There was jubilation and a party atmosphere in Madrid yesterday as the result of the Pinochet extradition hearing was announced.
As in previous landmarks in the year-long saga, the Puerta del Sol, in the centre of the city, was the meeting point for hundreds of anti-Pinochet militants. Many carried banners, some with photographs of their murdered and missing relatives, and others with their hands painted blood red as their gesture of protest.
Speaking above the sound of cheering and the popping champagne corks, Ms Susana Garcia spoke for many of them: "We are delighted. At last international justice has been recognised."
Mr Baltasar Garzon, the examining magistrate who carried out his investigation into crimes in Chile and Argentina for over two years before bringing his extradition petition against Gen Pinochet, was the hero of the day.
The Spanish government has officially maintained that it is distancing itself from the Pinochet case and respecting the independence of the judiciary.
Mr Josep Pique, the government spokesman, said yesterday: "We respect the decision of the British court and British justice. The governments of Spain and the United Kingdom should not be involved."
Mr Carlos Slepoy, an Argentine-born lawyer on the prosecution team, expressed his own satisfaction. "We always felt confident in the outcome because we have right on our side. This marks a turning point in the long march to justice."
Most people accept that unless the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, steps in and decides to release the ailing Gen Pinochet on humanitarian grounds, it will indeed be a long march - possibly as much as two years.
Ms Marcela Pradena, a young lawyer who herself was detained and tortured by Gen Pinochet's secret police, is one of six Chileans who are taking Britain to the European Court of Justice to protest against the House of Lords decision to omit their cases from the Pinochet files.
She denies that they want revenge. "I don't want an old man to die in prison. I want him to stand trial so he can die in his bed at home - but as a proven murderer and torturer," she said yesterday.