
The Teatro Auditorio Paco de Lucía at the Centro de Arte was the setting this morning for the «Jornada In Memoriam por las Víctimas del Terrorismo, Alcobendas una ciudad con memoria» aimed at educational centers.
Over 300 students from Areteia, Liceo Europeo, and Padre Manyanet schools, as well as Gloria Fuertes, Virgen de la Paz, and Giner de los Ríos institutes, participated in this event organized by the City Council in collaboration with the Fundación Víctimas del Terrorismo (FVT).
The mayor, Rocío García Alcántara, emphasized the importance of these types of events to «make young people reflect and avoid the risk of forgetting and prevent the new generations from perceiving terrorism as something distant and irrelevant to their interest» and had a special remembrance for all the victims and, especially, for Francisco Casillas, a soldier murdered by ETA in 1986, and a resident of Alcobendas, as well as for the passengers of two of the four trains that suffered the attacks on March 11, 2004, whose destination was also our city.
At the beginning of the event, in which the Municipal School of Music and Dance also participated with two musical performances, the president of the Fundación Víctimas del Terrorismo, Juan Francisco Benito, thanked the «decisive willingness of Alcobendas to cooperate and collaborate with the victims of terrorism in defense of their memory» and recalled that since 2011 our city has been part of the ‘Network of Friendly Municipalities’ of the FVT.
Additionally, during the event, two videos were shown, one recalling the first indiscriminate attack carried out by ETA in Madrid on Correos Street in 1974, and another with images of the 11M.
The most emotional moment took place during the talk with Concepción Martín, widow of Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Antonio Blanco, murdered by ETA in Madrid on January 21, 2000, and with Antonio M. Utrera, injured in the 11M attacks.