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Madrid Train Bombs Memorials
By m.p. - Oct 31, 2007 - 12:48 PM
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King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at the Atocha momument in March 2007 - Photo EFE
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There are two main monuments in Madrid to the 192 people who lost their lives in the train bombings in the capital
The 191 people who lost their lives in the tragic events of 11th March 2004, the devastating bombing attack on Madrid commuter trains which is known in Spain as 11-M, are commemorated in the ‘Bosque del Recuerdo’ – ‘the Forest of Remembrance.’

This living monument is made up of 192 olive and cypress trees, one for each person who died on that day, with a tree also planted in remembrance of the police officer who died in the suicide bombing in the Leganés flat on 3rd April 2004, where seven of the terrorists blew themselves up to escape capture.

The memorial was inaugurated by the King and Queen of Spain as the ‘Bosque de los Ausentes’ – ‘the Forest of the Departed,’ on the first anniversary of the devastating attack, on 11th March 2005, in Madrid’s Parque del Buen Retiro, just a short distance away from Atocha railway station, where most of the bombs exploded. The forest is surrounded by a channelled stream, with water as the symbol of life.

It was re-named as the Bosque del Recuerdo the following year at the request of the victims.

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The third anniversary of the bombings, on 11th March 2007, was marked by the unveiling of an imposing glass monument just outside Atocha, an 11 metre high hollow cylinder, constructed with massive blocks of transparent optic glass. Inside the cylinder, the deep blue chamber known as the ‘Vacío Azul’ – ‘Blue Vaccuum,’ is separated from the top of the dome by a membrane inscribed with some of the thousands of the messages of condolence which were written after the attacks.

It is officially known as the Monumento a las Víctimas del 11-M, as a homage the 192 dead and the 1,824 people who were injured in the bombings.

Mauro Gil-Fournier, from the Estudio FAM architects studio in Madrid which designed the monument, describes the Vacío Azul as a silent space, where people cry inside.

The inauguration by the King and Queen was a solemn ceremony: there were no speeches, just a three minutes’ silence for those who died and were injured, and a cellist playing the Pau Casals composition, ‘El Canto de los Pájaros,’ which was also played at the inaugural ceremony for the ‘Bosque de los Ausentes.’


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