Holding back her own tears, Queen Sofia of Spain embraced row after row of weeping mourners at a Christian cathedral mass on Wednesday for the 190 victims of suspected Islamist bombers who struck Madrid this month.
Relatives of the dead kissed or gripped hands with the Queen and King Juan Carlos, whose visible distress overwhelmed the congregation and hundreds more who watched the service on giant screens under leaden skies outside.
A huge black ribbon hung from the altar of Madrid’s lofty Almudena Cathedral as world leaders and royalty sat stiffly upright, guarded by armed police in the streets and on rooftops outside.
The bombing of four rush-hour commuter trains -- the West’s bloodiest guerrilla attack since the September 11, 2001, strikes on U.S. cities -- stunned Spain’s lively capital and prompted huge protest demonstrations throughout the country.
A group purportedly linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were a reprisal for the U.S.-led war on Iraq that was staunchly backed by Spain’s outgoing prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar.
Aznar sat ashen-faced through plaintive prayers and chants, not far from his successor Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose opposition Socialists scored a shock victory in an election three days after the March 11 attacks.
More than 1,900 were wounded in the bombings.
Widespread irritation at Aznar’s handling of the attacks and a revival of public anger over the Iraq war, opposed by a large majority of Spaniards, brought young voters out en masse, contributing to the defeat of Aznar’s party.
The anger felt by some relatives for Aznar was palpable.
“I hold you responsible for the death of my son,” one man shouted out just before Aznar sat down, local media reported.
'Pray for the terrorists'
The mass brought together both sides of the Iraq debate.
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell -- the pillars of the Iraq coalition backed by Spain -- sat close to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, both opponents of the war.
Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco, brother of King Mohammed, stood out in a long white robe among the rows of dark suits. Ten out of 13 suspects arrested over the attacks are Moroccans.
Three of the dead have also been identified as Moroccans and some non-Christian mourners have voiced opposition to the choice of a full Roman Catholic mass.
“Great is the pain that has overwhelmed your lives and those of your families since that black day in which brutal terrorist violence...cut down the lives of your most loved ones,” said Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, Madrid’s archbishop.
He also prayed for “the violent and the terrorists,” urging them to “never again attack the lives of anyone.”
The ceremony lasted more than two hours and Spain’s Prince Felipe and his fiancee, Letizia Ortiz, continued to mingle with mourners after the king and queen had left. Ortiz cried as one woman handed her a photograph of a loved one.
The couple will marry in the same cathedral next month but the occasion is expected to be subdued. The prince has cancelled his stag night, the royal palace said on Wednesday.