Political leaders from around Europe joined the Spanish royal family on Wednesday in attending an emotionally charged mass for the 190 identified victims of the March 11 bombings in Madrid — amid fears that similar terror could strike other capitals.
Senior leaders from the European Union, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, rubbed shoulders with Spanish King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, representatives of several other European royal households and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell under tight security.
As the 60-minute mass at Almudena Cathedral came to an end the Spanish royal family, clad in mourning black, shook hands and embraced about 500 of the victims’ relatives.
Many sobbed unashamedly, their ordinary clothes contrasting with the funereal black of the officials and reflecting the working-class origin of those caught by the coordinated bomb explosions aboard four crowded commuter trains.
One ashen-faced woman in her fifties stood clutching a photograph of a family member killed in the bombings as the king, who repeatedly mopped tear-filled eyes with a handkerchief during the service, moved down the aisle to pass on his personal condolences.
An awkward moment marked the start of the proceedings as outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar took his seat as the father of one victim shouted out: ”Mr Aznar, I hold you responsible for the death of my son.”
Just prior to the service, Pilar Paz Manjon, whose son Daniel died in the blasts, told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser she could not face the occasion.
”I don’t think I am capable of facing Aznar, Blair and Powell,” she said, adding: ”They have stolen away my 20-year-old son.”
Many Spaniards see Spanish support for Washington and London over the Iraq conflict as the underlying reason why suspected Islamic extremists targeted Madrid in what they regard as an act of vengeance for Aznar’s foreign policy.
To date, 13 suspects are in custody in connection with the blasts, at least six of them Moroccans.
At least one has reported links to last year’s terrorist bombings in Casablanca.
Morocco’s royal family was represented at the mass, with Prince Moulay Rachid, the younger brother of King Mohammed VI, in attendance.
The area around the cathedral was turned into a virtual no-go area save for visiting dignitaries and relatives of the victims attending the memorial mass.
On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw alluded to widespread fears of further attacks in Europe, warning that terrorists would ”spread division” in the wake of the blasts and stressing the need to ”combat this common threat”.
His comments came after Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir John Stevens at the weekend described the Madrid blasts as ”a big wake-up call”, having earlier warned of the ”inevitability” of a terrorist attack in Britain.
Madrid Cardinal Archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco Varela in his sermon appealed to all citizens to reject ”all forms of nationalism, racism and intolerance” as well as the ”blind violence and inhuman hatred” visited upon Madrid 13 days beforehand.
Behind him, a huge black ribbon had been placed above the altar to remember the dead.
Similar ribbons have hung from apartment and shop windows since the blasts.
The decision to hold the service at the cathedral and according to Roman Catholic rites upset representatives of minority confessions, with leaders of the Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Adventist communities regretting the choice of venue and arguing that a civilian site should have been chosen.
Blair arrived hand in hand with his wife Cherie, who was wearing an outsized black hat, while the casual dress of Powell’s bodyguards contrasted starkly with the black mourning attire of the dignitaries, who included Britain’s Prince Charles.
Many of the leaders appeared deeply moved as King Juan greeted them beforehand, exchanging barely a word as they stepped inside the vast building, whose foundation stone was laid on April 4 1883, though the church was not consecrated until June 15 1993, by Pope John Paul II.
The weather matched the mood, the capital’s streets glistening with overnight rain under leaden, cloudy skies.
Outside the building lay a grey blanket on which had been written the names of the dead in cut-out stars beneath the slogan ”No to terrorism”.
A pall of grief hung over the city, two months almost to the day before the cathedral hosts its first royal wedding.
On May 22 Prince Felipe will marry former journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in the first royal tying of the knot in Madrid since king Alfonso XIII married in 1906.
The couple have already cancelled a sound-and-light show planned for their wedding to donate the money saved to a memorial fund for the blast victims.
They also confirmed that they have cancelled a pre-nuptial party planned for May 20. — Sapa-AFP