The 1980 Ispaster attack was a gun and grenade attack by the Basque

Basque nationalism

Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...

 separatist organisation ETA

ETA

ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...

 which occurred on 1 February 1980 near the Basque town of Ispaster

Ispaster

Ispaster is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain.-Prehistory:...

. The targets were a convoy of civil guards

Civil Guard (Spain)

The Civil Guard is the Spanish gendarmerie. It has foreign peace-keeping missions and maintains military status and is the equivalent of a federal military-status police force. As a police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the...

 who were escorting workers and weapons from the nearby Esperanza y Cia Arms factory to Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

. A total of six civil guards were killed, while two ETA members were killed by hand grenades that they had thrown. The attack was the deadliest of 1980, the year when ETA killed more people than any other.

The attack

The attack occurred on a Friday morning. ETA had observed similar convoys from the factory and planned their ambush based on information that they had gathered. The convoy consisted of four vehicles, the first carrying technicians, the third mortar devices produced by the factory and the second and fourth vehicles carrying three civil guards each. The vehicle left the factory at 0730 and at approximately 0815, had to slow down at a part of the road which consisted of numerous bends. The ETA members had chosen a spot near a small hill, where they were hidden from view by dense vegetation. After allowing the vehicle carrying the factory workers to pass, ETA launched a grenade at the second vehicle, causing it to be stuck in a layby and then attacked the civil guard's vehicles with assault rifles, machine guns and grenades, firing over 100 shots. In order to ensure that no civil guards survived, the ETA members approached the vehicles and threw a hand grenade into the first civil guard's vehicle. When they repeated this with the second vehicle, two ETA members, Gregorio Olabarría Gorrotxategui Bengoa and Javier Argote, were killed as a result of injuries suffered when they failed to escape in time before the grenades exploded. One of these was subsequently found 6 kilometres away from the attack, having apparently been moved there by his comrades. At 0845, a man had approached a bar near the scene and had asked in Basque for medical assistance.

The drivers of the third vehicle, which had been trapped between the civil guard's vehicles, were allowed to go free and ordered to go down the hill by the ETA members, where they eventually reached a main road. The weapons in the third vehicle were seized by the ETA team.

Having been alerted by a local resident who had heard the gunfire and explosions, the police arrived on the scene at 0900 and found a large quantity of grenades, 9 milimetre ammunition and guns of Belgian origin.

Reactions

The attack took place at a time when devolution of power to the Basque autonomous region

Basque Country (autonomous community)

The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....

 was imminent, with the first elections

Basque parliamentary election, 1980

The first elections to the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain, were held on March 9, 1980.The Basque Nationalist Party won 25 seats, Herri Batasuna came second with 11 seats, the Socialist Party came third with 9 seats. The Union of the Democratic Centre and...

 taking place one month later. The attack was condemned by the Basque General Council, the forerunner of the modern Basque government, and most of the region's main parties like the Basque Nationalist Party

Basque Nationalist Party

The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...

, Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...

 (PSOE), Euskadiko Ezkerra

Euskadiko Ezkerra

Euskadiko Ezkerra or EE was a Basque socialist political organisation. It was founded as a coalition of Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia and other Basque Marxist forces in 1977 to present lists for the Spanish general elections in the constituencies of Vizcaya,...

 and the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD).

During the funeral of one of the ETA members killed in the attack, Gregorio Olabarría, the priest gave a homily

Homily

A homily is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture. In Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox Churches, a homily is usually given during Mass at the end of the Liturgy of the Word...

 attacking ETA violence. For this he was heckled by some of those attending the funeral who shouted slogans in support of the group such as "Gora ETA!"

There were also disturbances at the funeral of the six civil guards. Protestors shouted insults at Government ministers, who had to be protected by a police cordon. Members of the press and the PSOE were not allowed to attend the funerals, though members of the UCD and Popular Alliance were in attendance.

Arrests and judicial processes

On 25 June 1982, five people, Francisco Esquisavel, Angel Recalde, Jesús Trocaola, Juan Ramón Ibarlueca, Ana Guerenabarrena and María Isabel Mendiola appeared in court accused of having participated or cooperated in the attack. Esquisavel and Recalde were accused of direct participation while Trocaola was accused of having sheltered ETA fugitives who had taken part. Mendiola was accused of having driven a get away car for one of those involved in the attack while Ibarlueca and Guerenabarrena were accused of having cleaned away blood stains from a car used.

In 1984, Jaime Rementería Beotegui was found guilty of participation in the attack, fined 60 million pesetas

Spanish peseta

The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :...

, and sentenced to prison. Having been in prison since August 1983, he was released in January 2004. Francisco Esquisavel was also found guilty of participation and was released from prison in 2002 after 22 years incarceration.

In 1999, the only outstanding case was settled. Jose Luis Ansola Larranaga ("Peio the Elder") was acquitted of involvement in the attack on the basis of lack of evidence. The Chief Prosecutor, Eduardo Fungairiño, and the Association of Victims of Terrorism

Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo

The Association of Victims of Terrorism is a Spanish association created in 1981 by victims of terrorist attacks. Its members include those injured in terrorist attacks, and their families, by ETA, GRAPO, the Provisional Irish Republican Army and Al Qaeda. It has a membership of 6,000Its current...

had alleged that Ansola had been the author of the operation and had requested 174 years in prison for him.