The last 24 hours in Madrid have been extreme. After the murderous bombing attacks, the response of people in the city was with an instinct of mutual aid...taxi drivers offering free lifts, postworkers carrying the injured, thousands of volunteers at the scenes of the killings and enormous queues of donors at blood buses. Fantastic and human.

The politicians, gearing up for the elections here on Sunday began their announcements yesterday with words of solidarity with the victims and families and cancelations of their election campaigns. They also immediately condemned E.T.A. who they stated "without doubt are responsible for the attacks".

By the evening, the same political candidates who had cancelled their election campaigns, began calls for patriotic unity, national resistance to E.T.A., civilian vigilence and the need to accelerate and strengthen the war of terrorism and national security. They have called on the whole nation to attend manifestations under the slogan: "With the victims, for the constitution and for the war on terrorism". Their calls run as banners on all TV programmes, full page calls in newspapers and tabloids and are facilitated by free public transport and parking arrangements. The political message is extremely confused. The instinct of people is to go to show their solidarity with the victims and to resist fear by public appearance in the face of terrorism.

However, their appearance under the calls of the politicians and the royal family to also support the constitution and the war on terrorism is a deliberate attempt by the politicians to try to infer popular support for their war on terrorism and the continuing clampdown on civil liberties. The instincts of Spanish people on the whole seem to be opposite to this.

For example, yesterday, during the spontaneous concentrations of people in the cities of Spain most were shouting "E.T.A. NO! Basques Si!" with a tiny minority shouting "Viva Espana!". I was relieved to see equally spontaneous demonstrations in the Basque Contry against the bombings and E.T.A. and in solidarity with the victims.

Half an hour ago, here at the Autonomous University, where we had a spontaneous concentration of students, lecturers and workers there was confusion. Speakers were shouting "No to war, no to terrorism and no to death". But when, a small group of 15 of us stood with banners stating that both "ETA, Al Quaida and the governments are all culpable" and "Terror is in the death of civilians everywhere" and "No more war on terrorism = no more terrorism". We were attacked. Even simple calls for dialogue and discussion were howled at.

There is intense confusion and misinformation. Only late last night in news wires after 8pm did the statements in Arabic for "Death on the Trains" in the states of the invaders and their coalition allies, begin to be suggested in the Spanish mass media. However, these views were given minimum space and voice. And within an hour they disappeared altogether from news wires which were running continuously all day.

It is clear that the politicians are trying to profit as always from the horror so as:
1) To confuse and distance the attacks from the causes
2) To turn national pain and emotion into national pride and concensus
3) To justify increased surveillance, policing and pretence for military reaction

It is clearer by the day that the political structures are changing dramatically. The classic roles of politicians in the past to govern economically and socially through ministries of health, education, transport, culture... are changing. How can a minister of health, education, transport and culture be responsible when their services are now owned by private bodies? The politicians under privatised capitalism are becoming a shell whose role is becoming the sole role of national security, military intervention and social control. The big coup of the system has been to give people one choice split between two parties indistinguishable except by personality and colour.

Today I feel sad. Among the 198 who died yesterday and the 1400 who remain injured, I know that many of them were among the 2.5 million demonstrating against Spain's participation in the war on Iraq. And, I feel so heavy believing that have paid in blood for a war they actively opposed. I wanted to scream today vote for no one. But today is a day of intense emotions and respect for the dead.

Tomorrow, we must begin to live our human instincts that so many so naturally volunteered yesterday.

Michael.