The Miguel Ángel Blanco Archive: The Unpublished Letters Reflecting a Change in the Perception of Terrorism and Its Victims in Spain

The main objective of this article is to present the Miguel Ángel Blanco Archive, named for a relatively unknown Spanish local politician, Miguel Ángel Blanco Garrido, who was abducted by the terrorist organisation ETA from 10 to 12 July 1997 and then assassinated. The impact of this terrorist attack on Spanish society mobilised thousands of anonymous citizens: in the public sphere, more than six million people demonstrated in cities across Spain; in the private sphere, several hundred citizens decided to write letters to the family of the young councilman. However, the family, overcome by the emotional impact, felt unable to read these letters and kept them in boxes in a garage for 25 years. In 2022, the Miguel Ángel Blanco Foundation donated the material to the General Archive of the University of Navarra for conservation and research. The letters potentially allow us to study social change at the micro level. The dual objective of documenting and analysing the social response to terrorism in the face of a key event in Spain’s recent history has given rise to the design of an interdisciplinary research project with potential applications in fields such as communication, history, education, and anthropology.