In an interview with BBC World on 27 July 2006 he voiced doubts about " Islamists " being the sole culprits of the disputed 2004 Madrid train bombings , " You know in this moment some perpetrators of the attacks , but you do not know who imagined the attack , who is the leader of the attack , who is the idea ( sic ) of the attack , who established and supported means for the attacks , who defined the logistics of the attacks , who established the strategies of the attack . Nothing ... I think that one part of the perpetrators are Islamists , but I think that this is not only an Islamist attack . " During a Washington , D.C. conference at the Hudson Institute , a conservative U.S. think tank , on 23 September 2006 , referring to Pope Benedict XVI 's comments on Islam and violence , Aznar asked why Muslims had not apologized for occupying Spain for 800 years as Al-Andalus . He then called the Alliance of Civilizations initiative " stupid . " His reference to apologies was a response to the demonstrations asking the Pope to apologize . One PP official clarified Aznar 's speech by saying the Prime Minister thought it is pointless to apologize for historical events
2004 Madrid train bombings
2004 Madrid train bombings
José María Aznar