznar ha utilizado todos los medios de comunicacion publicos y todos los medios privados cercanos ideologicamente al gobierno para tratar de mantener durante tres dias como unica tesis la autoria de ETA en los brutales atentados del jueves en Madrid. Aznar y el gobierno se han implicado personalmente llamando a los directores de los medios escritos nacionales y a los corresponsales extranjeros).

If it turns out to be true, this is a very serious accusation indeed. Not least because if this terrorist act turns out to be the first serious terrorist act carried out by Al Qaeda in Western Europe, the investigations have wasted 4 precious days which could have been used to explore evidence about members of the extremist Islamic group and to involve other EU countries in the process. You can read more about events of the last 24 hours in this article from Deutsche Welle in English or in German.

Spain elections - bigger turnout confirmed

Spain's Interior Ministry has released the first voting figures of the day. So far 41,02% of Spain's electorate have voted, almost 4 percent higher than the figure at the same time in the last general elections. Polling stations are open all day until 8.00 this evening.

Election turnout - higher than usual

Spain usually has a higher turnout than other West European countries at elections, partly because so many adults remember what it feels like to live in a dictatorship and be deprived of the right to vote. Today more people than ever are expected to vote, because events of last week are likely to drive the youngest voters (many of whom chose not to vote in the last elections) to the polling stations.

Election Day in Spain

It is difficult to predict the outcome of todays elections. Never before in the history of Spains young democracy has an overall majority government lost the elections. But these elections are being held in unique circumstances, with Spain still mourning the victims of Thursdays bombing, and the present government coming increasingly under attack for the way in which it has addressed the crisis.

You could never say that the Popular Party has been a transparent party in the face of disaster. During events like the Prestige (the oil spill along the northern coast of Spain last year) government spokesmen and ministers were accused of misleading the population about the extent of the crisis and never acknowledged - and much less apologised for - shocking mismanagement of the first few days of the crisis. They refused to put the participation of spanish troops in the war against Iraq to a parliamentary vote and Aznar is the only ally leader who has refused point blank to discuss the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been discovered in Iraq. And only two weeks ago, articles appeared in el Pais and Cadena Ser accusing the government of covering up information related to the death of 60 Spanish soldiers last year, when their plane bringing them home from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey.

The Spanish government has been reluctant to confirm evidence suggesting that ETA was not behind the terrorist attack in Madrid last week. So much so that the official line all day yesterday, until early evening, was that they still suspected the Basque terrorist group. The government has used the fight against ETA as the basis of its election campaign, accusing the opposition of taking a weak stance on Basque terrorism and criticising alliances between Socialists and Regionalist parties which have produced governments such as the one in Catalonia. If the bombs last week had been planted by ETA, the reflex reaction of thousands of Spaniards would probably have been to vote PP today.

Feeling here today is that the spontaneous protests outside PP headquarters all over Spain yesterday forced the government to give new information about the arrest of 3 Moroccan and 2 Indian men in relation to the bombing yesterday evening. And in the early hours of this morning, the Interior Minister Angel Acebes said police had recovered a videotape. 'It's a claim made by a man in Arabic with a Moroccan accent. He makes the declaration in the name of someone who says he is the military spokesman of al- Qaeda in Europe.'