Via the BBC: Madrid train bombing trial begins:

The trial of 29 people accused of involvement in train bombings that killed 191 people in March 2025 has begun in the Spanish capital, Madrid.

Seven of the suspects, most of whom are Moroccan, will face charges of murder and belonging to a terrorist group.

[…]

The case is Europe’s biggest trial of alleged Islamic militants. It is expected to last several months and hear from hundreds of witnesses and police experts.

At least one of the defendants appears to be taking a variation of the Saddam stratagem in terms of dealing with the charges:

The first defendant led to the dock, Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, also known as Mohamed The Egyptian, refused to enter a plea and declared that he would not answer any questions put to him.

“Your honour, with all due respect, I don’t recognise any of the accusations or any of the charges… I am not going to answer any questions, including those of my defence counsel, nor will I be co-operative,” he said through a Spanish translator.

I wonder if we will learn anything about connections between this group and “al Qaeda central” and/or to al Qaeda’s operations in Europe in general.  For that matter, I wonder if there will be in any clarity as to what degree it is appropriate to consider these persons to be members of al Qaeda at all.