Spain

Canary Islands

Spain: ETA Bomb Blasts on Costa del Sol

Date: August 21st, 2008 |

Two small bombs exploded at Costa del Sol resorts Aug. 17, causing little damage and no injuries but forcing the evacuation of 10,000 people, including many tourists. The incidents also created gridlock because of street closures in Malaga and around the airport. A third bomb was defused. All three bombs were claimed by the Basque [read more]

Spain: Authorities Worry About ETA Summer Violence

Date: March 26th, 2008 |

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In the past few weeks the Basque separatist group ETA has assassinated a former politician and detonated a car bomb outside a police station in Calahorra in northern Spain, raising fears among security officials that the group may be planning attacks on tourist areas this summer. The concern arises from an assessment that ETA is [read more]

Spain: ETA Threat; Spanair Cabin Crews May Strike

Date: June 20th, 2007 |

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A report by Spanish military intelligence leaked to the media revealed concerns that the Basque separatist group ETA may be planning terrorist attacks this summer on tourist areas of the Spanish coast. The report said ETA has five mobile terror cells composed of young recruits and weapons and explosives stolen last fall from an armory [read more]

Spain: Eta Ends Cease-Fire

Date: June 6th, 2007 |

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The Basque separatist group Eta ended its “permanent ceasefire” June 6, claiming that the minimum conditions for continuing negotiations with the government did not exist. The government halted peace talks in December after an Eta bombing at Madrid airport killed two, an incident Eta claimed did not mean the cease-fire was over. Officials are concerned [read more]

Spain, France: Possible al-Qaeda Threat

Date: April 25th, 2007 |

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Following the April 11 suicide bombings in Algeria, Spain’s intelligence service reported that al-Qaeda terrorists could attack targets in Spain or France in the coming weeks. Officials are concerned that the group might attack in France before the May 6 presidential runoff, or in Spain during local elections May 27 or before the end of [read more]

Spain: ETA Bombings on Beaches; Police Dismantle Top Terrorist Cell

Date: July 23rd, 2008 |

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Four bombings claimed by the Basque militant group ETA hit tourist beaches in northern Spain July 20, causing one injury and no deaths. The bombings occurred in Loredo and Noja, halfway between Santander and Bilbao. Poor weather kept most tourists off the beaches that day. The incidents follow ETA’s pattern of attacking tourist areas more [read more]

Spain: Canary Islands Wildfires Displace Thousands

Date: August 2nd, 2007 |

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Some 14,000 people have been evacuated from homes, hotels and campgrounds in the Canary Islands because of stubborn forest fires on two of the archipelago’s most visited islands. Fires on Tenerife and Gran Canaria have burned out of control since July 27, but luckily the infernos have been inland, mostly away from the coastal tourist [read more]

Spain: Air Carriers Must Collect Advance Passenger Information

Date: June 13th, 2007 |

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Under a directive from the European Union, air carriers must begin collecting “Advance Passenger Information” (API) from all passengers from non-Schengen Treaty countries, and Spain is the first country to apply this requirement. This means that all U.S. citizens flying to Spain must now provide information such as name, nationality, date of birth, and passport [read more]

Spain: ETA-linked Candidates Banned from Election

Date: May 9th, 2007 |

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The Supreme Court banned hundreds of candidates from running in the May 27 elections because of ties to ETA, causing security officials to warn of a possible attack by the Basque separatist group in retaliation. ETA warned in April that if the candidates were banned it would “take the move very much into account,” a [read more]

Spain: Madrid Bombing Derails ETA Peace Talks

Date: January 3rd, 2007 |

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A bombing blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA flattened a five-story parking garage at Madrid’s international airport Dec. 30, injuring 26 and leaving two Ecuadorian immigrants missing. The bombing also flattened the peace process to end the decades-long Basque separatist conflict, which appeared to be close to a resolution. ETA had declared a cease-fire [read more]