Madrid Bombing Victims Face Continued Challenges

On March 11, 2004, ten bombs exploded on four separate commuter trains in Madrid's public transit system.  192 people were killed in the terror attack while close to 2,000 other people were injured.  Since the tragedy, countless support groups for survivors of the bombings have been established and funded by the Spanish government.  However, recent economic turmoil has force Spain's government to cut state funding for many of these support groups.  Many of the groups' representatives, including Angel De Marcos, of the 11 March Victims of Terrorism Association, has said that "There's so little work to go around, they're not going to hire anyone who has any kind of problem" (online).  Many of the survivors continue to suffer from psychological distress from the experiences they went through and the scenes they witnessed on that day in March ten years ago.  De Marcos went on to state that "From fighting evictions to providing groceries, confronting the consequences of poverty has now become part of the association's mandate" (online).  The Spanish ministry of the interior has announced recently that it has contributed substantially more funds for psychological help for victims of the terror attack and that over 300 million Euros have been spent in "the past ten years on health benefits, psychological help and training for victims" (online).  It will be interesting to see how the Spanish government will continue to fund associations dedicated to helping victims of the March 11, 2004 terror attacks in Madrid.

- Jack Mikolajczyk