Early in 2003, the Spain, together with Great Britain, joins the United States in declaring war on the Iraquian government of Sadam Hussein, accusing the latter, a Muslim and Chiite, of hiding weapons of mass destruction. The governments of the US, Great Britain and Spain declare a crusade in the name of international security, but that, for many, is no more than an excuse covering up oil interests in this Middle-Eastern country and for the US, in straightforward terms, the huge financial benefits to be obtained by the arms industry.
On March 18th attacks on Irak begin despite the UN's refusal to authorize the conflict. The reply of the European population is overwhelming. Anti-war committees are set up centering their action on the Internet's extensive network collecting millions of signatures against the conflict. The Spanish government has entered the war in spite of the fact that 94% of the country's population claim to be against an armed solution. In Catalonia, the committee Aturem la Guerra organizes a mass demonstration to be held in Barcelona under the slogans: "Let's Stop the War" or "Not in My Name" in which the anti-globalization movement "Another World Is Possible", the trade unions and neighbourhood associations, among many others, join. The entire population is represented int he protests that are carried out in a peaceful and even festive atmosphere. The students mobilize themselves and organize camp-ins in several public squares. The collective banging of kitchen pots, known as "caceroladas", on Wednesday evenings are held, reaching all districts of the city.
On one of the thousands of posters made by demonstrators the shrewd slogan , "Fighting For Peace Is Like Fucking for Virginity" is stated. Events which follow confirm that Aznar's government have opened up Pandora's Box.
A warning had been given. The bomb attack perpetrated by a fundamentalist group on the "Casa de España" in Casablanca on May 16th, 2003, was ignored by both the international community and press even though it was proof that Spain had now become a target of Islamic terrorism.
On the morning of March 11th, three days from the general elections in Spain to be held on Sunday 14th, Madrid's central station, Atocha as well as two other metropolitan stations at Vallecas, ten bombs exploded on 4 suburban-line trains between 7:37 and 7:39 am. The attack caused a massacre of such magnitude that the nember of deaths was difficult to enumerate.
Aznar's government reveals that the attack has been carried out by the ETA terrorist group ( the group that demands independance for the Basque country), but during the course of the same morning it becomes clearer that the authorship of the attack: everything points to Al-Quaeda, possibly as a response to the invasion of Iraq.
Aznar's Partido Popular insist on their interpretions laying the blame for the attack on ETA which enrages the population becoming apparant in the popular march held by the government themselves on Friday March 12th, under the slogan, "Against Terrorism". Throughout the day of Saturday March 13th, a day of reflexion, tension increases. Spanish youth keep themselves informed of the latest events via messages sent by cellphone: "Send-It-On"; and the movement reaches its peak when as a result of this technology a multitude form in front of the governing party's HQ demanding explanations of the government still in power, only a few hours before the plebiscite. In Barcelona, the police count 7,000 people in Urgell Street unanimously shouting "LIE". In a nearby bar, part of the demonstrators watch the collapse of a political party when Azanar's government are forced to declare before cameras that the rightful authorship of the attack committed hours before in Madrid pertains to islamic fundamentalists.