March 11, 2004 is one of those dates that we all remember. We remember where we were, what we did that day and with whom we shared the greatest terrorist attack that our country has suffered, with 192 dead and 1,900 injured. That day, part of what we are stayed on the trains of Atocha, El Pozo and Santa Eugenia, in Madrid.
Twenty years later, as every March 11 since then, our memories are with the victims and their families. We share the pain of the people who lost their loved ones and our hearts feel equally the emptiness of their absence. We also share the suffering of the hundreds of wounded and those who were close to such a traumatic experience.
As it cannot be otherwise, on this day we express our eternal and constant gratitude to the members of the emergency services and health care, security forces and bodies and other teams who participated in the relief and care of the victims. Once again, in the face of adversity, it was they and they who set an example and showed through their actions what makes us proud to belong to this great country.
The movement of collective solidarity and civic commitment that was generated at that time is also a source of pride, as is the exemplary police and judicial response that allowed us to clarify the cases, locate those responsible, submit them to the rule of law and apply the sentences they deserve.
Despite the attempts of some sectors - which since then seek profit in the division and confrontation between Spaniards through lies and criticism - truth and justice finally made their way, demonstrating that Spain’s constitutional and democratic values are above its infamous intentions.
We live in a Rule of Law that honors and reminds its victims, recognizes the value of its public security, emergency and socio-sanitary services as the pride of Spain, and combats hoax, lies and tension through legally established police and judicial procedures against terrorism, fundamentalism and fanaticism.
If we have learned anything in the last 20 years, it is that our country is moving forward when we are committed to progress, equality, peace, tolerance, science, social justice and high-quality public services that protect the most vulnerable.
It is good to remember it in this March 11 in which all of us Spaniards merged into an emotional embrace in memory of the victims of the jihadist attacks of 2004, to show our strength as a society and to express our most energetic condemnation and repulsive rejection of those who perpetrated them.
Miracles Tolón Jaime
Delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha