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PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHMD #0774/01 2150736
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 030736Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1037
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 4070
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHMD/USDAO MADRID SP PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000774 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/WE'S ALEX MCKNIGHT AND STACIE ZERDECKI 
MARC NORMAN OF S/CT 
JANICE BELL OF INR 
PASS TO AARON ATRIDGE OF NCTC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2019 
TAGS: PINR PINS PREL PTER SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: ETA MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY IN DEADLY FASHION 
 
REF: A. MADRID 707 
     ¶B. MADRID 499 
     ¶C. MADRID 272 
     ¶D. MADRID 139 
     ¶E. 08 MADRID 1231 
     ¶F. 08 MADRID 1055 
 
MADRID 00000774  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: ADCM William H. Duncan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT:  Spain is on maximum alert on 
July 31 - the 50th anniversary of the founding of the 
terrorist group Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) - after 
suffering two terrorist attacks in as many days.  Authorities 
suspect ETA in both instances, although there have been no 
claims of responsibility.  There were no AMCIT casualties in 
the attacks, which killed two and injured dozens.  Embassy 
Madrid convened meetings of its Emergency Action Committee on 
July 29 and 31 (See Septel).  While ETA has been weakened by 
numerous arrests (See Refs A - E), Post has long noted that 
the terrorist group retains the capacity to kill.  It is 
neither unprecedented for there to be back-to-back attacks 
(See Ref F) nor for ETA to attack security services 
installations and personnel without warning (See Ref A). 
Miguel Angel Fernandez-Chico, head of the Spanish National 
Police (SNP) and Miguel Valverde, Commissioner General for 
the SNP Intelligence Directorate, on July 30 told Post's 
Legat that they were determining how the explosives were 
brought to the island and noted that the GOS was deploying 
significant personnel and resources to Mallorca to locate the 
culprits of the latest carbombing and to protect an influx of 
dignitaries attending a memorial service.  Details on each 
attack follow.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
//Two Dead in Mallorca Bombing// 
 
¶2. (U)   Two Guardia Civil (GC) officers died on July 30 when 
a bomb attached to the underside of their SUV patrol car 
exploded in a crowded tourist area across from GC 
headquarters in Palmanova, Mallorca.  Authorities located 
another bomb under a second GC car, which was detonated in a 
controlled explosion.  The U.S. Consular Agent in Palma has 
unconfirmed reports that the first bomb contained 20 kilos of 
explosives and the second contained 100 kilos.  Some press 
reports claim that the July 30 bombing - the first time that 
ETA has killed anyone on the Balearic islands - was remotely 
detonated by persons within eyesight of the vehicle.  Ramon 
Socias, the Spanish national government's Delegate to the 
Balearic Islands, on July 31 told reporters that the working 
hypothesis is that the culprits are still on Mallorca and 
that authorities, who do not discount the possibility of 
another attack, have implemented Operation "Jaula" (Cage) to 
closely scrutinize at ports or the airport all those who 
attempt to leave the island. 
 
¶3. (U)  In a show of political unity, Spanish President 
Zapatero and opposition leader Mariano Rajoy of the Popular 
Party on July 31 traveled together to Mallorca to pay their 
respects to the two fallen GC officers.  Defense Minister 
Carme Chacon, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, 
Lehendakari (the President of the Basque Region; equivalent 
to a U.S. Governor) Patxi Lopez, and range of other national, 
regional and local politicians also will attend a memorial 
service.  Spanish press reports indicate that, following the 
carbombing,  there are no plans for King Juan Carlos and 
Queen Sofia to alter their previously scheduled arrival in 
Mallorca on August 1.  The royal family traditionally spends 
its annual summer vacation at the Miravent Palace - a few 
miles from the carbomb site - where Princesses Elena and 
Cristina and their children already had arrived days ago. 
 
//Large-Scale Bombing of Civil Guard Barracks in Burgos// 
 
¶4. (U) An unannounced vehicle-borne attack on the GC barracks 
in Burgos early in the morning of July 29 slightly injured 66 
victims, 38 of whom - including two pregnant women and seven 
children - were taken to the hospital.  Local authorities say 
it is a near-miracle that there were no fatalities in the 
attack, which may have used as many as 200 kilos of 
explosives.  The blast devastated the 14-story barracks, 
damaged neighboring buildings and left a crater more than 20 
 
MADRID 00000774  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
feet wide and up to six feet deep.  The vehicle apparently 
was parked nearly 50 feet away from the barracks, which 
normally houses 90 families, only 50 of which were in the 
building that night due to summer vacations.  Press reports 
state that 118 people were evacuated from the site, which was 
on the list of targets identified by the ETA Vizcaya cell the 
GC dismantled last summer. 
 
¶5. (U) Following a review of security camera footage, Spanish 
authorities determined that two men parked a Mercedes Benz 
Vito van outside the barracks roughly 14 hours before the 
detonation, and were driven away by a third person in a car 
that was later abandoned.  The barracks' security personnel 
thought that the van looked suspicious and ran a check on the 
license plates, which matched those of a vehicle that 
belonged to a neighbor, so they let the van remain where it 
was.  ETA, however, had meticulously studied the neighborhood 
and had stolen a vehicle matching the make, model and color 
of a local resident's van, even creating a fake license plate 
to duplicate the neighbor's.  There are reports that the 
Mercedes van used in the bombing may have been one of three 
stolen vans that Spanish authorities in recent days publicly 
had identified by make and model to the media for possible 
use by ETA in imminent vehicle-borne attacks.  Spanish press 
reports suggest that authorities learned this information 
following the arrest of a trio of ETA members in France on 
July 4 (See Ref A).  Disturbed by ETA's sophisticated 
surveillance techniques, authorities are on the watch for the 
two other vehicles - a Renault Kangoo and a Citroen Berlingo, 
stolen in France but possibly already relocated to Spain. 
CHACON