A tribute event in Puerta del Sol and a mass in La Almudena will remember the victims of 11M on the 20th anniversary

This Sunday a new space for gathering and tribute will be inaugurated in the area of ​​Atocha

MADRID, 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

A tribute ceremony in Puerta del Sol, in front of the Royal Post Office, and a mass in the Cathedral of La Almudena will remember the victims of March 11, the jihadist attack in which 193 people died and 2,000 were injured when it was They turn 20 years old.

Thus, the Royal Post Office will host on Monday, starting at 9 a.m., the solemn act of tribute to the victims. The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, will place a laurel wreath before the plaque located on the façade of the building in memory of the victims, as well as the emergency services. emergencies and citizens who helped them.

As reported by the regional Executive, the ceremony will begin with the ringing of the bells of the clock of the headquarters of the regional Presidency, to which those of the churches near Puerta del Sol will be added. In addition, there will be musical interpretation and interventions dedicated to remember his memory.

If the weather permits, the event will be held outdoors so that it continues to be "open to all citizens," regional government sources told Europa Press.

As for whether members of the central Executive will be invited, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García Martín, assured that they would forward the corresponding invitations and that the "representatives of the different levels of the Administration" would be there.

In this sense, the same sources pointed out that the Government delegate, Francisco Martín, and officials from the Civil Guard and National Police, who report to the Ministry of the Interior, have been invited, "as on other occasions", but not the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, nor to ministers.

On the other hand, the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, will preside on Monday at 10 in the morning at a funeral mass in the Cathedral of La Almudena in memory of the victims.

As reported by the archbishopric of Madrid, authorities from the Community of Madrid, the City Council and associations of Victims of Terrorism, as well as institutional and ecclesiastical representatives, are expected to attend.

On the occasion of this anniversary, on Monday, at 9 a.m., the bells of the churches in Madrid will ring for two minutes, inviting prayer for the victims and their families.

This same Thursday, the Madrid City Council organized a tribute event to the 193 victims of 11M coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the largest terrorist massacre on European soil in which the "limitless meanness" with which the jihadist terrorists acted and The exemplary behavior of the people of the capital was praised.

At the event held at the Daoiz and Velarde Cultural Center, more than a hundred people gathered, including victims and relatives and members of the health services and the Security Forces and Corps, to remind the 192 people that on 11 March 2004, they died in the explosions on Madrid Cercanías trains, in memory of which a minute of silence was observed.

During the event, the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, read a statement in tribute to the victims of the largest attack recorded on European soil, "which forever changed" the history of Madrid, and which also praised the heroic and supportive behavior of the people of Madrid.

"Strong is he who always stands up, as you have done," he told the victims, after an action that sought "an even greater massacre than what took place." "The intention of the terrorists was to hurt where it hurts most and bring us to our knees. And they only achieved the first," is stressed in the side, read while Bach's suite number 2 in D minor played in the background.

Along these lines, the Madrid City Council continues to work on the criteria for distributing the glass bricks that made up the former monument to the victims of the March 11 attack, in the area of ​​Atocha station, to give them "all the memory what they deserve".

"We are already establishing the criteria for the distribution, as we said, of all those plaques in memory of all the victims of terrorism, and in relation to the monument progress is also being made in the negotiation between the Community of Madrid and the victims' associations. to give them the place, the site and above all the memory that they deserve," explained the mayor of Madrid.

Likewise, the Community of Madrid will inaugurate this Sunday, on the eve of the anniversary, a new space for gathering and paying tribute to the victims of the 11M attacks at the Atocha station, just below the place occupied by the commemorative monument that was in surface.

At this same point, in addition, on Sunday afternoon a beam of blue light will be lit at dusk that will be projected into the sky to honor the deceased and more than 2,000 injured caused by the explosion of the bombs placed on four Cercanías trains. Madrid, at the Atocha, Santa Eugenia, El Pozo stations, and next to Téllez Street.

This special lighting can be seen that Sunday and Monday the 11th, coinciding with the commemoration of the European Day in Memory of Victims of Terrorism and the 20th anniversary of the 2004 attacks in Madrid.

The 11M monument in Atocha has been dismantled for the development of the works on Metro Line 11, works planned in two phases, one focused on the exterior cylinder and another for the interior part, where this new memorial has been installed. in the station lobby, designed with the opinions of the victims.

This new collection area, which will be inaugurated on Sunday, will occupy a total area of ​​2,000 square meters, quadrupling the previous space of 400, although on the day of its opening only 1,200 square meters will be visitable.

The walls are painted cobalt blue, the color chosen by the Victims' Associations for this environment, and are engraved with the names of those who died in the attack on March 11, 2004 in Madrid, as well as some of the phrases that they could read on the monument, now dismantled.

Among them, they will post messages such as "no to violence"; "we were all on that train"; "you will never be completely gone"; "there is no way to peace, peace is the way"; or "because of all of you we will be better." Texts are also collected in Basque, Catalan, English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Ukrainian, Romanian, Polish, Bulgarian and Georgian.

All of this will be added to the classic tributes that have been held every year, such as the one held in the morning by the unions CC.OO., UGT, the Association 11M Affected by Terrorism and the Union of Actors and Actresses in Atocha, followed by the usual floral offering.

Later, at 12 noon, the traditional tribute from the Bosque del Remembrance takes place in the Retiro Park. This is the commemoration event for the 11M European Day of Victims of Terrorism, organized every year by the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT).

The tributes continue in the afternoon on Téllez Street (1:30 p.m.) and around the Santa Eugenia (6 p.m.) and El Pozo (7 p.m.) train stations.