This is an interesting twist on the aftermath of Thursday's terrorist attack in Madrid. There is a national parliamentary election today (Sunday) in Spain. The ruling Partido Popular (PP), which currently holds a majority in parliament, was polling ahead of its main opponent the Spanish social-democratic party (PSOE) prior to the attack.
On Saturday, there were large demonstrations in several cities around the country in front of PP party headquarters, demanding more responsiveness from the government in providing information about the terrorist attacks: Miles de personas protestan en toda España contra el PP El Mundo 03/14/04.
For Americans, that's an extremely novel concept. Two and a half years after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush is still dragging his feet on the official investigation into those attacks. And two days after the attacks in Madrid, thousands of citizens are protesting to demand more responsiveness from the government there! Do Americans expect that kind of responsiveness from our democracy? I wish most of us did.
El Mundo reports demonstrations of 5,000 in Madrid, 7,000 in Barcelona, and 1,500 in Galicia. Smaller demonstration occurred in other cities. The PSOE denies encouraging the demonstrations, which were organized over the Internet and via word of mouth.
These were separate demonstrations, of course, from the huge nationwide demonstrations that took place as a statement of national unity and solidarity with the victims of the attack.
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