mourning in spain

Today is the first anniversary of the bombings in Spain that killed 192 people, and a Spanish day of national mourning. Timothy Garton Ash writes from Madrid about the Spanish people's response to "11-M", and the current climate in Madrid: "Our new Guernica". And guess what? There are choices. War is not inevitable. It's an excellent piece; I might post more from it later when I have time.

Here's a Spanish story (in English) about the national day of mourning. It closes with:

The one group not to take part in any of today's events are the members of the March 11th Association of those Affected by Terrorism. They say they will spend the day in silence and so they have closed their doors to the public for the first time in a year. On that door 192 black ribbons hang this morning – all prepared by the mother of one of the victims.

As a New Yorker - which means I am a person affected by terrorism, if only emotionally and mentally - my heart goes out to the Spanish people today. The first anniversary of September 11th was very meaningful to me. I remember we were planning a vacation, but I felt a strong need to be in the city on that day. We went to a commemorative concert in Central Park - the New York Philharmonic performed works of joy and freedom. Thousands of New Yorkers held candles, coming together to look back, and to look ahead.

W & Co were downtown at Ground Zero, capitalizing on their good fortune, as usual. When the music was over and the big screens turned on for a feed of the "official" ceremony, we immediately stood to leave. Dozens of people all over the lawn did the same.

I know wmtc has at least one reader in Spain, though I've no idea who it is. If anyone can tell us about the mood in Madrid one year later, I'd be very interested.