SPAIN: A raid on an apartment block in Valencia yesterday uncovered the flat used by ETA terrorists who bombed two hotels in Alicante and Benidorm on July 22nd, injured 13 people. Jane Walker reports.
Inside the apartment they found bomb-making equipment and plans for further attacks.
Mr Juan Cotino, the government delegate in Valencia and former director of the National Police, earlier named the two ETA terrorists as Jon Joseba Troitino and Azier Eceiza.
He said they had rented the apartment in June, but left quickly after the attack following the publication of their photographs.
"The criminals fled the day after the attack, leaving behind 3.8 kilos of explosives which they were unable to take with them."
He said several members of the public had tipped off the authorities after seeing the photographs.
In addition to the explosives, police discovered two other bombs similar to the ones used in Benidorm and Alicante, fuses, detonators and magnets to attach bombs to cars.
They also found maps of various Spanish cities, and notes of possible future targets, which the police prefer not to name.
Yesterday's discovery comes 48 hours after the breaking of what the Interior Minister, Mr Angel Acebes, described as "ETA's logistical operations nucleus" in France.
On Wednesday, French police raided a house in Cahors, central France, and arrested three men - Claude Recarte, a French-ETA collaborator; Jose Candido Sagarzazu, who took part in outbreaks of street violence before moving on to terrorism; and Juan Miguel Illaramendi, whose terrorist record goes back almost 20 years. Illaramendi escaped to Mexico during the 1990, and returned to France and terrorist activity in 1999.
The Cahors house had been transformed into an operations unit for ETA, and contained 448 kilos of explosives, enough to make 20 car-bombs similar to the one which badly damaged Santander Airport last weekend.
There were also two parcel bombs primed and ready to be delivered to their victims, arms and ammunition, and equipment to manufacture false identity papers and licence plates for stolen cars.
Over the past 20 years ETA have used the summer to carry out terrorist attacks in tourist areas in an attempt to frighten foreign visitors who contribute to the Spanish economy.
Police believe the apartment in Valencia was being used for a further campaign this summer, and hope yesterday's find will hinder the terrorists.