1987 Zaragoza Barracks bombing
Encyclopedia
The 1987 Zaragoza barracks bombing was a car bomb
attack by the Basque
separatist organisation ETA
, which occurred on 11 December 1987. A vehicle containing 250 kilograms of amonal was parked beside the main Guardia Civil barracks in the city of Zaragoza
, Spain
; its subsequent explosion caused the deaths of 11 people, including 5 children. A total of 88 people were injured, the majority of them civilians.
The attack came just six months after ETA had killed 21 people in a car bomb attack on a Hipercor
shopping centre in Barcelona.
Responsibility for the attack was placed on the Argala Commando Unit, an itinerant unit composed of French citizens who returned to France after committing attacks. Those involved in the attacks and those responsible for their planning were detained in a number of police operations during 1989 and 1992.
were rejected and on 5 November, the Pact of Madrid resulted in an agreement between the main Spanish political parties to release a joint statement rejecting the legitimacy of ETA to speak on behalf of the Basque people and ruling out negotiations until the group had formally disarmed. The Zaragoza attack was accordingly interpreted as ETA’s response to the Pact of Madrid and occurred while ETA was under the leadership of the Artapalo group. This leadership continued until 1992 and the era was marked by some of ETA’s deadliest attacks.
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At 06:10 on the morning of 11 December, a Guardia Civil officer stationed at the entrance to the barracks noticed 2 men parking a Renault 18
in front of the building. When he approached them to inform them that they were not allowed to park vehicles in front of the building, they fled. Suspecting an imminent attack, the officer rushed back to the barracks to raise the alarm. The ETA militants escaped from the scene in another vehicle which they had parked nearby. Before the officer had had time to wake those sleeping in the building, the 250 kg of amonal exploded, causing a huge hole in the wall and the instant demolition of all four floors. The blast also hit neighboring houses. Members of the Red Cross, security forces and medical personnel quickly arrived at the scene. The building’s collapse forced them to clear debris in search of those trapped beneath. The large number of emergency vehicles at the scene led to the accidental death of a motorcyclist, who was hit by a military vehicle.
Firefighters eventually removed the debris and began removing the bodies of those killed in the attack, which included 3-year-old twins and girls of 6 and 7 years old. In addition, there were 88 injured, some of whom needed to have limbs amputated. The rescue effort continued through the night and at 13:45 the following day the last bodies, those of Angel Alcaraz and Maria Dolores Franco, wife of a policeman, were pulled from the rubble.
Government spokesman Javier Solana
was the first Minister to speak to the Press following the attack:
in Zaragoza. The funerals were attended by the President of Aragon, Hipólito Gómez de las Roces, and the Ministers for Defense and the Interior, Narcís Serra and José Barrionuevo, respectively. Subsequently the dead were returned to their places of origin.
During the funeral, there were scenes of tension in the congregation with some fainting. Although no journalists entered the Basilica
, photos of the coffin
s of the three year old twins appeared on the front pages of most national newspapers the following day, leading to strong anti-ETA sentiment.
On Sunday, 13 December, the largest demonstration in the history of Zaragoza took place with 250,000 people protesting in the streets, proceeded by a large banner with the words “Zaragoza for peace and against terrorism”
At the subsequent trial, it was revealed that the direct order to execute the Zaragoza attack had come from the leadership and had been communicated by Josu Ternera. The explosives expert Fitipaldi’’ was responsible for assembling the device and delivering it to the bombers. Pakito monitored and produced a sketch of the barracks, giving the direct order to attack it. Four French nationals were responsible for executing the attack: Henri Parot
, his brother Jean Parot, Jacques Esnal and Frederic Haramboure.
The four traveled from the French Basque country to Zaragoza, where two vehicles were moved to the vicinity of the barracks. The first, a Renault 18
had been stolen in Toulouse
. A bomb consisting of about 250 kg of amonal divided into three steel cylinders was placed in this vehicle. Henri Parot parked the vehicle beside the entrance to the barracks while Esnal activated the mechanism that triggered the explosion in one minute and fifteen seconds, just long enough to enter and escape in the Peugeot 205
in which his two accomplices were waiting nearby.
Cooperation between the French and Spanish police resulted in the capture on 29 March 1992 of the Artapalo leadership of ETA in Bidart
in the French Basque Country. Those arrested included Francisco Múgica Garmendia Pakito; José Luis Álvarez Santacristina, Txelis'’; and José María Arregi Erostarbe, Fitipaldi.
In January 2000, after he had spent three years in prison awaiting trial, the Spanish Supreme Court
ordered his release after finding that his crimes had already been tried in France. The Prosecutor and the Association of Victims of Terrorism appealed the decision and Ternera was again charged with planning and organising the attack. However he failed to appear in court and an international arrest warrant was issued, with his current whereabouts still unknown.
On 11 December 2007, to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack, a wreath laying ceremony took place at the park, which was attended by Pascual Grasa, who was on guard at the entrance during the bombing, and seriously injured in it. Grasa delivered a speech to the audience in memory of the deceased.
During the 2009 commemoration, Juan Alberto Belloch, Mayor of Zaragoza, unveiled a memorial stone containing the names of the 11 victims. The ceremony was also attended by witnesses and victims of the event.
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
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 11 December 1987. A vehicle containing 250 kilograms of amonal was parked beside the main Guardia Civil barracks in the city of Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
; its subsequent explosion caused the deaths of 11 people, including 5 children. A total of 88 people were injured, the majority of them civilians.
The attack came just six months after ETA had killed 21 people in a car bomb attack on a Hipercor
1987 Hipercor bombing
The 1987 Hipercor bombing was a car bomb attack by the Basque separatist organisation ETA which occurred on 19 June 1987 at the Hipercor shopping centre on Avinguda Meridiana, Barcelona, Spain. The bombing killed 21 people and injured 45 people.-Background:...
shopping centre in Barcelona.
Responsibility for the attack was placed on the Argala Commando Unit, an itinerant unit composed of French citizens who returned to France after committing attacks. Those involved in the attacks and those responsible for their planning were detained in a number of police operations during 1989 and 1992.
Context
The attack occurred just six months after the Hipercor bombing in Barcelona had killed 21 people. Following the Barcelona bombing, ETA’s call for talks with the government of Felipe GonzalezFelipe González
Felipe González Márquez is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.-Early life:Felipe was...
were rejected and on 5 November, the Pact of Madrid resulted in an agreement between the main Spanish political parties to release a joint statement rejecting the legitimacy of ETA to speak on behalf of the Basque people and ruling out negotiations until the group had formally disarmed. The Zaragoza attack was accordingly interpreted as ETA’s response to the Pact of Madrid and occurred while ETA was under the leadership of the Artapalo group. This leadership continued until 1992 and the era was marked by some of ETA’s deadliest attacks.
Target
The Guardia Civil barracks, situated on Avenida de Cataluña, was a four storey building, without special protection. It housed 40 families of Guardia Civil members for a total of 180 people.The attack
Renault 18
The Renault 18 is a large family car produced by French manufacturer Renault between 1978 and 1993 .-Development:...
in front of the building. When he approached them to inform them that they were not allowed to park vehicles in front of the building, they fled. Suspecting an imminent attack, the officer rushed back to the barracks to raise the alarm. The ETA militants escaped from the scene in another vehicle which they had parked nearby. Before the officer had had time to wake those sleeping in the building, the 250 kg of amonal exploded, causing a huge hole in the wall and the instant demolition of all four floors. The blast also hit neighboring houses. Members of the Red Cross, security forces and medical personnel quickly arrived at the scene. The building’s collapse forced them to clear debris in search of those trapped beneath. The large number of emergency vehicles at the scene led to the accidental death of a motorcyclist, who was hit by a military vehicle.
Firefighters eventually removed the debris and began removing the bodies of those killed in the attack, which included 3-year-old twins and girls of 6 and 7 years old. In addition, there were 88 injured, some of whom needed to have limbs amputated. The rescue effort continued through the night and at 13:45 the following day the last bodies, those of Angel Alcaraz and Maria Dolores Franco, wife of a policeman, were pulled from the rubble.
Government spokesman Javier Solana
Javier Solana
Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, KOGF is a Spanish physicist and Socialist politician. After serving in the Spanish government under Felipe González and Secretary General of NATO , he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary...
was the first Minister to speak to the Press following the attack:
Funerals
The funerals of the 11 victims took place on 12 December 1987 in the Basilica of Our Lady of the PillarBasilica of Our Lady of the Pillar
The Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. The Basilica venerates Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title Our Lady of the Pillar praised as Mother of the Hispanic Peoples by Pope John Paul II...
in Zaragoza. The funerals were attended by the President of Aragon, Hipólito Gómez de las Roces, and the Ministers for Defense and the Interior, Narcís Serra and José Barrionuevo, respectively. Subsequently the dead were returned to their places of origin.
During the funeral, there were scenes of tension in the congregation with some fainting. Although no journalists entered the Basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
, photos of the coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
s of the three year old twins appeared on the front pages of most national newspapers the following day, leading to strong anti-ETA sentiment.
On Sunday, 13 December, the largest demonstration in the history of Zaragoza took place with 250,000 people protesting in the streets, proceeded by a large banner with the words “Zaragoza for peace and against terrorism”
Responsibility
Responsibility was placed on the Comando Argala who were also blamed for another 21 attacks which had killed a total of 38 people. The Commando Unit was believed to be an itinerant unit composed of French citizens who committed attacks in Spain before fleeing across the border to France where the Spanish police force were unable to operate. The Unit had been formed in 1978 and was finally disbanded in 1990.Organisation of the attack
ETA at that time was led by a collective called Artapalo composed of Francisco Mujika Garmendia (Pakito), José María Arregi Erostarbe (Fitipaldi) and José Antonio Urruticoechea Bengoechea (Josu Ternera).At the subsequent trial, it was revealed that the direct order to execute the Zaragoza attack had come from the leadership and had been communicated by Josu Ternera. The explosives expert Fitipaldi’’ was responsible for assembling the device and delivering it to the bombers. Pakito monitored and produced a sketch of the barracks, giving the direct order to attack it. Four French nationals were responsible for executing the attack: Henri Parot
Henri Parot
Henri Unai Parot Navarro was a member of the Basque separatist group ETA. He was born in Algiers in 1958, son of an exile Basque-French marriage...
, his brother Jean Parot, Jacques Esnal and Frederic Haramboure.
The four traveled from the French Basque country to Zaragoza, where two vehicles were moved to the vicinity of the barracks. The first, a Renault 18
Renault 18
The Renault 18 is a large family car produced by French manufacturer Renault between 1978 and 1993 .-Development:...
had been stolen in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. A bomb consisting of about 250 kg of amonal divided into three steel cylinders was placed in this vehicle. Henri Parot parked the vehicle beside the entrance to the barracks while Esnal activated the mechanism that triggered the explosion in one minute and fifteen seconds, just long enough to enter and escape in the Peugeot 205
Peugeot 205
The Peugeot 205 is a supermini produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1983 and 1998. It was declared 'Car of the Decade' by CAR magazine in 1990. The 205 won 1984 What Car? car of the year.-History:...
in which his two accomplices were waiting nearby.
Arrests
Josu Ternera was arrested in Bayonne in January 1989. Henri Parot was arrested in Seville on 2 April 1990 in a car packed with explosives for a planned attack on the police headquarters in the city. The arrest revealed the location of Jean Parot, Haramboure and Esnal, who were immediately arrested by French police in Bayonne.Cooperation between the French and Spanish police resulted in the capture on 29 March 1992 of the Artapalo leadership of ETA in Bidart
Bidart
Bidart is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It is located in the traditional Basque province of Labourd.-References:* -External links:* Information available in Spanish...
in the French Basque Country. Those arrested included Francisco Múgica Garmendia Pakito; José Luis Álvarez Santacristina, Txelis'’; and José María Arregi Erostarbe, Fitipaldi.
Trials and sentences
After the arrest of those who masterminded and executed the attack Zaragoza, the following sentences were imposed:- José Antonio Urruticoechea Bengoechea, Josu Ternera: Sentenced to 10 years in prison in France, was extradited to Spain in May 1996.
In January 2000, after he had spent three years in prison awaiting trial, the Spanish Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Spain
The Supreme Court of Spain is the highest court in Spain for all matters not pertaining to the Spanish Constitution. The court which meets in the Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid, consists of a president and an indeterminate number of magistrates appointed to the five chambers of the...
ordered his release after finding that his crimes had already been tried in France. The Prosecutor and the Association of Victims of Terrorism appealed the decision and Ternera was again charged with planning and organising the attack. However he failed to appear in court and an international arrest warrant was issued, with his current whereabouts still unknown.
- Francisco Mujika Garmendia, Pakito: on 18 June 1993 was tried in Paris by the Correctional Tribunal for crimes committed on French soil, and sentenced to 10 years in prison for ordering and providing the material for the attacks committed by the Argala Commando Unit. He was extradited to Spain on 8 February 2000 and judged by the High Court. On 3 June 2003 he was sentenced to 2354 years on prison for 11 murders and another 88 years for the injuries caused by the attacks.
- José María Arregi Erostarbe, Fitipaldi: Was tried together with Pakito’’ and received the same 2354 year sentence.
- Henri ParotHenri ParotHenri Unai Parot Navarro was a member of the Basque separatist group ETA. He was born in Algiers in 1958, son of an exile Basque-French marriage...
, Unai: tried by the High Court on 8 March 1994, and received what was at that time the second longest sentence in Spanish history: 1,802 years in prison for the attack in Zaragoza. Found guilty of a total of 82 murders, Parot’s 26 convictions resulted in a total sentence of 4800 years in prison. - Jean Parot, Jacques Esnal and Frederic Haramboure: Captured in France, they were tried on 19 June 1997 by the French Tribunal and sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Memorials
Since 1987 a memorial ceremony has been held every year in Zaragoza. A memorial garden, the “Park of hope” was built at the location of the former barracks. It contains the sculptures of children playing, representing the younger victims of the bombing.On 11 December 2007, to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack, a wreath laying ceremony took place at the park, which was attended by Pascual Grasa, who was on guard at the entrance during the bombing, and seriously injured in it. Grasa delivered a speech to the audience in memory of the deceased.
During the 2009 commemoration, Juan Alberto Belloch, Mayor of Zaragoza, unveiled a memorial stone containing the names of the 11 victims. The ceremony was also attended by witnesses and victims of the event.