List of ETA attacks

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This page is a list of attacks perpetrated by the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, or ETA, the armed Basque separatist movement, mainly in Spain.

Victims (through 2003)

Civilian	339
Police or military	478
Total	817
Source: Spanish Ministry of the Interior [1] [2]

The ETA has conducted many high-profile attacks over the years. Among the most significant have been:

• 1961: First ETA attack, an unsuccessful attempt to derail a train.
• 1968: Melitón Manzanas, a secret police chief (an alleged torturer) in the Basque city of San Sebastian, is killed in ETA's first deadly attack.
• December 20, 1973: Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated in Madrid in retaliation for the government's execution of Basque separatists.
• September 13, 1974: A bomb is placed inside the "Rolando" cafeteria in Madrid, killing 12 civilians.
• September 1985: First ETA car bomb in Madrid kills an American citizen and wounds 16 Civil Guards.
• July 14, 1986: A car bomb on República Dominicana square in Madrid explodes at the passing of a microbus carrying young Civil Guards, killing 12 of them and injuring 50 people.
• June 19, 1987: A car bomb explodes in the underground car park of an Hipercor supermarket in Barcelona, killing 21 civilians and injuring 45, amongst them several small children.
• December 11, 1987: 250 kg of explosives inside a car bomb explode next to the Civil Guard's Casa Cuartel in Zaragoza, killing 11 people and injuring 40.
• May 29, 1991: A car bomb loaded with 70 kg of explosives is detonated inside the Civil Guard's Casa Cuartel in Vic (Barcelona), which was located next to a school. 10 people are killed (4 of them children) and 28 are injured.
• June 21, 1993: A car bomb explodes at the passing of a military van at the junction of López de Hoyos and Joaquín Costa streets in Madrid, killing 6 soldiers and 1 civilian and injuring 20 people.
• 1995: Assassination plot on King Juan Carlos of Spain failed.
• April 19, 1995: Nearly successful attempt to kill José María Aznar, the leader of Spain's right-wing opposition and future Prime Minister. A car bomb loaded with 40 kg of explosives is detonated at the passing of his official car. He is saved by his vehicle's armor plating but a bystander is killed in the blast.
• December 11, 1995: A car bomb explodes at the passing of military van in the Vallecas borough of Madrid, killing 6 civilians who worked for the Army.
• 1997: Abduction of Basque councillor Miguel Angel Blanco, prompting six million Spaniards to join mass demonstrations against ETA. The organization asks the government to relocate all imprisoned ETA terrorists in prisons closer to the Basque Country in 48 hours. When the government does not accept this demand, Miguel Angel Blanco is executed.
• December 21-22, 1999: The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a Madrid-bound van driven by ETA members and loaded with 950 kg of explosives near Calatayud (Zaragoza); the next day, another van loaded with 750 kg is found not far from there. The incident is known as "la caravana de la muerte" (the caravan of death). Shortly after 9/11, ETA confirmed their plan had been to use those 1,700 kg to blow down Torre Picasso (online report with video in Spanish).
• December 18, 2000: A bomb is placed inside an elevator of the Faculty of Journalism of the University of the Basque Country in Lejona (Vizcaya). The bomb was detected in time by Prof. Edurne Uriarte's bodyguard, and then deactivated.
• May 12, 2001: Thirteen people are injured when a car bomb explodes in Madrid days before regional elections in the Basque County. Eight minutes before the bomb exploded, an anonymous ETA caller warned authorities.
• May 24, 2001: Santiago Oleaga Elejabarrieta, 54, the chief financial officer of El Diario Vasco (The Basque Daily), the most widely circulated newspaper in Guipúzcoa, dies instantly after being shot in the head. The attack was likely motivated by the anti-ETA editorials of 'El Diario.
• July 10, 2001: Luis Ortiz de la Rosa, 33, a police officer, is killed at 8:30 p.m. in a southern neighborhood in Madrid when a car bomb explodes. The blast also injures twelve. A call from ETA 45 minutes before had been made, and police were clearing the area when the bomb detonated.
• July 14, 2001: Twin attacks by ETA claim the lives of two within hours of each other. Jose Javier Múgica, 50, a regional councilor and member of the center-right Union of the People of Navarra party, dies after a car bomb is placed in his van in the northern village of Leiza; Mikel Uribe, 44, a police officer from the General Inspection Unit (Internal Affairs) of the Ertzaintza, dies after being shot from behind in his car in the town of Leaburu.
• July 27, 2001: Three people were injured at 2:30 a.m. when a powerful explosion occurred in front of the La Caixa bank in downtown Madrid. In the same day, Spanish authorities deactivated what was described as a "massive" car bomb in an airport in Malaga, a major tourist destination. An ETA caller warned ahead of time that the bomb was set.
• August 27, 2001: Days after a series of raids, ETA warns the authorities about a bomb they set to explode at around 8 a.m. in Madrid Barajas Airport. The 40 to 50 kg of explosives placed inside a stolen car explode on the second floor of Terminal 2 (national flights) car park, causing only material damage.
• September 2, 2001: A home-made bomb explodes at 9 a.m. in Vitoria in an electronics store owned by an officer of the Ertzaintza regional police force. The bomb damages cars but causes no personal injuries.
• August 04, 2002 : Car bomb explodes outside the Civil Guard's casa cuartel in Santa Pola and kills two people, a six-year-old girl and a 54 year old man, and injuring 40 people.
• May 30, 2003: A car bomb in Navarre kills two policemen and wounds a civilian.
• December 24, 2003: ETA attempts to blow 50 kg of explosives inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station at 3:55 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The police thwarted the attempt when they stopped Garikoitz Arruarte trying to load 28 kg of explosives into a Madrid-bound train in San Sebastián. Another bomb with over 20 kg of explosives was then found inside a second train passing near Burgos, already several hundred kilometers on its way to Madrid.
• December 3, 2004: ETA bombs 5 petrol stations in the Madrid area. Due to a telephoned warning, the areas were evacuated and no one was injured.
• December 6, 2004: On Spanish Constitution Day, ETA detonated seven bombs in bars, cafes and town squares across Spain.
• February 9, 2005: ETA blows a white Renault 19 car with 30 kg of cloratite. The car was placed to the side of the building of Steria Iberica, in Madrid. A total of 42 people were injured, but not serious. Nobody died.
• February 27, 2005: A small bomb exploded at a resort hotel in Villajoyosa after a telephoned warning. The building was evacuated and no one was injured. The explosion damaged only a small house near the residence's swimming pool.
• September 24, 2005: ETA suspected of a car bomb attack in the northern Spanish province of Avila.
• December 6, 2005: On Spanish Constitution Day, ETA detonated five bombs along Madrid highways. No injuries were reported. Also, in northern Spain, Santander Airport was closed following a threat of an attack using grenade launchers.
• December 18, 2005: ETA detonated a bomb inside an eel canery in Irura - Guipúzcoa. No injuries were reported although the cannery suffered extensive damage. The police reports that the bombing is part of an extensive extortion campaign of ETA to Basque business owners.
• December 21, 2005: ETA detonated a bomb inside a van in the back alley of a nightclub in Santesteban - Navarre. No injuries were reported. The nightclub suffered extensive structural damages and some buildings around it suffered damages too.
• January 26, 2006: ETA detonated a bomb beside the court of justice of Balmaseda and another one in the premises of Correos postal service in Etxebarri, both in Biscay, causing material damages and no personal injuries.
• December 30, 2006: Truck bomb in Madrid's Barajas airport that destroyed a four-story parking structure and killed two Ecuadorian immigrants.Read More