Atocha Station Memorial on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Atocha station memorial is a memorial monument located at Atocha station in
The Atocha station memorial is a memorial monument located at Atocha station in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Spain, that commemorates the 191 victims of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías Madrid, Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days ...
. Furthermore, it also honors the special forces agent who died when seven suicide bomber
A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...
s blew themselves up on 3 April 2004 during a raid on an apartment used by the bombers.
The tall cylinder stands above Atocha station, the destination of the four trains that were attacked. Texts composed of hundreds of expressions of grief sent in the days after the attack from all over the world are printed on a clear colourless membrane that is inflated by air pressure, rising balloon-like inside a cylinder. That structure is composed of glass blocks and sits on a platform or terrace overhead. The light in the empty blue room below comes from this source alone. At night the cylinder is illuminated by lamps within its base and can be seen throughout the station neighborhood.
King Juan Carlos
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...
, Queen Sofia
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mo ...
and Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...
attended a ceremony at the site on the third anniversary of the bombings, 11 March 2007. Wreaths were laid at the foot of the tower and mourners observed three minutes of silence.
References
{{coord, 40, 24, 25, N, 3, 41, 20, W, region:ES_type:landmark_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Arganzuela District, Madrid Monuments and memorials in Madrid 2004 Madrid train bombings Monuments and memorials to victims of terrorism