ETA Bomb Blasts on Spanish Day of Unity
- Author: Euro News
- Publish date:07/12/2004
- Section:WORLD HEADLINES
Basque separatist group ETA has set off seven bombs across Spain although no one was seriously injured. The small explosions the second major ETA attack since Friday went off simultaneously. Ten people suffered hearing problems from the blast in the northern coastal city of Santillana del Mar. A seven-year-old girl and a policeman were reportedly among those hurt.
ETA had called Basque newspaper Gara earlier in the afternoon, warning that it planned to strike in seven cities up and down the country. The emergency services then searched the threatened towns, evacuating people from potential danger spots.
Tensions were high following Friday's blasts at service stations in and around the capital, Madrid. Officials had been braced for violence today - the anniversary of the 1978 constitution, bitterly opposed by ETA for enshrining the Basque region as part of Spain.
The attacks mark a show of strength by ETA after months of relative inactivity and a police crackdown, which had hit the group hard.
Spanish and French police arrested more than 100 ETA suspects, including the top leadership, in a raid in France two months ago.
**PHOTO CAPTION**
A goat wanders as police officers inspect the parking lot of a zoo where a small explosion occurred in Santillana del Mar, the northwestern Spanish coastal report of Santander. (AFP)