ETA behind Spain blasts
Spain’s Basque separatist organisation, ETA on Sunday took responsibility for a series of bomb attacks that have rocked the country in recent weeks.
In a communiqué published by the Basque language paper Berria, ETA took responsibility for the five blasts, including ones that ripped two hotels in the popular tourist resorts of Alicante and Benidorm on 22 July.
ETA accused the organisers of the just concluded Tour de France championship of “humiliating” the people of the Basque region by reneging on an agreement struck with ETA’s political wing Batasuna, now banned in Spain.
The agreement, which was cancelled, involved a series of measures to promote the Basque language during the Tour de France event.
ETA has particularly been upset by the failure of Tour de France organisers to distribute a communiqué detailing Batasuna’s political demands.
The other sites of the bomb attacks included a hotel in the northern town of Getxo.
| ‘ETA accused the organisers of the just concluded Tour de France championship of “humiliating” the people of the Basque region ‘ |
ETA said the hotel was bombed since it was a “meeting place for politicians, police and oligarchs who oppress the Basque country.”
Two businesses were also bombed for their refusal to fund ETA.
ETA said the authorities did not pay enough attention to their warning prior to the attack in Alicante, and as a result civilians were injured.
ETA has been engaged in an armed struggle since 1968, seeking an independent Basque state spread over northern Spain and southwest France.