While many felt emotionally tied to the tragedy, no one interviewed said they personally knew anybody who was a victim of the attack. Some attributed this to a strike at the University of Madrid, which deterred many students and professors from taking the train to the school that morning.

“I was lucky enough to get in touch with everybody who I knew in Madrid a couple of hours later to see that they were okay,” Dugi said.

Watson said some of those who had the most trouble coping with the bombings were students from New York.

“I have heard of a lot of students here who are from New York who have started to have panic attacks because it hit so close to home,” Watson said.

Despite the enormity of the tragedy, many said that they would definitely return to Spain in the near future.

“I have been going to Spain for a long time, and I have people I love there. I am no more nervous about going to Spain than I am about going to New York or walking through downtown Boston,” Epps said.

Watson said that her fear of terrorism extends beyond Spain.

“I am not afraid about being in Spain. It is just a general uneasiness about the state of the world. I don’t know if there is a safe place to be,” Watson said.

—Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.