[ 18 March 2004: Message edited by: lagatta ]

the spanish government has also announced it's going to give citizenship or residency to parents, children, husbands and wives of the dead and injured in the bomb attacks.

quote:

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Romania - the worst-hit country with 11 fatalities and more than 100 injured - began to fly its dead home yesterday. It promised €8,000 (£5,400) in compensation to bereaved families and €2,400 to the injured. One of Thursday's bombed carriages was the regular meeting point for Romanian workers travelling to the city centre.

Julian, 33, from Bucharest, was one of those queuing for residency. He had been working illegally as a building worker for three and a half years, earning up to €10 an hour and supporting his mother, father, brother and two nephews at home. He lived in a two-room suburban flat with five compatriots.

"The Romanian community here is very close, everyone feels destroyed by this, but there's no question of me going home," he said

"There is nothing there, no life. My parents in Bucharest are upset and frightened for me, but they don't want me to go back."

His girlfriend Maria, 20, also survived the blast. She arrived a year ago to clean flats for €5 an hour. "We don't want Spanish citizenship, we just want to be considered normal here," she said.

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