ETA

“Euskadi Ta
Askatasuna”
The birth
ETA is a terroristic organization founded
at the end of the 50’s that fights for
the independence of the Basque
Country through terroristic attacks
and violence. The organization was
founded in 1958 by a group of Basque
nationalist students and the first
attack happened ten years later.
In Basque language ETA means
“Euskadi Ta Askatasuna” that
means “Basque homeland and
freedom”.
The biggest attacks
The violence of the organization
has caused 2000 victims, of
which 800 in the 60’s. Among
the several attacks that
shocked the country, one of
the worst was the explosion of
a bomb in a restaurant in
Torreion where 17 people died.
Another one happened in 1987
in Barcellona, where due to a
bomb located in a shopping
centre, 21 people died and a
lot were wounded.
Who are the
basques?
The Basques are a culturally
distinct Christian group
that straddles the
mountainous region
between modern-day Spain
and France. According to a
census from 2001, there
are between 2 million and
3 million people living in
Spain’s Basque regions.
Who and what does ETA
target?
A brief truce
In march 2006 the State and the ETA
stipulated an agreement, where the Spanish
State granted to solve the Basque conflict in
a democratical way. This agreement ended in
December 2006 when a car bomb exploded
at the Barajas airport in Madrid. The Spanish
Prime Minister Zapatero announced the
suspension of the dialogue with ETA. The last
attack of the terroristic organization hit the
seat of BasqueTV in Bilbao on 31/12/2008.
Today Spain is still frightened
of possible terroristic attacks
by the Basque organization.
Victims
Civilians
341
Police and soldiers
481
Attacks
1600