It seems like yesterday. Another eleventh day of a month goes into the history of infamy with yet another synchronized terrorist attack that shook a country from its edifice. On 11 March 2004 (3/11), at least ten powerful bombs exploded in three railway stations in the Spanish capital Madrid killed approximately 200 people and wounded more than a thousand. Two Indians and three Moroccans were investigated so far without much headway.

The events of 3/11 have changed the subsequent political scenario in Spain. After the country went to the polls on 14 March, two significant developments have taken place: change in political leadership and an increasingly likely shift in Spain’s pro-US foreign policy. The Spaniards have voted out the ruling Popular Party (PP) over the government's failure on the issue of information transparency and overall handling of the suspected Al Qaeda-led attack. Jose Zapatero, the Prime Minister-elect has already expressed his intention to withdraw the 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq, currently under US-led coalition and vehemently criticized both George Bush and Tony Blair for their ‘Iraq disaster’. He also pledged to shift allegiance away from the United States to a more Euro-centric approach in the coming days.

Whilst no terrorist organization has claimed the responsibility at the outset, the doubts were centered on the homegrown ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) known to the world as Basque Fatherland and Liberty, and the transnational terror network, Al Qaeda. Immediately after the blasts, the outgoing Interior Minister, Angel Acebes had blamed the ETA, dismissing speculations that any other group could be involved. But Al Qaeda came to picture after the security agencies had found a deserted van containing detonators and an audiotape of the Quran in the Arabic. The suspicion grew stronger when a London-based Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds al-Arabi, issued a statement that it had received message from Al-Qaeda claiming responsibility. It was a videotaped claim of responsibility by a man identifying himself as Al-Qaeda's military spokesperson in Europe that transformed the public opinion against the government overnight.

According to Rohan Gunaratna, the Madrid blasts have all the fingerprints of the Al Qaeda network – ‘coordinated, symbolic and mass fatality attack’. Prof. Joseba Zulaika, Director of the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, USA, reiterated the fact that hand of Al Qaeda could not be ruled out due to Spain’s pro-American foreign policy. An alliance between the ETA and the Al Qaeda is a farfetched possibility due to unsimilar religious and ideological leanings of both. 

It would be more plausible to argue that the geographical proximity to African countries of Morocco and Algeria, which are hubs of Al Qaeda and fundamental Islamist activities, made Spain more vulnerable than any other European country. Spain’s friction with Morocco, a hotbed for Islamic fundamentalism, resurfaced after 9/11 and following Madrid's response to the events by tightening entry controls in the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. On top of it, large numbers of Moroccan immigrants living in Spain are, by and large, sympathetic to bin Laden and his outfit.

Al Qaeda’s Algerian affiliate Groupe Salafiste de Predication et Combat (GSPC) or Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat is active in Spain and other parts of Europe. During the later part of 2001, a number of GSPC activists were arrested in Europe and their cells unearthed. At least six Algerians and alleged members of the GSPC, were arrested on 26 September in Madrid. In November 2001, Spanish authorities arrested another eleven men suspected of being Al Qaeda operatives involved in the 9/11 attacks in Madrid and Granada. The Syrian-born Barakat Yarkas, alias Abu Dahdah, the alleged leader of an Al-Qaeda cell in Spain was also arrested during this time and is still in custody.

Even as researchers with the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment have been pondering over a document on an Arabic website last year outlining Al-Qaeda strategies on how to force Uncle Sam and its allies to leave Iraq, which also reportedly pointed to Spain as the weakest link, the words of bin Laden are echoing once again, not just in Spain but in the other countries that have cooperated with the US. The last audio message attributed to bin Laden in October 2003 explains it all – "we reserve the right to respond at the appropriate time and place against all the countries participating in this unjust war in Iraq, particularly Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italyâ€Â