Investigating magistrate Juan del Olmo handed down the charges contained in a 1,500-page indictment at the National Court following a two-year probe.
Accused
Moroccans Jamal Zougam, Abdelmajid Bouchar, Youssef Belhadj and Hassan el Haski and an Egyptian, Rabei Ousman Sayed Ahmed were accused of 191 murders and 1,755 attempted murders.
In addition to the murder count the six were also charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation and four others with simply charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation alone.
Eleven others were charged with collaboration and eight Spaniards were charged with involvement in handling explosives.
Jamal Zougam, a Moroccan merchant, is alleged to have supplied mobile phones used as detonators in the 10 backpack bombs that ripped through four crowded trains on the morning of March 11, 2004.
A trial is not expected until next year but in the meantime Mr Del Olmo can continue to gather evidence and hand down more indictments.
Sentences
The suspects accused of murder will probably face jail terms of thousands of years if convicted, although they could only be held in jail for a maximum of 40.
Spain has no death penalty or life imprisonment but Spanish prosecutors routinely request symbolically long jail terms in terrorism cases.
Sentences
In the aftermath of the attacks, Islamic militants claimed responsibility on behalf of al-Qaeda, citing the blasts were in retaliation to the Spanish government’s commitment of troops in the war in Iraq.
In elections three days after the attacks voters punished the conservative government at the polls and the victorious socialists, who had opposed the war, quickly fulfilled an election campaign promise and brought the troops home.
The defeated former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar initially blamed armed Basque separatist group ETA for the carnage, despite the claim of responsibility from Islamic radicals.
But the judge ruled out ETA involvement Tuesday.