Next week marks the twentieth anniversary of a devastating terrorist attack in Atocha, a tragedy that claimed more than 190 lives. TVE has published a compelling feature on their site titled On the Cover, presenting for the first time an exclusive interview. The piece centers on Lorenzo Mila, who at the time was reporting from Washington, and his conversations with George W. Bush and his wife Laura. In the wake of the attack, TVE decided not to air the interview because it conflicted with the network’s broader political narrative. The interview touches on the dramatic moments that followed the assault and the delicate positions held by leaders involved in those days.
This interview is often cited as a key document for understanding TVE’s relationship with political power. Mila later recounted the events and described a remarkable phone call from the White House after the attack. According to the account, President Bush and Laura Bush requested an interview with TVE and proposed that it take place at the Spanish Embassy. The interview was conducted with the presence of the Spanish ambassador, Javier Rupérez, and other senior U.S. officials. Mila stated that Bush credited the remarks to his security services, who indicated the attack was not carried out by ETA but was an Islamic terrorist act. This framing contrasted with other narratives circulating at the time and raised questions about the official line being presented to the public.
Former ambassador Javier Rupérez also contributed to the On the Cover program, recounting a direct meeting with Bush immediately after the incident. Rupérez said that Bush told him that his services suggested the attack did not originate from ETA. At the end of the program, Mila noted that the interview never reached the audience on La 1 News or Canal 24 Horas in that period. The episode underscored a tension between what was publicly aired and the lines quietly shaped by political leadership, a paradox that lingered long after the broadcast window closed.
When the same topic was revisited on La Sexta during the night, journalist Jordi Évole devoted his program to the attack as well. The discussions examined how journalism was influenced by pressure from those in government who wanted the official narrative to prevail. One paper, La Voz de Galicia, stood apart by printing a cover that pointed to Islamic terrorism as the underlying motive. Fran Llorente, who directed and presented the La 2 news program at the time, explained why TVE chose not to publish the interview. He said that the government did not want certain points to be aired, including references to Aznar, Bush, the Azores decisions, the Iraq situation, and the widely photographed Atocha moment. The decision to suppress the interview was attributed to the then news director Alfredo Urdaci. Two decades later, discussions continue about the consequences and the distortions that may have accompanied the coverage of that period, inviting ongoing scrutiny and reflection on the role of media in political messaging.