By Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon and - -
MADRID, Feb 29 2004 (IPS)

The commuter trains that pass through eastern Madrid on their way to Atocha station are one of the primary routes for the daily influx of thousands of students and workers into the city, writes Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, mayor of Madrid. In this article, the author cites Madrid as a historic bastion of freedom that now defends freedom for all Spaniards with the same determination to not give in to the oppressor that has always given us courage. We must denounce not only those who were materially responsible for this collective assassination, which has already been recognised as a crime against humanity, but also those who are intellectually complicit, who with their silence or indifference contribute equally to make such acts possible. The best way to not give in to the ferocious attack inflicted on us yesterday as members of a free society consists in not losing sight of these people who yesterday, as on any day, made their way to Madrid to give the best of themselves, not to be remembered as victims but as what they were: passengers on trains that carried the life of the city.

The commuter trains that pass through eastern Madrid on their way to Atocha station are one of the primary routes for the daily influx of thousands of students and workers into the city. In the early morning hours, the red and white convoys carry in their hard plastic seats, on one or two levels, a sleepy and valiant humanity that nourishes our city and gives it life. The students going over their homework, the worker reading the day’s paper, the man napping, the girl devouring a novel, all usher in with their modest quotidian rites a work day that is never easy.

At this hour there isn’t much commotion in the cars, as the automatic voice sings off the stations one by one: Torrejon de Ardoz, San Fernando de Henares, Coslada… This atmosphere of sacrifice and eagerness is presided over by the murmur of a quiet and generous humanity, a humanity en route, which, for those who know how to listen, is Madrid, the soul of Madrid, of better yet, the valorous and mundane infusion of people who perform the miracle of giving shape to Madrid. This Madrid, so wealthy and luminous, in reality arises from this most humble foundation, when the recorded voice of the commuter train wakes the passengers and announces that they have arrived at Santa Eugenia, Vallecas, El Pozo, Asamblea de Madrid-Entrevias, until they reach Atocha, the next stop.

Yesterday a number of these destinations were drawn into the very same hell. Today my head reeled with the terrible images of scenes that I never thought I would see. Despite their grim persistence, and though it is impossible to forget the anguish of certain voices, and certain faces, in my heart I will try to hold onto the previous picture of the student, the weary worker, the man asleep, the girl reading. Because I refuse to allow the murderous design they wanted to inflict on us to contaminate even for a second the purity of these people’s efforts, their generosity, their unselfishness, their tiredness, day after day.

Now more than ever before we know how much these things are worth, so personal, so unique, that these riders thought were their own and that now we brutally discover belong to all of us because we all miss them and now realise that they are the vitality that makes us a city.

There are many things to say, a flood of ideas. We can begin with how Madrid has always been a historic bastion of freedom that now defends freedom for all Spaniards with the same determination to not give in to the oppressor that has always filled us with courage.

We must denounce not only those who were materially responsible for this collective assassination, which has already been recognised as a crime against humanity, but also those who are intellectually complicit, who with their silence or indifference contribute equally to make such acts possible. I must express my profound gratitude to the men and women who saved so many lives yesterday, and the representatives of institutions from around the world that called to express their solidarity, knowing perhaps that the doors are always open here, to the good and to the bad.

But above all, I am gripped by the vivid conviction that the best way to not give in to the ferocious attack inflicted on us yesterday as members of a free society consists in not losing sight of these people who yesterday, as on any day, made their way to Madrid to give the best of themselves, not to be remembered as victims of a vile assault but as what they were: passengers on trains that carry the life of our city. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

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