The terrorist bombs that killed more than 200 rail commuters in Madrid on March 11 failed to destabilise the country’s democratic institutions, but the shockwaves threaten to fracture the Iraq alliance in which the Spanish government has played a leading diplomatic role.
Within hours of the blasts government officials were pointing the finger at Eta, the violent Basque separatist group, that had been put on the run during prime minister José María Aznar’s eight years in office. But there now appears to be little doubt that the bombings were the work of al-Qaeda militants taking their revenge for Mr Aznar’s support of the Iraq war effort.