A woman stood and simply said that we should remember the people of Spain. Without warning I found I was crying and I couldn't stop. I think I had been avoiding confronting this event for days.
I can not express my feelings better than by borrowing these words from Harry's place.
Eleven million people took to the streets of Spain, less than 24 hours after the slaughter of 200 of their fellow citizens... What "message" did those eleven million Spaniards send to the terrorists? I can't think of a better show of defiance than taking to the streets when there is fear of another attack. It was brave and it was a huge two fingers to terrorism. It didn't happen after any of the other Al-Quaeda attacks elsewhere in the world in the past two and a half years.
Who are the cowards then? Those who march in their millions against terrorism and stand in queues at the polls despite the very real fear of a repeat attack? Or those who attack them for expressing their choice at the polls?
Who dishonours the dead? Those who within the hours of the deaths ensured two demonstrations of the strength of their democracy? Or those who insult them from afar?
I believe that what finally did for the Popular Party in the Spanish elections was their dishonest handling of the aftermath of the attacks. They attempted to play politics with an event which touched tens of millions of people on a personal level, and they were punished accordingly.