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Yesterday, the judge, Gómez Bermúdez concluded the sentencing of 21 of the 28 accused of plotting and executing the Madrid train bombings in 2004. Although three received sentences of thousands of years, others will be imprisoned for as little as seven years.

The suspected ring leader, who materminded the bombings, was among those acquitted but is coincidentally on trial in Italy for belonging to a terrorist group. In his conclusion, the judge ruled that there was no evidence to link ETA with the Madrid bombings.

Survivors and the families of those killed have reacted angrily at what they call lenient verdicts against those found guilty and the acquittal of seven suspects.

Spain's prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero welcomed the sentences, but the opposition's Mariano Rajoy was critical.

He said his PP party "would back any further inquiry that would allow justice to be made, because the masterminds of the attacks had still not been sentenced".

Some of the suspected masterminds are believed to have fled the country while several others blew themselves up weeks after the attack.

Victims Association leader Pilar Manjon has said they plan to appeal the verdict. "We will go to the Supreme Court with all the arguments our lawyers can find once they have studied the verdict thoroughly," she added.

"The verdict is too lenient considering what these people have done," said one survivor.

The judge also announced compensation for victims ranging from 30,000 to 1.5 million euros. Nearly 2,000 people were injured in the March 2004 attacks on commuter trains in Madrid which claimed 191 lives.