Madrid
October 30. 2000 Spain
Three people were killed and dozens injured when a powerful car bomb exploded
in the heart of Madrid on Monday - police have blamed the blast on the Basque
separatist organisation ETA.
Terrified commuters ran for cover when the bomb exploded in the midst of the
morning rushhour. The blast triggered a huge inferno, engulfing a bus and many
cars. Three people are known to have died, including Supreme Court judge Francisco
Querol, his driver and bodyguard. The explosion occurred in the San Pascual
district near Arturo Soria Avenue, one of Madrid's busiest streets.
For the last three decades the armed organisation ETA has waged a bloody campaign
for independence for the seven regions in northern Spain and southwestern France
that Basque separatists claim as their own.
Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna (ETA), whose name stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom,
first emerged in the 1960s as a student resistance movement bitterly opposed
to General Franco's repressive military dictatorship.
Under Franco the Basque language was banned, their distinctive culture suppressed,
and intellectuals imprisoned and tortured for their political and cultural beliefs.
That fight has led to some 800 deaths over the last 30 years, many of them members
of the Guardia Civil, Spain's national police force, and both local and national
politicians who are opposed to ETA's separatist demands.
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