2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport bombing
Encyclopedia
The 2006 Madrid-Barajas Airport bombing occurred on December 30, 2006 when a van bomb
exploded in the parking of the Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, killing two and injuring 52. On January 9, 2007, the Basque nationalist
and separatist
organisation ETA
claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack, one of the most powerful carried out by ETA, damaged the airport terminal and blew up the whole parking. The bombing ended a nine-month ceasefire
declared by the armed organisation and prompted the government to halt plans for negotiations with the organisation. Despite the attack, ETA claimed that the ceasefire was still in place and regretted the death of civilians. The organisation eventually announced the end of the ceasefire in June 2007.
Ordered and planned by then head of commandos Mikel Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina alias Txeroki, the attack was carried out by the "commando Elurra", whose members were arrested in early 2008 and sentenced for the attack in May 2010. Txeroki was arrested in November 2008 and is awaiting trial for the bombing.
led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
on one side and the armed organisation, as well as Batasuna
, a Basque nationalist party banned for its ties with ETA, on the other, engaged in talks in order to put an end to the conflict
between the two sides. The Basque Nationalist Party
, then in charge of the Basque Government
, also took part in the conversations. Most of the Basque and Spanish political parties, as well as international institutions, welcomed the announcement, except for the main opposition party People's Party
, which called on the government to continue "fighting terrorism" and reject negotiations of any kind.
During the celebration of the 2006 Gudari Eguna in Aritxulegi, Gipuzkoa on September 23, three armed ETA members took part in the event and stated that the organisation would "keep on taking up arms until independence
and socialism are achieved" in the Basque Country. The armed men also claimed that "the fight is not a thing of the past, it is the present and the future". The statement was regarded by some as intended to put pressure on the talks with the Spanish government, while others saw it as a declaration of ETA's ultimate intentions, making it clear that they would not disarm until every one of their goals had been completely achieved. Despite that, Rodriguez Zapatero stated that the Spanish government would still keep its offer for talks. One of the ETA members was Mattin Sarasola, who took part in the attack.
On October 24, a commando formed by at least five members of ETA stole around 300 revolvers and 50 pistols, as well as ammunition, in an arms warehouse in Vauvert
, France
, and on November 4, the Basque newspaper Gara
released an ETA private document in which it warned the Spanish government that the "peace process" was "in crisis". After the bombing, the ABC newspaper reported that before the attack, ETA had reminded Rodríguez Zapatero about the 2004 Madrid train bombings as a way to pressure the Government. During the ceasefire, street violence around the Basque Country, known as kale borroka
, did not stop.
According to Spanish police, the decision to break the truce may have come from a more violent side of ETA, opposed to any negotiations with the Spanish government, formed by members who joined ETA after participating in the kale borroka and led by Txeroki, who was in charge of all of the organisation's commandos since 2004.
Madrid has been one of the most targeted cities by ETA. Prior to the attack, 36 car bombs had gone off in the city in the previous 20 years and at least 119 people had been killed in attacks carried out by the armed organisation. Some of the most important attacks have been a bomb explosion inside a cafeteria
on September 13, 1974 which killed 13 people, a double bomb attack on July 29, 1979 that killed 8 people, a car bomb explosion on July 15, 1986 which killed 12 Civil Guards
, as well as two car bombs that killed seven and six army members
in 1993 and 1995, respectively. The Madrid-Barajas airport had also been the location of ETA attacks on July 29, 1979, when three civilians were killed, and on August 27, 2002, when a car bomb exploded on the second floor of the Terminal 2 parking, causing only material damage, after a warning call from the armed organisation.
in Navarre
in the summer of 2006, Txeroki, then head of commandos, ordered fellow ETA members Mattin Sarasola, Igor Portu and Mikel San Sebastián to carry out the bombing. The three members had been born in the Navarrese town of Lesaka
and were part of the "commando Elurra" , previously known as "Goiztiarrak", formed in 2002. Until 2006, the commando had the only task of helping members of ETA cross the Spanish-France border and transporting explosives. The cell was also linked with a car bomb attack against a discothèque in the town of Urdax on February 14, 2006, as well as with another attack against a discothèque in Santesteban on December 21, 2005. The leader of the commando, Joseba Aranibar alias 'Basurde' and Joseba Iturbide, who was also part of the cell, did not take part in the meetings. During the first meeting, Txeroki gave instructions on how to carry out the attack and told the members of the commando which secondary roads they should take in order to arrive to the airport and avoid being caught by security forces. After the meeting, Sarasola took part in the September 23 event along with Joseba Iturbide and an unknown member of the organisation.
In October, Sarasola, Portu and San Sebastián rehearsed the route to the airport twice. The first rehearsal was made with San Sebastián's personal car and the second one, on October 21, with a Volkswagen Polo
rented in Irun
, Gipuzkoa. Leaving from Navarre, the commando members succeeded in parking the Volkswagen Polo in the Terminal 4 car park. After the rehearsals, they met again with Txeroki, who gave them the final instructions for the attack, including the day the attack would take place, as well as how to dress on the day of the bombing. Txeroki asked Sarasola to wear a wig, a cap, as well as a face mask on his nose. Sarasola would also have to carry a suitcase and a crutch in order to pretend to be lame on one of his legs. He also asked Sarasola to buy a mobile phone with which Portu would warn of the bombing, and told them which places they should phone: the DYA headquarters, a Basque roadside assistance
association, in Bilbao, Madrid's firemen and the emergency telephone number 112. Nonetheless, Portu would eventually also call a Basque emergency number.
On December 27, Portu, Sarasola and San Sebastián stole a Renault Trafic
at gunpoint in the French town of Luz Ardiden
and held its owner for three days in a cabin located in the Pyrenees
. During that time, he was forced to send mobile messages to his mum, stating that he was alright. He was released 40 minutes after the attack. Comando leader Joseba Aranibar loaded the van with explosives, while Sarasola and San Sebastián spent the night at the cabin.
On the morning of December 29, Aranibar gave the van to Sarasola and San Sebastian. Following the route they had planned, Sarasola drove the van while San Sebastián was driving a motorbike in front of the van. Meanwhile, Portu arrived with another vehicle to a point located 50 kilometres from the airport. Portu met Sarasola and gave him the equipment he needed in order to disguise himself. At 6:51 pm, Sarasola parked the van in the unit D of the Terminal 4 car park and triggered the bomb. He then took a taxi to the town of San Sebastián de los Reyes
, where he got rid of the disguise. From there he took another taxi and met Portu, who was driving San Sebastian's motorbike. They then met San Sebastian and they all went back to Lesaka. On the next day, Portu went to the city of San Sebastián
, from where he would make the warning calls.
. Police immediately cordoned off the car park, with hundreds of people being evacuated from the terminal through jetways and gathered outside on the airport ramp
s.
At 08:59 the Renault Trafic went off, destroying much of section D of the parking lot of the airport's newly built Terminal 4 and sending a massive column of smoke into the air. The terminal, designed by Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers
, had been inaugurated just a few months before, on February 5, 2006. According to reports, the van was carrying 500 to 800 kilograms (1,100 to 1,800 lb) of an unknown kind of explosive, probably a mix of ammonium nitrate and hexogen
, becoming the third most powerful explosive device ever used by ETA. The explosion demolished almost all of the five floors of the car park and produced around 40 tones of debris, with the zone being compared by Spanish authorities to the World Trade Center ground zero
, as well as damaging at least 1300 vehicles parked in the terminal. The terminal building was also affected.
As a result of the explosion, two Ecuadorian citizens, Carlos Alonso Palate and Diego Armando Estacio, who were taking a nap inside their cars and did not manage to be evacuated died. It took five days for the rescue teams to reach the buried bodies. 52 other people were injured, with Samur
emergency services setting up a field hospital in the terminal in order to assist those injured, mainly from flying glass and damage to their ears due to the shock wave. Hospitals across Madrid received 11 people slightly injured in the blast, with only three of them remaining in the hospitals at the end of the day. The bombing represented ETA's first deadly attack since 2003.
. He arrived to Spain in 2002 and lived in Valencia, where he worked in a plastic factory, and was in Madrid to pick up a friend's wife who had come to spend New Year's Eve
in Spain. He was buried in the small town of Picaihua on January 6. The other victim, Diego Armando Estacio, 19, was born in Machala
, El Oro
. He arrived in Madrid in 2001, where he worked as a construction worker, and was at the airport to pick up some of his girlfriend's relatives. He was buried in his home town on January 8.
immediately closed Terminal 4 and hundreds of flights were interrupted. Flights at the other three terminals were not affected. At 2:00pm, some flights started departing, while Aena asked passengers to only use public transport in order to go to the terminal. After several hours, regular air traffic resumed and by 7:00pm, 388 out of the 575 scheduled had already departed from the terminal.
During the following days, firemen and emergency services kept on removing debris at the scene of the blast and around 25 tones of it had been removed by January 21. The huge amount of debris made it difficult to rescue the bodies of the dead. The body of Carlos Alonso Palate was found inside his car on January 4, and was repatriated to Ecuador on the following day, when Diego Armando Estacio's body was found, who was sent back home on January 7. Both bodies departed from the Torrejón Air Base
on planes arranged by the Spanish government, who also granted the Spanish nationality to descendants of the dead.
Several authorities visited the bomb site during the days after the blast. On January 3, Leader of the People's Party Mariano Rajoy
visited the bomb site along with President of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre
and mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
. Rodriguez Zapatero visited the scene on the following day.
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
condemned the attack and stated that "violence is incompatible with dialogue in any democracy" while Rodríguez Zapatero ordered the government to put all peace talks with ETA "on hold" and condemned the "useless and ridiculous step" that the organisation had taken, although he did not announce the end of the peace process. Just a few hours earlier Rodríguez Zapatero had delivered his end of year message and had claimed that “in one year we will be better than today”. Mariano Rajoy asked the government not to negotiate with ETA once again and said he would back the government only if it concentrated on eliminating it. Other Spanish political parties, as well as the Basque government, condemned the attack, although the latter stated that they would like the peace process to continue. Spokesman for Batasuna Arnaldo Otegi
refused to condemn the attack and denied that the process was damaged and considered it "just another event" of all the ones that were "blocking" the process, and accused the government of not "making any steps", referring to the situation of ETA prisoner Iñaki de Juana Chaos
, who was then on a hunger strike. However, Pérez Rubalcaba announced that the process had definitely been broken.
On the following day of the attack, hundreds of members of the Association of Terrorism Victims staged a protest outside the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
headquarters in Madrid, shouting slogans demanding Rodriguez Zapatero's resignation. Earlier, the association president Francisco José Alcaraz asked the government to expel the Communist Party of the Basque Homelands
from all regional institutions in case they did not condemn the attack. He also stated that "civil rebellion will remain unstoppable until the terrorists and all their plans have been destroyed". The association held a bigger demonstration on January 14 in Madrid.
On 9 January 2007, in a statement sent to Gara, ETA claimed responsibility for the attack and insisted that the March ceasefire was still in place despite the bombing. The organisation extended its solidarity to the "collateral damage" caused by the bombing, stating that the "objective of this armed action was not to cause victims" and condemned the fact that the airport had not been totally evacuated. ETA also accused the government of creating obstacles to a democratic process. On January 6, a demonstration in San Sebastian in favour of ETA prisoners and in support of a democratic solution to the process ended up in riots. ETA eventually announced the end of the ceasefire in another statement on June 5, 2007, and resumed its attacks.
was held across Spanish town halls. On January 14, several senior Basque politicians including Patxi Lopez
gathered in Bilbao, along with the representative of the Ecuadorian people in the Basque Country, in order to pay tribute to the dead, and on January 29, hundreds of people gathered at the House of America in Madrid. Then-Ecuadorian Minister for Foreign Affairs María Fernanda Espinosa
participated in the event, along with then-Spanish secretary for Ibero-America
Trinidad Jiménez
. On the day the car park was re-inaugurated, authorities unveiled two busts in the exact park places the victim's cars had been parked.
on September 20, 2007. Many businessmen attended the event, which also paid tribute to the dead. The reconstruction had a total cost of 24.5 million euros, and 15 million more were used to compensate the damage caused to the 2,100 cars parked there at the time of the attack, as well as to repair the terminal building.
, Gipuzkoa. At the time of the arrest, they both were carrying a revolver
. According to reports, they were placed in patrol cars
and were beaten by the officers guarding them. While being handcuffed behind their backs, they were taken separately at an undetermined site, where they were punched and kicked, in addition to receiving death threats. A handcuffed Sarasola was thrown down a hillside before having a gun aimed at his head. The Ministry of Interior denied the claims of torture and attributed the injuries to the moment the terrorists resisted arrest and attempted to escape. On the following day, Pérez Rubalcaba announced that Portu and Sarasola were the perpetrators of the airport attack, after they had confessed so while being in custody. On February 16, Joseba Iturbide and Mikel San Sebastian were arrested in the French town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz
, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
along with fellow ETA members Jose Antonio Martinez Mur and Asuncion Bengoechea.
Finally, Txeroki, Spain's most wanted man at that time, was arrested in Cauterets
, Hautes-Pyrénées
on November 17.
On May 3, 2010 Portu, Sarasola and San Sebastián appeared at the Spanish National High Court
in Madrid for their role in the attack. All of them refused to address the court, with Sarasola stating that he did not recognise that "fascist court" and said he was "not going to take part in it". On May 21, they were found guilty of two murders and 48 murder attempts (the final sentence stated that there were 48 wounded people), and each of them was sentenced to 1,040 years of prison, although the maximum a person can serve for a terrorism conviction under the Spanish law is 40 years.
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
exploded in the parking of the Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, killing two and injuring 52. On January 9, 2007, the Basque nationalist
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
and separatist
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
organisation ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack, one of the most powerful carried out by ETA, damaged the airport terminal and blew up the whole parking. The bombing ended a nine-month ceasefire
ETA's 2006 ceasefire declaration
The ETA's 2006 "permanent ceasefire" was the period spanning between 24 March and 30 December 2006 during which, following an ETA communiqué, the Spanish government, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on one side, and the militant group on the other, engaged in talks as a means to agree on a...
declared by the armed organisation and prompted the government to halt plans for negotiations with the organisation. Despite the attack, ETA claimed that the ceasefire was still in place and regretted the death of civilians. The organisation eventually announced the end of the ceasefire in June 2007.
Ordered and planned by then head of commandos Mikel Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina alias Txeroki, the attack was carried out by the "commando Elurra", whose members were arrested in early 2008 and sentenced for the attack in May 2010. Txeroki was arrested in November 2008 and is awaiting trial for the bombing.
Background
On March 22, 2006 ETA announced a ceasefire. Following the announcement, the Spanish governmentSpanish Government
Spain is a constitutional monarchy whose government is defined by the Constitution of Spain. This was approved by a general referendum of the people of Spain in 1978...
led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
on one side and the armed organisation, as well as Batasuna
Batasuna
Batasuna was a Basque nationalist political party based mainly in Spain, where it was outlawed in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. Batasuna is included in the "European Union list of terrorist persons and organizations" as a component...
, a Basque nationalist party banned for its ties with ETA, on the other, engaged in talks in order to put an end to the conflict
Basque conflict
The Basque conflict, also known as the Spain–ETA conflict, was an armed conflict between the Spanish state, France and the Basque National Liberation Movement, a group of social and political Basque organizations which seeked independence from Spain and France...
between the two sides. The Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
, then in charge of the Basque Government
Basque Government
The Basque Government is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of this government is the lehendakari or Basque president that is appointed by the Basque Parliament every four years...
, also took part in the conversations. Most of the Basque and Spanish political parties, as well as international institutions, welcomed the announcement, except for the main opposition party People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
, which called on the government to continue "fighting terrorism" and reject negotiations of any kind.
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
and socialism are achieved" in the Basque Country. The armed men also claimed that "the fight is not a thing of the past, it is the present and the future". The statement was regarded by some as intended to put pressure on the talks with the Spanish government, while others saw it as a declaration of ETA's ultimate intentions, making it clear that they would not disarm until every one of their goals had been completely achieved. Despite that, Rodriguez Zapatero stated that the Spanish government would still keep its offer for talks. One of the ETA members was Mattin Sarasola, who took part in the attack.
On October 24, a commando formed by at least five members of ETA stole around 300 revolvers and 50 pistols, as well as ammunition, in an arms warehouse in Vauvert
Vauvert
Vauvert is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It was known as Posquières in the Middle Ages.The commune comprises the town of Vauvert and the villages of Gallician and Montcalm. Over a third of the population work in industry, which is largely the food...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and on November 4, the Basque newspaper Gara
Gara
Gara is a bilingual newspaper published in the city of San Sebastián in the Basque Autonomous Community...
released an ETA private document in which it warned the Spanish government that the "peace process" was "in crisis". After the bombing, the ABC newspaper reported that before the attack, ETA had reminded Rodríguez Zapatero about the 2004 Madrid train bombings as a way to pressure the Government. During the ceasefire, street violence around the Basque Country, known as kale borroka
Kale borroka
Kale borroka refers to urban guerrilla actions carried out by Basque nationalist youth who are integrated into the abertzale left. Along with ETA, the kale borroka is the only remaining armed faction of Basque nationalists in the Basque Conflict....
, did not stop.
According to Spanish police, the decision to break the truce may have come from a more violent side of ETA, opposed to any negotiations with the Spanish government, formed by members who joined ETA after participating in the kale borroka and led by Txeroki, who was in charge of all of the organisation's commandos since 2004.
Madrid has been one of the most targeted cities by ETA. Prior to the attack, 36 car bombs had gone off in the city in the previous 20 years and at least 119 people had been killed in attacks carried out by the armed organisation. Some of the most important attacks have been a bomb explosion inside a cafeteria
Cafetería Rolando bombing
The Cafetería Rolando bombing was an attack on the Rolando cafe in Calle del Correo, Madrid, Spain which killed 13 people and wounded 71. Though no claim of responsibility was made, the attack is widely believed to have been carried out by the armed Basque separatist group ETA.-Background:The...
on September 13, 1974 which killed 13 people, a double bomb attack on July 29, 1979 that killed 8 people, a car bomb explosion on July 15, 1986 which killed 12 Civil Guards
Civil Guard (Spain)
The Civil Guard is the Spanish gendarmerie. It has foreign peace-keeping missions and maintains military status and is the equivalent of a federal military-status police force. As a police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the...
, as well as two car bombs that killed seven and six army members
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
in 1993 and 1995, respectively. The Madrid-Barajas airport had also been the location of ETA attacks on July 29, 1979, when three civilians were killed, and on August 27, 2002, when a car bomb exploded on the second floor of the Terminal 2 parking, causing only material damage, after a warning call from the armed organisation.
Planning
In two meetings held at the Baztan valleyBaztan (valley)
Baztan is a comarca located in a wide valley in Navarre, Spain, with the Baztan river running through it. The valley belongs to the Merindad de Pamplona.-Municipal terms:*Baztán*Urdax*Zugarramurdi...
in Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
in the summer of 2006, Txeroki, then head of commandos, ordered fellow ETA members Mattin Sarasola, Igor Portu and Mikel San Sebastián to carry out the bombing. The three members had been born in the Navarrese town of Lesaka
Lesaka
Lesaka is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, in Spain.-External links:*...
and were part of the "commando Elurra" , previously known as "Goiztiarrak", formed in 2002. Until 2006, the commando had the only task of helping members of ETA cross the Spanish-France border and transporting explosives. The cell was also linked with a car bomb attack against a discothèque in the town of Urdax on February 14, 2006, as well as with another attack against a discothèque in Santesteban on December 21, 2005. The leader of the commando, Joseba Aranibar alias 'Basurde' and Joseba Iturbide, who was also part of the cell, did not take part in the meetings. During the first meeting, Txeroki gave instructions on how to carry out the attack and told the members of the commando which secondary roads they should take in order to arrive to the airport and avoid being caught by security forces. After the meeting, Sarasola took part in the September 23 event along with Joseba Iturbide and an unknown member of the organisation.
In October, Sarasola, Portu and San Sebastián rehearsed the route to the airport twice. The first rehearsal was made with San Sebastián's personal car and the second one, on October 21, with a Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo
The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car manufactured by Volkswagen. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants....
rented in Irun
Irun
Irun is a town of the Bidasoa-Txingudi region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain...
, Gipuzkoa. Leaving from Navarre, the commando members succeeded in parking the Volkswagen Polo in the Terminal 4 car park. After the rehearsals, they met again with Txeroki, who gave them the final instructions for the attack, including the day the attack would take place, as well as how to dress on the day of the bombing. Txeroki asked Sarasola to wear a wig, a cap, as well as a face mask on his nose. Sarasola would also have to carry a suitcase and a crutch in order to pretend to be lame on one of his legs. He also asked Sarasola to buy a mobile phone with which Portu would warn of the bombing, and told them which places they should phone: the DYA headquarters, a Basque roadside assistance
Breakdown cover
Breakdown cover is a service that provides assistance to motorists whose vehicles have suffered a mechanical failure that is significant enough to leave them stranded at their present location....
association, in Bilbao, Madrid's firemen and the emergency telephone number 112. Nonetheless, Portu would eventually also call a Basque emergency number.
On December 27, Portu, Sarasola and San Sebastián stole a Renault Trafic
Renault Trafic
The current Trafic resulted from a joint venture between German Opel, Japanese Nissan and French Renault. It is also sold as an Opel Vivaro, Vauxhall Vivaro and by Nissan as the Primastar....
at gunpoint in the French town of Luz Ardiden
Luz Ardiden
Luz Ardiden is a ski resort in the Pyrenees. It is situated in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in the Midi-Pyrénées. The ski resort, which lies at a height of 1720 meters, opened on January 16, 1975...
and held its owner for three days in a cabin located in the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
. During that time, he was forced to send mobile messages to his mum, stating that he was alright. He was released 40 minutes after the attack. Comando leader Joseba Aranibar loaded the van with explosives, while Sarasola and San Sebastián spent the night at the cabin.
On the morning of December 29, Aranibar gave the van to Sarasola and San Sebastian. Following the route they had planned, Sarasola drove the van while San Sebastián was driving a motorbike in front of the van. Meanwhile, Portu arrived with another vehicle to a point located 50 kilometres from the airport. Portu met Sarasola and gave him the equipment he needed in order to disguise himself. At 6:51 pm, Sarasola parked the van in the unit D of the Terminal 4 car park and triggered the bomb. He then took a taxi to the town of San Sebastián de los Reyes
San Sebastián de los Reyes
San Sebastián de los Reyes is a municipality in the Community of Madrid in Spain. Founded in 1492, it is located 20 km north of Madrid. The city is twinned with Baunatal in Germany. It is geographically joined with neighboring Alcobendas and they share a common RENFE commuter line to Madrid Atocha...
, where he got rid of the disguise. From there he took another taxi and met Portu, who was driving San Sebastian's motorbike. They then met San Sebastian and they all went back to Lesaka. On the next day, Portu went to the city of San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, from where he would make the warning calls.
Explosion
At 07:53 am, Igor Portu used a mobile phone to call the DYA headquarters to warn them that a "powerful van bomb" would explode at 09:00. Three minutes later he called the firemen of Madrid, between 07:52 and 07:59 he phoned Gara and finally the SOS/DEIAK emergency number of San Sebastián, this time from a telephone boxTelephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box or telephone box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA, Canada and Australia, "telephone booth" is used, while in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth it is a "telephone...
. Police immediately cordoned off the car park, with hundreds of people being evacuated from the terminal through jetways and gathered outside on the airport ramp
Airport ramp
The airport ramp or apron is part of an airport. It is usually the area where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled or boarded. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles, it is typically more accessible to users than the runway or taxiway...
s.
At 08:59 the Renault Trafic went off, destroying much of section D of the parking lot of the airport's newly built Terminal 4 and sending a massive column of smoke into the air. The terminal, designed by Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers
Richard Rogers
Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside CH Kt FRIBA FCSD is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs....
, had been inaugurated just a few months before, on February 5, 2006. According to reports, the van was carrying 500 to 800 kilograms (1,100 to 1,800 lb) of an unknown kind of explosive, probably a mix of ammonium nitrate and hexogen
RDX
RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4...
, becoming the third most powerful explosive device ever used by ETA. The explosion demolished almost all of the five floors of the car park and produced around 40 tones of debris, with the zone being compared by Spanish authorities to the World Trade Center ground zero
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
, as well as damaging at least 1300 vehicles parked in the terminal. The terminal building was also affected.
As a result of the explosion, two Ecuadorian citizens, Carlos Alonso Palate and Diego Armando Estacio, who were taking a nap inside their cars and did not manage to be evacuated died. It took five days for the rescue teams to reach the buried bodies. 52 other people were injured, with Samur
Samur
Samur is a specialized and highly qualified emergency system of Madrid, Spain. The name stands for S.A.M.U.R....
emergency services setting up a field hospital in the terminal in order to assist those injured, mainly from flying glass and damage to their ears due to the shock wave. Hospitals across Madrid received 11 people slightly injured in the blast, with only three of them remaining in the hospitals at the end of the day. The bombing represented ETA's first deadly attack since 2003.
Victims
Carlos Alonso Palate, 35, was born in the town of Ambato, in the province of TungurahuaTungurahua Province
Tungurahua is one of the twenty-four provinces of Ecuador. Its capital is Ambato. The province takes its name from the Tungurahua volcano, which is located within the boundaries of the provinces.-Population:...
. He arrived to Spain in 2002 and lived in Valencia, where he worked in a plastic factory, and was in Madrid to pick up a friend's wife who had come to spend New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
in Spain. He was buried in the small town of Picaihua on January 6. The other victim, Diego Armando Estacio, 19, was born in Machala
Machala
Machala is a city in south-west Ecuador. It is the capital of the El Oro Province and located near the Gulf of Guayaquil on fertile lowlands. Machala has a population of 230,901 , making it the fourth biggest city of the country; it has been referred to as the Banana Capital of the...
, El Oro
El Oro Province
El Oro province is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala.-Geography:To the north and east the province has borders with the provinces Guayas,...
. He arrived in Madrid in 2001, where he worked as a construction worker, and was at the airport to pick up some of his girlfriend's relatives. He was buried in his home town on January 8.
Aftermath
After the blast, AenaAena
Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea , literally "Spanish Airports and Air Navigation", is the Spanish public body that owns and operates the majority of airports in Spain, with the exceptions of the private owned Ciudad Reals and Lleida-Alguaire Airport. Aena is also responsible for Air...
immediately closed Terminal 4 and hundreds of flights were interrupted. Flights at the other three terminals were not affected. At 2:00pm, some flights started departing, while Aena asked passengers to only use public transport in order to go to the terminal. After several hours, regular air traffic resumed and by 7:00pm, 388 out of the 575 scheduled had already departed from the terminal.
During the following days, firemen and emergency services kept on removing debris at the scene of the blast and around 25 tones of it had been removed by January 21. The huge amount of debris made it difficult to rescue the bodies of the dead. The body of Carlos Alonso Palate was found inside his car on January 4, and was repatriated to Ecuador on the following day, when Diego Armando Estacio's body was found, who was sent back home on January 7. Both bodies departed from the Torrejón Air Base
Torrejon Air Base
Madrid-Torrejón Airport is a commercial airport in Spain. It is a joint-use facility between the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Works. The civil part is dedicated primarily to executive and private aviation. The airport is located northeast of Madrid, west of Alcalá de...
on planes arranged by the Spanish government, who also granted the Spanish nationality to descendants of the dead.
Several authorities visited the bomb site during the days after the blast. On January 3, Leader of the People's Party Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey is a Spanish People's Party politician and is the Prime Minister-elect since 20 November 2011. He will be sworn into office in mid-December 2011....
visited the bomb site along with President of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre
Esperanza Aguirre
Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma, Countess of Murillo, Grandee of Spain, DBE is a Spanish politician and the current President of Madrid...
and mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jiménez is a Spanish politician and mayor of Madrid. A stalwart of the conservative People's Party , he has previously been a leading figure in various local and national legislative bodies.-Personal life:...
. Rodriguez Zapatero visited the scene on the following day.
Reaction
Minister of the InteriorMinistry of the Interior (Spain)
The Ministry of Interior of Spain which historically could be known as Ministerio de la Gobernación, Ministerio del Orden Público, Ministerio del Interior y la Gobernación or Ministerio del Interior y Justicia is the executive branch responsible for policing, national security, and immigration...
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba is a Spanish politician and a leading figure in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He served in the government of Spain as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993 and as Minister of the Interior from 2006 to 2011; in addition, he was First Deputy Prime Minister from...
condemned the attack and stated that "violence is incompatible with dialogue in any democracy" while Rodríguez Zapatero ordered the government to put all peace talks with ETA "on hold" and condemned the "useless and ridiculous step" that the organisation had taken, although he did not announce the end of the peace process. Just a few hours earlier Rodríguez Zapatero had delivered his end of year message and had claimed that “in one year we will be better than today”. Mariano Rajoy asked the government not to negotiate with ETA once again and said he would back the government only if it concentrated on eliminating it. Other Spanish political parties, as well as the Basque government, condemned the attack, although the latter stated that they would like the peace process to continue. Spokesman for Batasuna Arnaldo Otegi
Arnaldo Otegi
Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón is a Basque politician and spokesman for the outlawed Abertzale Basque separatist party Batasuna....
refused to condemn the attack and denied that the process was damaged and considered it "just another event" of all the ones that were "blocking" the process, and accused the government of not "making any steps", referring to the situation of ETA prisoner Iñaki de Juana Chaos
Iñaki de Juana Chaos
José Ignacio de Juana Chaos , better known as Iñaki de Juana Chaos, is a member of the Basque separatist group ETA. He was convicted of killing 25 people in 1987 and was originally sentenced to 3,000 years in prison. As a result of complicated sentencing guidelines, he became eligible for release...
, who was then on a hunger strike. However, Pérez Rubalcaba announced that the process had definitely been broken.
On the following day of the attack, hundreds of members of the Association of Terrorism Victims staged a protest outside the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
headquarters in Madrid, shouting slogans demanding Rodriguez Zapatero's resignation. Earlier, the association president Francisco José Alcaraz asked the government to expel the Communist Party of the Basque Homelands
Communist Party of the Basque Homelands
The Communist Party of the Basque Homelands was a communist Basque separatist party in the Basque Country, Spain...
from all regional institutions in case they did not condemn the attack. He also stated that "civil rebellion will remain unstoppable until the terrorists and all their plans have been destroyed". The association held a bigger demonstration on January 14 in Madrid.
On 9 January 2007, in a statement sent to Gara, ETA claimed responsibility for the attack and insisted that the March ceasefire was still in place despite the bombing. The organisation extended its solidarity to the "collateral damage" caused by the bombing, stating that the "objective of this armed action was not to cause victims" and condemned the fact that the airport had not been totally evacuated. ETA also accused the government of creating obstacles to a democratic process. On January 6, a demonstration in San Sebastian in favour of ETA prisoners and in support of a democratic solution to the process ended up in riots. ETA eventually announced the end of the ceasefire in another statement on June 5, 2007, and resumed its attacks.
Memorial
On the evening of the attack, a minute of silenceMoment of silence
A moment of silence is the expression for a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of respect, particularly in mourning for those who have recently died or as part of a commemoration ceremony...
was held across Spanish town halls. On January 14, several senior Basque politicians including Patxi Lopez
Patxi López
Francisco Javier López Álvarez is a Spanish socialist politician and the current president of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country...
gathered in Bilbao, along with the representative of the Ecuadorian people in the Basque Country, in order to pay tribute to the dead, and on January 29, hundreds of people gathered at the House of America in Madrid. Then-Ecuadorian Minister for Foreign Affairs María Fernanda Espinosa
María Fernanda Espinosa
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés is an Ecuadorian diplomat. She is currently the Minister of Coordination of Heritage from the Republica of Ecuador, as well she served as the Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations and as the Foreign Relations Ministry.-Education and career...
participated in the event, along with then-Spanish secretary for Ibero-America
Ibero-America
Ibero-America is a term used since the second half of the 19th century to refer collectively to the countries in the Americas that were formerly colonies of Spain or Portugal. Spain and Portugal are themselves included in some definitions, such as that of the Ibero-American Summit and the...
Trinidad Jiménez
Trinidad Jiménez
Trinidad Jiménez García-Herrera is a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politician and is currently Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister....
. On the day the car park was re-inaugurated, authorities unveiled two busts in the exact park places the victim's cars had been parked.
Reconstruction
The van had been placed in the second floor of the car park, and as a result of the blast a 90% of the building was demolished. The reconstruction of the car park started on January 21, while the damage caused inside the terminal, mainly broken windows as well as distorted structures, had already been repaired by the end of January. Works lasted six months and the car park was inaugurated again by then-Minister of Public Works Magdalena ÁlvarezMagdalena Álvarez
Magdalena Álvarez Arza Is Spanish Politician, who from 2004 to 2009 served as Minister of Public Works . She was born in San Fernando, in the Province of Cádiz, on 15 February 1952. She is an MP for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party for Málaga Province...
on September 20, 2007. Many businessmen attended the event, which also paid tribute to the dead. The reconstruction had a total cost of 24.5 million euros, and 15 million more were used to compensate the damage caused to the 2,100 cars parked there at the time of the attack, as well as to repair the terminal building.
Arrest and trials
All the suspects involved in the attack were arrested during 2008. On January 7, Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola were arrested by the Civil Guard in a road close to ArrasateMondragón
Arrasate or Mondragón - is a town and municipality in Gipuzkoa province, Basque Country, Spain...
, Gipuzkoa. At the time of the arrest, they both were carrying a revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
. According to reports, they were placed in patrol cars
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
and were beaten by the officers guarding them. While being handcuffed behind their backs, they were taken separately at an undetermined site, where they were punched and kicked, in addition to receiving death threats. A handcuffed Sarasola was thrown down a hillside before having a gun aimed at his head. The Ministry of Interior denied the claims of torture and attributed the injuries to the moment the terrorists resisted arrest and attempted to escape. On the following day, Pérez Rubalcaba announced that Portu and Sarasola were the perpetrators of the airport attack, after they had confessed so while being in custody. On February 16, Joseba Iturbide and Mikel San Sebastian were arrested in the French town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz
Saint-Jean-de-Luz
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.Saint-Jean-de-Luz is part of the province Basque of Labourd and the Basque Eurocity Bayonne - San Sebastian .-Geography:...
, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques is a department in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.- History :...
along with fellow ETA members Jose Antonio Martinez Mur and Asuncion Bengoechea.
Finally, Txeroki, Spain's most wanted man at that time, was arrested in Cauterets
Cauterets
Cauterets is a spa town, a ski resort and a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.-Geography:Cauterets is located southwest of Lourdes in the beautiful valley of the Gave de Cauterets and borders the Pyrenees National Park....
, Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.-History:...
on November 17.
On May 3, 2010 Portu, Sarasola and San Sebastián appeared at the Spanish National High Court
Audiencia Nacional of Spain
The Audiencia Nacional is a a special and exceptional high court in Spain. It has its seat in Madrid and jurisdiction over all of Spain and international crimes which come under the competence of Spanish courts....
in Madrid for their role in the attack. All of them refused to address the court, with Sarasola stating that he did not recognise that "fascist court" and said he was "not going to take part in it". On May 21, they were found guilty of two murders and 48 murder attempts (the final sentence stated that there were 48 wounded people), and each of them was sentenced to 1,040 years of prison, although the maximum a person can serve for a terrorism conviction under the Spanish law is 40 years.
Torture trial
On October 25, 2010, 15 Civil Guards went on trial in San Sebastián in relation to the torture suffered by Portu and Sarasola. On December 30, four of them were sentenced to prison: two for four years, and the other two for two years. The rest of the officers were found not guilty and were acquitted. It was the first time since 2001 that Civil Guards had been sentenced with claims of torture against members of ETA.See also
- 1996 Docklands bombing1996 Docklands bombingThe Docklands bombing occurred on 9 February 1996. It was conducted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army and brought an end to their seventeen-month ceasefire...
, a similar attack by the Provisional IRAProvisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion... - ETA's 2006 ceasefire declarationETA's 2006 ceasefire declarationThe ETA's 2006 "permanent ceasefire" was the period spanning between 24 March and 30 December 2006 during which, following an ETA communiqué, the Spanish government, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on one side, and the militant group on the other, engaged in talks as a means to agree on a...
- List of terrorist incidents, 2006
- List of ETA attacks