A ceasefire declared by Basque separatist group Eta came into force today amid hopes that four decades of violence and fear might finally have come to an end.
In San Sebastian, one of Eta's strongholds on the coast of the northern Basque region, residents were buoyed by the prospect of peace but remain cautious as Eta has offered ceasefires in the past only to revert to violence.
Eta has killed around 850 people in its 38-year campaign for Basque independence but unexpectedly announced a permanent ceasefire on Wednesday that came into effect at midnight.
Many analysts say this truce is different because attitudes to terrorism have hardened in the wake of the 2004 train bombs in Madrid, weakening Eta. The group called the ceasefire "permanent", a word it has never used before.
Leading Spanish newspaper El Paisquoted Basque sources as saying the new truce had been negotiated over six months by intermediaries for Eta and the Basque Socialist party, who met in Switzerland and Norway.
Politicians are demanding that Eta hand in its weapons and call an end to all violence, which now expresses itself more in extortion and threats than in bombs. Eta has not killed anybody since 2003.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero plans to meet opposition parties next week to discuss the next steps. His left-wing government has declined to say when, or even if, it might start talking to Eta.
At a European Union summit in Brussels, leaders welcomed the truce but said it was too soon to say whether Batasuna, the party regarded as Eta's political wing, would be taken off its list of terrorist groups.
Batasuna, which has been outlawed by Spain, has lost support in recent years and only gleaned 10 per cent of the Basque vote last time it ran in regional elections.