The Spanish Prime Minister, Mr JosΘ Mar∅a Aznar, has offered solidarity and support to the US President, Mr Bush, from the moment the news of the attacks on New York and Washington broke.
Spain is a relatively young member of NATO and Mr Aznar's centre-right government is eager to establish its place in the front rank of the defenders of Western lives, and the "values of Western civilisation".
Spain has a long relationship with the US military which dates back to a Cold War agreement with Gen Franco which granted Washington significant air bases on Spanish territory.
These were later used as crucial staging posts in the Gulf War.
Commitment to NATO and the US seems to far outweigh any possibility that Spain, given its geographic position and historical experience of eight centuries of Islamic culture, might play a role as a bridge between the Western and Arab worlds.
Moreover, from the outset of this crisis, Madrid has linked the massacres in the US to its own experience of fighting the terrorism of ETA.
In his first response to the attacks, Mr Aznar made this connection explicit.
"I have always said that terrorism is the same everywhere, and that there is no distinction between different kinds of terrorism," he said just hours after the twin World Trade Centre towers collapsed.
"And we, who know the cruelty and madness of terrorism feel a natural solidarity with the American people," he continued.
He added that he expected "a firmer commitment than ever by the international community in the struggle against terrorism".
Spanish leaders have often expressed frustration at lingering international sympathies for ETA dating from the Franco dictatorship, and at the reluctance of neighbouring countries, especially France, to extradite ETA suspects to Spain.
However, this situation has changed radically in recent years, with Paris routinely imprisoning and handing over Basque separatists to Madrid.
But Mr Aznar is keen to see the EU accelerate judicial and police co-operation between member states.
He also flatly rejects any suggestion that ETA might have a role in a peace process similar to that played by the IRA and loyalist groups in Northern Ireland.
These concerns have clearly informed Mr Aznar┤s subsequent declarations on the attacks on the US.
"The war against terrorism cannot be obstructed by geographic or judicial frontiers," he told a group of police recruits on Tuesday.
And in response to those who fear the repercussions of US retaliation, he said that Spain should be prepared to act "without any reservations or doubts".
The worst risks would come from not acting against the terrorists, he said.
The opposition led by the Socialist Party is also largely pro-NATO, but its support for US action has been more qualified.
In the media, many voices have expressed concern at the dangers of criminalising Islam, and there have also been numerous objections to US proposals for a "dirty war".
Perhaps the strongest objections have been raised by the premier of the Basque government, Mr Juan Jose Ibarretxe.
He has insisted that "the Basques will not support any war which kills the innocent" - a statement which suggests that his government believes it enjoys considerably more autonomy from Madrid than it actually does.