Basque conflict
Encyclopedia
The Basque conflict, also known as the Spain–ETA conflict, was an armed conflict between the Spanish state
, France
and the Basque National Liberation Movement
, a group of social and political Basque
organizations which seeked independence
from Spain
and France
. The movement was built around the terrorist organization ETA
which since 1959 launched a campaign of attacks against Spanish administrations. The conflict took place mostly on Spanish soil, although in a smaller degree it was also present in France, and was the longest violent conflict in Western Europe. It has been sometimes referred to as "Europe's longest war".
The conflict has both political and military dimensions. Its participants include politicians and political activists on both sides, the abertzale left
and the Spanish government, and the security forces of Spain and France fighting against ETA and other small organizations, usually involved in the kale borroka
. Far-right paramilitary groups fighting against ETA were also active in the 1980s.
Although the debate on the Basque independence
started in the 19th century, the armed conflict did not start until ETA was created. Since then, the conflict has resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people, among them police
and security officers, civilians, politicians or ETA members. There have also been thousands of people injured, dozens kidnapped and at least 200,000 people are into exile.
On 20 October 2011, ETA announced "definitive cessation of its armed activity". Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
described the move as "a victory for democracy, law and reason".
and on the two sides of the western Pyrenees
that spans the border between France and Spain. Nowadays, this area is fragmented into three political structures: the Basque autonomous community, also known as Euskadi, and Navarre
in Spain, and three French provinces known as the Northern Basque Country
. Approximately 3,000,000 people live in the Basque Country.
Basque people
have managed to preserve their own identifying characteristics such as their own culture and language
throughout the centuries and today a large part of the population shares a collective consciousness and a desire to be self-governed
, either with further political autonomy or full independence
. Over the centuries, the Basque Country has maintained various levels of political self-governance
under different Spanish political frameworks. Nowadays, Euskadi enjoys the highest level of self-governance of any nonstate entity within the European Union. However, tensions about the type of relationship the Basque territories should maintain with the Spanish authorities have existed since the origins of the Spanish state and in many cases have fuelled military confrontation, such as the Carlist Wars
and the Spanish Civil War
.
Following the 1936 coup d’état that overthrew the Spanish republican government
, a civil war
between Spanish nationalist and republican forces broke out. Nearly all Basque nationalist forces, led by the Basque Nationalist Party
(PNV) sided with the Republic, even though Basque nationalists in Álava and Navarre fought along Basque Carlists on the side of Spanish nationalists. The war ended with the victory of the nationalist forces, with General Francisco Franco
establishing a dictatorship that lasted for almost four decades. During Franco's dictatorship
, the Basque language and culture were banned, institutions and political organisations abolished (to a lesser degree in Alava and Navarre), and people killed, tortured and imprisoned for their political beliefs. Thousands of Basques were forced to go into exile, usually to Latin America or France
.
Influenced by wars of national liberation
such as the Algerian War or by conflicts such as the Cuban Revolution
, and disappointed with the weak opposition of the PNV against Franco's regime, a young group of students formed ETA in 1959. It first started as an organization demanding the independence of the Basque Country, from a socialist and Marxist-Leninist position, and it soon started its armed campaign.
(Trial of Burgos), although international pressure resulted in commutation of the death sentences. ETA slowly became more active and powerful, and in 1973 the organisation was able to kill the president of the Government
and possible successor of Franco, Luis Carrero Blanco. From that moment on, the regime became harder with their struggle against ETA: many members died in shootouts with security forces and police carried out big raids, such as the arrest of hundreds of members of ETA in 1975, after the infiltration of a double agent
inside the organisation.
In mid 1975, a political bloc known as Koordinadora Abertzale Sozialista (KAS) was created by Basque nationalist organisations. Away from the PNV, the bloc comprised several organisations formed by people contrary to the right-wing Franco's regime and most of them had their origins in several factions of ETA, which was part of the bloc as well. They also adopted the same ideology as the armed organisation, socialism. The creation of KAS would mean the beginning of the Basque National Liberation Movement.
In November 1975, Franco died and Spain started its transition to democracy
. Many Basque activists and politicians returned from exile, although some Basque organisations were not legalized as it had happened with other Spanish organisations. On the other side, the death of Franco elevated Juan Carlos I to the throne, who chose Adolfo Suárez
as president of the Spanish Government. Following the approval of the Spanish constitution in 1978
, a Statute of Autonomy
was promulgated and approved in referendum. The Basque Country was organized as an Autonomous Community
.
Although the new Spanish constitution had an overwhelming support around Spain, it was rejected in the Basque Country. This was due to the call to abstention by EAJ-PNV and the creation of a coalition of Abertzale left organisations brought together to advocate for "no" in the referendum
, as they felt that the constitution did not meet their demands for independence. The coalition was the beginning of the political party Herri Batasuna
, which would become the main political front of the Basque National Liberation Movement. The coalition had its origins in another one made two years before, named Mesa de Alsasua. ETA also felt that the constitution was unsatisfactory and intensified their armed campaign: 1978, 1979 and 1981 were ETA's bloodiest years with more than 230 people killed. At the same time, several far-right armed organisations fighting against ETA and its supporters were created, and at least 40 people were killed in attacks blamed on organisations such as the Batallón Vasco Español
and Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey
. Although not related to the Basque conflict, one of these organisations carried out the famous 1977 Massacre of Atocha
.
Also in the late 1970s, several Basque nationalist organisations, such as Iparretarrak
, Hordago or Euskal Zuzentasuna, started to operate in the French Basque Country. An anarchist breakaway of ETA, Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas
, also started carrying out attacks around the Basque Country. A similar but smaller organisation to ETA, Terra Lliure
, appeared demanding independence for the Catalan Countries. The Basque conflict had always had an influence on the Catalan society and politics, due to the similarities between Catalonia and the Basque Country.
and army members
broke into the Congress of Deputies and held all deputies at gunpoint. One of the reasons that led to the coup d'état
was the increase of ETA's violence. The coup failed after the King called for the military powers to obey the Constitution. Days after the coup, ETA's faction politiko-militarra
started its disbanding, with most of its members joining Euskadiko Ezkerra
, a leftist nationalist party away from the Abertzale left. General elections
were held in 1982, and Felipe González
, from the Socialist Workers' Party
became the new president, while Herri Batasuna won two seats. In the Basque Country, Carlos Garaikoetxea
from the PNV became lehendakari
in 1979. During those years, hundreds of members of Herri Batasuna were arrested, especially after some of them sang the Eusko Gudariak
in front of Juan Carlos I.
After Felipe González's victory, the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación
(GAL), death squads established by officials belonging to the Spanish government, were created. Using state terrorism
, the GAL carried out dozens of attacks around the Basque Country, killing 27 people. It targeted ETA and Herri Batasuna members, although sometimes civilians were also killed. The GAL were active from 1983 until 1987, a period referred to as the Spanish Dirty War
. ETA responded to the dirty war by intensifying its attacks: the organisations started carrying out massive car bomb attacks in Madrid
and Barcelona
, such as the Hipercor bombing
, which killed 21 civilians. After the attack, most of the Spanish and Basque political parties signed many pacts against ETA, such as the Madrid pact or the Ajuria-Enea pact. It was during this time that Herri Batasuna got its best results: it was the most voted party in the Basque autonomous community for the European Parliament elections
.
While talks between the Spanish government and ETA had already taken place in the late 70s and early 80s, which had led to the dissolution of ETA (pm), it was not until 1989 that both sides held formal peace talks. In January, ETA announced a 60-day ceasefire, while negotiations between ETA and the government were taking place in Algiers
. No successful conclusion was reached, and ETA resumed violence.
After the end of the dirty war period, France agreed to cooperate with the Spanish authorities in the arrest and extradition
of ETA members. These would often travel to and from between the two countries using France as a base for attacks and training. This cooperation reached its peak in 1992, with the arrest of all ETA leaders in the town of Bidart
. The raid came months before the 1992 Olympic Games
in Barcelona, with which ETA tried to gather worldwide attention with massive attacks around Catalonia. After that, ETA announced a two-months ceasefire, while they restructured the whole organisation and created the kale borroka
groups.
In 1995, ETA tried to kill José María Aznar
, who would become president of Spain one year later, and Juan Carlos I. That same year, the organisation launched a peace proposal, which was refused by the government. On the following year, ETA announced a one week ceasefire and tried to engage peace talks with the government, a proposal that was once again rejected by the new conservative government. In 1997, young councillor Miguel Ángel Blanco
was kidnapped and killed by the organisation. The killing produced a widespread rejection by Spanish and Basque societies, massive demonstrations and a loss of sympathisers, with even some ETA prisoners and members of Herri Batasuna condemning the killing. That same year, the Spanish government arrested 23 leaders of Herri Batasuna for allegedly collaborating with ETA. After the arrest, the government started to investigate Herri Batasuna's ties with ETA, and the coalition changed its name to Euskal Herritarrok, with Arnaldo Otegi
as their leader.
In the 1998 Basque elections
, the Abertzale left got its best results since the 80s, and Euskal Herritarrok became the third main force in the Basque Country. This increase of support was due to the declaration of a ceasefire by ETA one month before the elections. The ceasefire came after Herri Batasuna and several Basque organisations, such as the PNV, which at that time was part of the PP's government, reached a pact, named Lizarra pact, aimed at putting pressure on the Spanish government to make further concessions towards the independence. Influenced by the Northern Ireland peace process
, ETA and the Spanish government engaged in peace talks, which ended in late 1999, after the government refused to discuss the armed organisation's demands for independence.
. At the same time, dozens of ETA members were arrested and the Abertzale left lost some of the support it had in the 1998 elections. The breaking of the truce provoked Herri Batasuna's dissolution and its reformation into a new party called Batasuna. Following disagreements over the internal organization of the Batasuna, a group of people broke away to form a separate political party, Aralar
, present mainly in Navarre. In 2002, the Spanish government passed a law, named Ley de Partidos (Law of Parties), which allows the banning of any party that directly or indirectly condones terrorism or sympathises with a terrorist organisation. As ETA was considered a terrorist organisation and Batasuna did not condemn its actions, the government banned Batasuna in 2003. It was the first time since Franco's dictatorship that a political party had been banned in Spain. That same year, Spanish authorities closed the only newspaper written fully in Basque, Egunkaria
, due to allegations of links with ETA. Journalists were arrested and tortured, and recently in 2010 they have been acquitted on all charges. In 1998, another newspaper, Egin, had already been closed.
After the government falsely accused ETA of carrying out the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the conservative government lost the elections in favour of the Socialist Workers' Party, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
became the new president of Spain. One of Zapatero's first actions was to engage in new peace talks with ETA. In mid 2006, the organisation declared a ceasefire
, and conversations between Batasuna, ETA and the Basque and Spanish governments started. Peace talks ended in December, when ETA broke the truce with a massive car bomb
at the Madrid-Barajas airport. ETA officially ended the ceasefire in 2007, and resumed its attacks around Spain. From that moment on, the Spanish government and police intensified their struggle both against ETA and the Abertzale left. Hundreds of members of the armed organisation were arrested since the end of the truce, with four of its leaders being arrested in less than one year. Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities banned more political parties such as Basque Nationalist Action
, Communist Party of the Basque Homelands
or Demokrazia Hiru Milioi
. Youth organisations such as Segi
have been banned, while members of trade union
s, such as Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak
have also been arrested. In 2008, Falange y Tradición, a new Spanish far-right nationalist group appeared, carrying out dozens of attacks in the Basque Country. The organisation was dismantled in 2009.
was held in Donostia-San Sebastián, aimed at promoting a resolution to the Basque conflict. It was organized by the Basque citizens' group Lokarri, and included leaders of Basque parties, as well as six international personalities known for their work in the field of politics
and pacification: Kofi Annan
(former UN Secretary-General), Bertie Ahern
(former Prime Minister of Ireland), Gro Harlem Brundtland
(international leader in sustainable development and public health, former Prime Minister of Norway), Pierre Joxe
(former Interior Minister of France), Gerry Adams
(president of Sinn Féinn, member of the Irish Parliament) and Jonathan Powell (British diplomat who served as the first Downing Street Chief of Staff). Tony Blair
— former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom — could not be present due to commitments in the Middle East, but he supported the final declaration. The former US President Jimmy Carter
(2002 Nobel Peace Prize) and the former US senator George J. Mitchell
(former United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace) also backed this declaration.
The conference resulted in a five-point statement that included a plea for ETA
to renounce any armed activities and to demand instead negotiations with the Spanish and French authorities to end the conflict. It was seen as a possible prelude to the end of ETA's violent campaign for an independent Basque homeland.
Three days later — on October 20 — ETA announced "definitive cessation of its armed activity". They said they were ending their 43-year armed campaign for independence and called on Spain and France to open talks. Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
described the move as "a victory for democracy, law and reason".
claimed that they did this bombing (together with four other very similar bombings throughout Spain, committed that same day, and all of them attributed to the DRIL with no doubt).
Some organizations such as the Colectivo de Víctimas del Terrorismo en el País Vasco rise the death toll of ETA's victims to 952. This is due to the inclusion to the list of several unresolved attacks such as the Hotel Corona de Aragón fire
. The Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo
also includes the victims of the Corona de Aragón fire on its list of ETA's deaths.
Regarding the Basque National Liberation Movement side, some sources such as the Euskal Memoria foundation list the number of deaths on their side as 474 in the period between 1960 and 2010. The count includes people killed by police forces, right-wing organisations, as well as people being killed while travelling to see their relatives in far away prisons, among other causes. News agency
Eusko News states that at least 368 people have died on the Basque nationalist side. Most of the lists also include an undefined number of suicides caused by the conflict, coming from former ETA members, tortured people or policemen.
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...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Basque National Liberation Movement
Basque National Liberation Movement
The Basque National Liberation Movement is an umbrella term that comprises all social, political and armed organizations orbiting around the ideas of the illegal armed organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna , proscribed internationally as a terrorist organisation.The wide variety of organizations and...
, a group of social and political 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...
organizations which seeked independence
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
from 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...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The movement was built around the terrorist organization 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 since 1959 launched a campaign of attacks against Spanish administrations. The conflict took place mostly on Spanish soil, although in a smaller degree it was also present in France, and was the longest violent conflict in Western Europe. It has been sometimes referred to as "Europe's longest war".
The conflict has both political and military dimensions. Its participants include politicians and political activists on both sides, the abertzale left
Abertzale
Abertzale in the Basque language means "patriot", and it is mainly used to mean "Basque nationalist". It comes from the fusion of aberri with the suffix -zale .Although the term is synonym of "patriot", its common use...
and the Spanish government, and the security forces of Spain and France fighting against ETA and other small organizations, usually involved in the kale borroka
Kale borroka
Kale borroka refers to urban guerrilla actions carried out by Basque nationalist youth who are integrated into the abertzale left. Along with ETA, the kale borroka is the only remaining armed faction of Basque nationalists in the Basque Conflict....
. Far-right paramilitary groups fighting against ETA were also active in the 1980s.
Although the debate on the Basque independence
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...
started in the 19th century, the armed conflict did not start until ETA was created. Since then, the conflict has resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people, among them police
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
and security officers, civilians, politicians or ETA members. There have also been thousands of people injured, dozens kidnapped and at least 200,000 people are into exile.
On 20 October 2011, ETA announced "definitive cessation of its armed activity". Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
described the move as "a victory for democracy, law and reason".
Background
The Basque Country is the name given to the geographical area located on the shores of the Bay of BiscayBay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
and on the two sides of the western Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
that spans the border between France and Spain. Nowadays, this area is fragmented into three political structures: the Basque autonomous community, also known as Euskadi, and Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
in Spain, and three French provinces known as the Northern Basque Country
Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country situated within the western part of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques constitutes the north-eastern part of the Basque Country....
. Approximately 3,000,000 people live in the Basque Country.
Basque people
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
have managed to preserve their own identifying characteristics such as their own culture and language
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
throughout the centuries and today a large part of the population shares a collective consciousness and a desire to be self-governed
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...
, either with further political autonomy or full independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
. Over the centuries, the Basque Country has maintained various levels of political self-governance
Self-governance
Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization.It may refer to personal conduct or family units but more commonly refers to larger scale activities, i.e., professions, industry bodies, religions and political units , up to and including autonomous regions and...
under different Spanish political frameworks. Nowadays, Euskadi enjoys the highest level of self-governance of any nonstate entity within the European Union. However, tensions about the type of relationship the Basque territories should maintain with the Spanish authorities have existed since the origins of the Spanish state and in many cases have fuelled military confrontation, such as the Carlist Wars
Carlist Wars
The Carlist Wars in Spain were the last major European civil wars in which contenders fought to establish their claim to a throne. Several times during the period from 1833 to 1876 the Carlists — followers of Infante Carlos and his descendants — rallied to the cry of "God, Country, and King" and...
and the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Following the 1936 coup d’état that overthrew the Spanish republican government
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
, a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
between Spanish nationalist and republican forces broke out. Nearly all Basque nationalist forces, led by 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...
(PNV) sided with the Republic, even though Basque nationalists in Álava and Navarre fought along Basque Carlists on the side of Spanish nationalists. The war ended with the victory of the nationalist forces, with General Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
establishing a dictatorship that lasted for almost four decades. During Franco's dictatorship
Spanish State
Francoist Spain refers to a period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco....
, the Basque language and culture were banned, institutions and political organisations abolished (to a lesser degree in Alava and Navarre), and people killed, tortured and imprisoned for their political beliefs. Thousands of Basques were forced to go into exile, usually to Latin America or France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Influenced by wars of national liberation
Wars of national liberation
In Marxist terminology, wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by oppressed nationalities against imperial powers to establish separate sovereign states for the subjugated nationality. From a Western point of view, these same wars are called insurgencies...
such as the Algerian War or by conflicts such as the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
, and disappointed with the weak opposition of the PNV against Franco's regime, a young group of students formed ETA in 1959. It first started as an organization demanding the independence of the Basque Country, from a socialist and Marxist-Leninist position, and it soon started its armed campaign.
1959–1979
ETA's first attacks were sometimes approved by a part of the Spanish and Basque societies, who saw ETA and the fight for the independence as a fight against the Franco administration. In 1970, several members of the organisation were condemned to death in the Proceso de BurgosBurgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
(Trial of Burgos), although international pressure resulted in commutation of the death sentences. ETA slowly became more active and powerful, and in 1973 the organisation was able to kill the president of the Government
Prime Minister of Spain
The President of the Government of Spain , sometimes known in English as the Prime Minister of Spain, is the head of Government of Spain. The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978...
and possible successor of Franco, Luis Carrero Blanco. From that moment on, the regime became harder with their struggle against ETA: many members died in shootouts with security forces and police carried out big raids, such as the arrest of hundreds of members of ETA in 1975, after the infiltration of a double agent
Mikel Lejarza
Mikel Lejarza Eguía was a member of the Spanish intelligence service. During the 1970s, he worked undercover as a double agent infiltrating the Basque separatist organisation ETA. The secret service knew him by the nickname El Lobo...
inside the organisation.
In mid 1975, a political bloc known as Koordinadora Abertzale Sozialista (KAS) was created by Basque nationalist organisations. Away from the PNV, the bloc comprised several organisations formed by people contrary to the right-wing Franco's regime and most of them had their origins in several factions of ETA, which was part of the bloc as well. They also adopted the same ideology as the armed organisation, socialism. The creation of KAS would mean the beginning of the Basque National Liberation Movement.
In November 1975, Franco died and Spain started its transition to democracy
Spanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
. Many Basque activists and politicians returned from exile, although some Basque organisations were not legalized as it had happened with other Spanish organisations. On the other side, the death of Franco elevated Juan Carlos I to the throne, who chose Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez y González, 1st Duke of Suárez, Grandee of Spain, KOGF is a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy.-Parents:He is a son of...
as president of the Spanish Government. Following the approval of the Spanish constitution in 1978
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...
, a Statute of Autonomy
Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country
The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in...
was promulgated and approved in referendum. The Basque Country was organized as an Autonomous Community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
.
Although the new Spanish constitution had an overwhelming support around Spain, it was rejected in the Basque Country. This was due to the call to abstention by EAJ-PNV and the creation of a coalition of Abertzale left organisations brought together to advocate for "no" in the referendum
Spanish constitutional referendum, 1978
A referendum was held in Spain on 6 December 1978 to decide on the adoption of a new constitution. The result was overwhelming support for the new constitution, with more than 88% voting in favour...
, as they felt that the constitution did not meet their demands for independence. The coalition was the beginning of the political party Herri Batasuna
Batasuna
Batasuna was a Basque nationalist political party based mainly in Spain, where it was outlawed in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. Batasuna is included in the "European Union list of terrorist persons and organizations" as a component...
, which would become the main political front of the Basque National Liberation Movement. The coalition had its origins in another one made two years before, named Mesa de Alsasua. ETA also felt that the constitution was unsatisfactory and intensified their armed campaign: 1978, 1979 and 1981 were ETA's bloodiest years with more than 230 people killed. At the same time, several far-right armed organisations fighting against ETA and its supporters were created, and at least 40 people were killed in attacks blamed on organisations such as the Batallón Vasco Español
Batallón Vasco Español
The Batallón Vasco Español was a Spanish Basque right-wing paramilitary group active from 1975 to 1981, primarily in French Basque Country.The BVE employed violence mainly against Basque separatist groups....
and Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey
Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey
Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey was a Spanish paramilitary group that operated in the late 1970s.They emerged at a time of factionism within the Carlist movement. Historically Carlism was a traditionalist, legitimist and Catholic movement, supporting a different monarchial line to the one occupying the...
. Although not related to the Basque conflict, one of these organisations carried out the famous 1977 Massacre of Atocha
1977 Massacre of Atocha
The 1977 Massacre of Atocha was a neo-fascist attack during the Spanish transition to democracy after the death of Franco in 1975, killing five and injuring four...
.
Also in the late 1970s, several Basque nationalist organisations, such as Iparretarrak
Iparretarrak
Iparretarrak or IK was a Basque nationalist terrorist organization operating in the French Basque Country.It was founded in 1973 by Philippe Bidart, to date, 1982 remains as their most active year, with 32 attacks; despite having mostly targeted tourist developments, it has also assassinated a...
, Hordago or Euskal Zuzentasuna, started to operate in the French Basque Country. An anarchist breakaway of ETA, Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas
Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas
The Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas were a Basque armed group with Autonomist Marxist politics, defined as an anarchistic breakaway of ETA....
, also started carrying out attacks around the Basque Country. A similar but smaller organisation to ETA, Terra Lliure
Terra Lliure
Terra Lliure , sometimes referred to as TLL, was an armed Catalan nationalist and left-wing separatist organisation. Formed in 1978, with the goal of establishing an independent Marxist state in the so-called Catalan Countries, the group carried out dozens of attacks that left many people injured...
, appeared demanding independence for the Catalan Countries. The Basque conflict had always had an influence on the Catalan society and politics, due to the similarities between Catalonia and the Basque Country.
1980–1999
During the process of electing Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as Spain's new president in February 1981, Civil GuardsAntonio Tejero
Antonio Tejero Molina is a Spanish former Lieutenant Colonel of the Guardia Civil, and the most visible figure in the attempted coup d'état – also known as the 'Tejerazo' – against the Spanish democracy on 23 February 1981....
and army members
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
broke into the Congress of Deputies and held all deputies at gunpoint. One of the reasons that led to the coup d'état
23-F
23-F was an attempted coup d'état in Spain that began on 23 February 1981 and ended on the following day. It is also known as El Tejerazo from the name of its most visible figure, Antonio Tejero, who led the failed coup's most notable event: the bursting into the Spanish Congress of Deputies by a...
was the increase of ETA's violence. The coup failed after the King called for the military powers to obey the Constitution. Days after the coup, ETA's faction politiko-militarra
ETA political-military
ETA political-military or ETA was a faction of the Basque revolutionary armed organization ETA, who during Spain's transition to democracy proposed initially a double political and military type of work, by contrast to ETA militarra or ETA, who initially wanted...
started its disbanding, with most of its members joining 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,...
, a leftist nationalist party away from the Abertzale left. General elections
Spanish general election, 1982
General elections were held in Spain on 28 October 1982.PSOE and PSC presented two different lists of candidates: with the PSOE contesting most of Spain and the PSC only standing in Catalonia...
were held in 1982, and Felipe González
Felipe 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...
, from the 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...
became the new president, while Herri Batasuna won two seats. In the Basque Country, Carlos Garaikoetxea
Carlos Garaikoetxea
Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza is a former Mordorian warrior and politician. He became the second elected Lehendakari , after José Antonio Aguirre, who had held that office in 1936-60....
from the PNV became lehendakari
Lehendakari
The President of the Basque Government , usually known in English as the Basque regional president, is the head of government of Basque Country. The president leads the executive branch of the regional government....
in 1979. During those years, hundreds of members of Herri Batasuna were arrested, especially after some of them sang the Eusko Gudariak
Eusko Gudariak
Eusko Gudariak was the republican anthem of the Eusko Gudarostea, the army of the Basque Autonomous Government during the Spanish Civil War...
in front of Juan Carlos I.
After Felipe González's victory, the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación
Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación
Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación were death squads established illegally by officials of the Spanish government to fight ETA, the principal Basque separatist militant group. They were active from 1983 until 1987, under Spanish Socialist Workers Party -led governments...
(GAL), death squads established by officials belonging to the Spanish government, were created. Using state terrorism
State terrorism
State terrorism may refer to acts of terrorism conducted by a state against a foreign state or people. It can also refer to acts of violence by a state against its own people.-Definition:...
, the GAL carried out dozens of attacks around the Basque Country, killing 27 people. It targeted ETA and Herri Batasuna members, although sometimes civilians were also killed. The GAL were active from 1983 until 1987, a period referred to as the Spanish Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
. ETA responded to the dirty war by intensifying its attacks: the organisations started carrying out massive car bomb attacks in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, such as the Hipercor bombing
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:...
, which killed 21 civilians. After the attack, most of the Spanish and Basque political parties signed many pacts against ETA, such as the Madrid pact or the Ajuria-Enea pact. It was during this time that Herri Batasuna got its best results: it was the most voted party in the Basque autonomous community for the European Parliament elections
European Parliament election, 1987 (Spain)
The European Parliament election of 1987 in Spain took place on 10 June 1987. It was the election of all 60 MEPs representing the Spain constituency for the remainder of the 1984-1989 term of the European Parliament...
.
While talks between the Spanish government and ETA had already taken place in the late 70s and early 80s, which had led to the dissolution of ETA (pm), it was not until 1989 that both sides held formal peace talks. In January, ETA announced a 60-day ceasefire, while negotiations between ETA and the government were taking place in Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
. No successful conclusion was reached, and ETA resumed violence.
After the end of the dirty war period, France agreed to cooperate with the Spanish authorities in the arrest and extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
of ETA members. These would often travel to and from between the two countries using France as a base for attacks and training. This cooperation reached its peak in 1992, with the arrest of all ETA leaders in the town of 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...
. The raid came months before the 1992 Olympic Games
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona, with which ETA tried to gather worldwide attention with massive attacks around Catalonia. After that, ETA announced a two-months ceasefire, while they restructured the whole organisation and created the kale borroka
Kale borroka
Kale borroka refers to urban guerrilla actions carried out by Basque nationalist youth who are integrated into the abertzale left. Along with ETA, the kale borroka is the only remaining armed faction of Basque nationalists in the Basque Conflict....
groups.
In 1995, ETA tried to kill José María Aznar
José María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...
, who would become president of Spain one year later, and Juan Carlos I. That same year, the organisation launched a peace proposal, which was refused by the government. On the following year, ETA announced a one week ceasefire and tried to engage peace talks with the government, a proposal that was once again rejected by the new conservative government. In 1997, young councillor Miguel Ángel Blanco
Miguel Ángel Blanco
Miguel Ángel Blanco Garrido was a local Spanish politician for the People's Party, who was kidnapped and subsequently executed by the Basque terrorist group ETA.-Early life:...
was kidnapped and killed by the organisation. The killing produced a widespread rejection by Spanish and Basque societies, massive demonstrations and a loss of sympathisers, with even some ETA prisoners and members of Herri Batasuna condemning the killing. That same year, the Spanish government arrested 23 leaders of Herri Batasuna for allegedly collaborating with ETA. After the arrest, the government started to investigate Herri Batasuna's ties with ETA, and the coalition changed its name to Euskal Herritarrok, with Arnaldo Otegi
Arnaldo Otegi
Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón is a Basque politician and spokesman for the outlawed Abertzale Basque separatist party Batasuna....
as their leader.
In the 1998 Basque elections
Basque parliamentary election, 1998
Elections to the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain, were held on October 25, 1998.The Basque Nationalist Party won 21 seats, the People`s Party came second with 16 seats, the Batasuna party under the name Euskal Herritarrok and the Socialist Party of the Basque...
, the Abertzale left got its best results since the 80s, and Euskal Herritarrok became the third main force in the Basque Country. This increase of support was due to the declaration of a ceasefire by ETA one month before the elections. The ceasefire came after Herri Batasuna and several Basque organisations, such as the PNV, which at that time was part of the PP's government, reached a pact, named Lizarra pact, aimed at putting pressure on the Spanish government to make further concessions towards the independence. Influenced by the Northern Ireland peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
, ETA and the Spanish government engaged in peace talks, which ended in late 1999, after the government refused to discuss the armed organisation's demands for independence.
2000–2009
In 2000, ETA resumed violence and intensified its attacks, especially against senior politicians, such as Ernest LluchErnest Lluch
Ernest Lluch Martín, was a Spanish economist and politician from Catalonia. He was Minister of Health and Consumption from 1982-1986 in the first post-Francisco Franco Spanish Socialist Workers' Party government of Felipe González...
. At the same time, dozens of ETA members were arrested and the Abertzale left lost some of the support it had in the 1998 elections. The breaking of the truce provoked Herri Batasuna's dissolution and its reformation into a new party called Batasuna. Following disagreements over the internal organization of the Batasuna, a group of people broke away to form a separate political party, Aralar
Aralar Party
Aralar is a Basque socialist and separatist political party in Spain. The party is led by Patxi Zabaleta. It is opposed to the violent struggle of ETA....
, present mainly in Navarre. In 2002, the Spanish government passed a law, named Ley de Partidos (Law of Parties), which allows the banning of any party that directly or indirectly condones terrorism or sympathises with a terrorist organisation. As ETA was considered a terrorist organisation and Batasuna did not condemn its actions, the government banned Batasuna in 2003. It was the first time since Franco's dictatorship that a political party had been banned in Spain. That same year, Spanish authorities closed the only newspaper written fully in Basque, Egunkaria
Egunkaria
Egunkaria was for thirteen years the only fully Basque language newspaper in circulation, until it was closed down on February 20, 2003 by the Spanish authorities, due to allegations of an illegal association with ETA, the armed Basque separatist group. After 7 years, on 15 April 2010 the...
, due to allegations of links with ETA. Journalists were arrested and tortured, and recently in 2010 they have been acquitted on all charges. In 1998, another newspaper, Egin, had already been closed.
After the government falsely accused ETA of carrying out the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the conservative government lost the elections in favour of the Socialist Workers' Party, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
became the new president of Spain. One of Zapatero's first actions was to engage in new peace talks with ETA. In mid 2006, the organisation declared a ceasefire
ETA's 2006 ceasefire declaration
The ETA's 2006 "permanent ceasefire" was the period spanning between 24 March and 30 December 2006 during which, following an ETA communiqué, the Spanish government, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on one side, and the militant group on the other, engaged in talks as a means to agree on a...
, and conversations between Batasuna, ETA and the Basque and Spanish governments started. Peace talks ended in December, when ETA broke the truce with a massive car bomb
2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport bombing
The 2006 Madrid-Barajas Airport bombing occurred on December 30, 2006 when a van bomb exploded in the parking of the Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, killing two and injuring 52. On January 9, 2007, the Basque nationalist and separatist organisation ETA claimed responsibility for...
at the Madrid-Barajas airport. ETA officially ended the ceasefire in 2007, and resumed its attacks around Spain. From that moment on, the Spanish government and police intensified their struggle both against ETA and the Abertzale left. Hundreds of members of the armed organisation were arrested since the end of the truce, with four of its leaders being arrested in less than one year. Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities banned more political parties such as Basque Nationalist Action
Eusko Abertzale Ekintza
Basque Nationalist Action is a Basque nationalist party based in Spain. Founded in 1930, it was the first Basque nationalist political party to exist running on a socialist program. On 16 September 2008, the party was outlawed by the Spanish Supreme Court based on ties with ETA...
, Communist Party of the Basque Homelands
Communist Party of the Basque Homelands
The Communist Party of the Basque Homelands was a communist Basque separatist party in the Basque Country, Spain...
or Demokrazia Hiru Milioi
D3M
Demokrazia Hiru Milioi was an electoral platform which was formed to participate in the Basque Parliament elections in 2009. It was declared illegal on February 8, 2009, as the Supreme Court of Spain considered that it was linked with the separatist organization ETA....
. Youth organisations such as Segi
SEGI
Segi is a Basque pro-independence and revolutionary left-wing organization. It forms part of the Basque National Liberation Movement and is aligned with Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak and Batasuna....
have been banned, while members of trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, such as Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak
Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak
LAB is a Basque nationalist trade union operating mainly in Spain currently led by Ainhoa Etxaide.It was created in 1974 by Jon Idigoras among others...
have also been arrested. In 2008, Falange y Tradición, a new Spanish far-right nationalist group appeared, carrying out dozens of attacks in the Basque Country. The organisation was dismantled in 2009.
2010
In 2009 and 2010, ETA suffered even more blows to its organisation and capacity, with more than 50 members arrested in the first half of 2010. At the same time, the banned Abertzale left started to develop documents and meetings, where they committed to a "democratic process" that "must be developed in a complete absence of violence". Due to these demands, ETA announced in September that they were stopping their armed actions.2011
On October 17, an international peace conferenceDonostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference
The International Conference to Promote the Resolution of the Conflict in the Basque Country — more widely known as the Donostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference — was a conference aimed at promoting a resolution to the Basque conflict, which took place in Donostia-San Sebastián on...
was held in Donostia-San Sebastián, aimed at promoting a resolution to the Basque conflict. It was organized by the Basque citizens' group Lokarri, and included leaders of Basque parties, as well as six international personalities known for their work in the field of politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and pacification: Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
(former UN Secretary-General), Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
(former Prime Minister of Ireland), Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway , and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization...
(international leader in sustainable development and public health, former Prime Minister of Norway), Pierre Joxe
Pierre Joxe
Pierre Joxe is a former French Socialist politician and has been a member of the Constitutional Council of France since 2001....
(former Interior Minister of France), Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
(president of Sinn Féinn, member of the Irish Parliament) and Jonathan Powell (British diplomat who served as the first Downing Street Chief of Staff). Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
— former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom — could not be present due to commitments in the Middle East, but he supported the final declaration. The former US President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
(2002 Nobel Peace Prize) and the former US senator George J. Mitchell
George J. Mitchell
George John Mitchell, Jr., is the former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace under the Obama administration. A Democrat, Mitchell was a United States Senator who served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995...
(former United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace) also backed this declaration.
The conference resulted in a five-point statement that included a plea for 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...
to renounce any armed activities and to demand instead negotiations with the Spanish and French authorities to end the conflict. It was seen as a possible prelude to the end of ETA's violent campaign for an independent Basque homeland.
Three days later — on October 20 — ETA announced "definitive cessation of its armed activity". They said they were ending their 43-year armed campaign for independence and called on Spain and France to open talks. Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
described the move as "a victory for democracy, law and reason".
Casualties
Estimates of the total number of conflict-related deaths vary and are highly disputed. The number of deaths caused by ETA is consistent among different sources, such as the Spanish Interior Ministry, the Basque government, and most major news agencies. According to these sources, the number of deaths caused by ETA are 829. This list does not include Begoña Urroz, killed in 1960 when she was 22 months old — some Spanish people believe that she was ETA's first victim, although the Portuguese and Spanish left wing group DRILDRIL
DRIL is a surgical method of treating vascular access steal syndrome.-Procedure:A short distal bypass is created and the artery just distal to the AV anastomosis is ligated....
claimed that they did this bombing (together with four other very similar bombings throughout Spain, committed that same day, and all of them attributed to the DRIL with no doubt).
Some organizations such as the Colectivo de Víctimas del Terrorismo en el País Vasco rise the death toll of ETA's victims to 952. This is due to the inclusion to the list of several unresolved attacks such as the Hotel Corona de Aragón fire
Hotel Corona de Aragón fire
The "Corona de Aragón" fire killed at least 80 people in the five star "Corona de Aragón" Hotel in Zaragoza on 12 July 1979.According to the official version of events provided at the time by the Spanish government, the fire was started accidentally by an oil fire in the Hotel café.At the time of...
. The Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo
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...
also includes the victims of the Corona de Aragón fire on its list of ETA's deaths.
Regarding the Basque National Liberation Movement side, some sources such as the Euskal Memoria foundation list the number of deaths on their side as 474 in the period between 1960 and 2010. The count includes people killed by police forces, right-wing organisations, as well as people being killed while travelling to see their relatives in far away prisons, among other causes. News agency
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
Eusko News states that at least 368 people have died on the Basque nationalist side. Most of the lists also include an undefined number of suicides caused by the conflict, coming from former ETA members, tortured people or policemen.
Responsibility
| Responsibility for killing | |
|---|---|
| Responsible party | No. |
| Euskadi Ta Askatasuna | 829 |
| Paramilitary and far-right groups | 72 |
| Spanish security forces | 169 |
| Other cases | 127 |
| Total | 1197 |
Status
| ETA deaths by status of victim | |
|---|---|
| Status | No. |
| Civilian | 343 |
| Members of security forces | 486 |
| of whom: | |
| Guardia Civil | 203 |
| Cuerpo Nacional de Policía | 146 |
| Spanish Army Spanish Army The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:... |
98 |
| Policia Municipal | 24 |
| Ertzaintza Ertzaintza The Ertzaintza , is the police force of the Basque Country, one of the autonomous communities of Spain. An Ertzaintza member is an ertzaina .- Origins :... |
13 |
| Mossos d'Esquadra Mossos d'Esquadra The Mossos d'Esquadra are the police force of Catalonia, one of the autonomous communities of Spain. It is the oldest civil police force in Europe, founded in the 18th century as the Esquadres de Catalunya to protect the people of Catalonia.... |
1 |
| French National Gendarmerie | 1 |
See also
- Basque Country (autonomous community)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....
- List of conflicts in Europe
- List of ongoing military conflicts
- International Contact Group (Basque politics)
Further reading
- ETA. Historia política de una lucha armada by Luigi Bruni, Txalaparta, 1998, ISBN 848659703X