Spain: Spain's politicians are still squabbling over who was behind the Madrid bombings, writes Paddy Woodworth
If unity among democrats is the best defence against terrorism, Spain's defences are in a sorry state one year on from the Madrid bombing outrages.
The country's two biggest parties still offer conflicting accounts of the events leading up to and in the days after the massacre.
A parliamentary commission of inquiry has failed to reach a unanimous agreement, promised for this anniversary week, on even the least contentious issue: the measures which should be taken to prevent a similar terrorist massacre occurring again.
Relations between the conservative Partido Popular (PP), which was in government at the time of the attacks, and the centre-left Socialist Party (PSOE), which unexpectedly won the elections three days later, remain rabidly hostile. PP leader Mariano Rajoy issued a scathing statement on Tuesday, attacking the commission's decision, supported by all the other parties, to publish its recommendations before it had reached final conclusions.
He denounced it as a "fraudulent" manoeuvre, "without precedent in the history of such commissions . . . to liquidate the investigation . . . to the best advantage of the government."
The PSOE and the other parties claim to have made considerable efforts to meet the PP halfway. They first removed the harshest criticisms of the PP's handling of the bombings. They then offered to put these questions on hold altogether until after the anniversary week, and to boost the public's severely dented confidence by publishing unanimous recommendations for the future. The PP's stance has made this impossible.
These recommendations are not contentious in themselves. They include greater security co-ordination nationally and internationally, tighter control of explosives, and increased resources for counter terrorism, especially in increasingly crucial and previously neglected areas like translation skills in Arabic.
The government is expected to formally accept the recommendations on the anniversary tomorrow, but it will do so without the support of the main opposition party. The bitter row about the March 11th events will simply not go away.
The PSOE - and a majority of Spaniards - believe that the PP sought to manipulate public opinion by insisting, against all the material evidence, that the Basque group Eta was responsible for the bombings. The PP, however, still argues doggedly that Eta was the "intellectual author" of the attacks. They say that it was the PSOE who manipulated public opinion by linking the bombings to the outgoing government's deeply unpopular support for the Iraq war, and imply that the Socialists stole the elections as a result. A concert in memory of the victims due to take place today has been cancelled because the government feared clashes among the audience, according to the opposition Spanish daily, El Mundo. The associations representing the victims, which have complained bitterly to the commission about political exploitation of the bombings by all political parties, will not attend the main commemoration tomorrow.
Perhaps most seriously, disunity is also damaging the security forces. Things have improved considerably, however, since the chaotic rivalry between Spain's intelligence services was highlighted by the judicial investigation into the bombing.
This investigation has moved fairly rapidly to build apparently strong cases against a large number of suspects.
The investigating magistrate, Juan del Olmo, has questioned 78 people, of whom 30 remain in detention. His initial conclusions suggest an international Islamist conspiracy, largely originating among Spain's Moroccan immigrant community, and obtaining explosives from a Spanish criminal gang. He has found no hard evidence of any Eta involvement.
However, no conclusions can be reached until the case comes to trial, possibly later this year. And it should not be taken for granted that the prosecution will obtain all the convictions it seeks.
One of the key defendants, Jamal Zougam, who is accused of buying the sim cards for the mobile phones used to detonate the bombs, and was identified by witnesses as having been seen on one of the ill-fated trains, denies all charges.
He claims he was tortured by the police, refuses to answer any questions, and may be able to establish an alibi. Seven Islamist militants, who were undoubtedly involved, blew themselves up before they could be arrested, killing one anti-terrorist police officer in the process. The full truth behind the conspiracy may never emerge.
A bitter irony underlies the apparently excellent police work which put so many suspects behind bars within days of the bombings. The police were able to act so quickly because so many of the alleged perpetrators already had criminal records or were under surveillance. But this raises the question as to why the police had not been able to act to prevent the attacks in the first place. The investigation has revealed an appalling failure to take advantage of information on contacts between Islamists and well-known criminals trafficking in explosives.
The main reason is that intelligence on terrorism in Spain is split between three rival services, reporting to the police, the Guardia Civil, and the military.
The former director of military intelligence, Jorgé Dezcallar, was blunt in his evidence to the parliamentary commission of inquiry last summer: "Co-ordination . . . does not exist . . . anyone who uncovers information wants to exploit it themselves, work on it themselves, rather than tell anyone else about it."
The PSOE government, led by the charismatic and youthful José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has made efforts to improve the security situation, though it has not been as energetic in doing so as might have been expected, given the gravity of the situation.
The police estimate that there are 300 potentially dangerous Islamist militants in Spain. They admit that they have lost track of 50 of them due to a lack of resources. A National Anti-terrorist Centre has been established which is supposed to co-ordinate all intelligence work. However, it is too early to say whether the traditional rivalries and mutual suspicion between Spain's security forces can be overcome without more radical changes.
Recruitment of counter-terrorist personnel has been significantly stepped up, especially since last autumn, but they are still split between the three services.
Mr Zapatero has probably had most success in the international sphere, persuading EU colleagues to move with unaccustomed rapidity to streamline anti-terrorist co-operation. He has also sweetened relations with his Arab neighbours, especially Morocco, which had soured under the distinctly jingoistic PP administration of his predecessor, José María Aznar.
He has also made moves to improve the dire conditions of many of Spain's large and ever-growing Muslim community.
Convincing these immigrants that it is in their interests to engage with Spanish democracy, and that Islamist terrorists are their enemies, is the hardest job the country faces. But it is the most important.