SPAIN: Five bombs exploded beside motorways around Madrid yesterday in a display of force by the armed Basque separatist group Eta, quashing hopes that it was ready to declare a definitive ceasefire, writes Giles Tremlett in Madrid
No one was hurt in the explosions, which followed telephone warnings giving police time to cordon off the bomb sites.
The bombs, which exploded during a public holiday to mark the anniversary of Spain's 1978 constitution, had been placed on three Madrid ring-roads and on two motorways leading out of the capital.
A sixth exploded earlier at a post office in the northern town of Alsasua, Navarra. There were no injuries.
The airport at Santander, in northern Spain, was closed following an Eta bomb warning. No bomb went off, but police said they would continue looking for unexploded devices around the airport overnight.
Yesterday's show of strength followed months of speculation that the terrorist group, which has been seriously weakened by police action over the past five years, was preparing a definitive ceasefire.
Over the past few days, however, Eta has shown signs of toughening its stance. On Monday it expelled six former leaders, now in jail, who had jointly criticised the new leadership and called for a ceasefire.
Eta's latest internal bulletin said it would not declare a ceasefire until it had wrung major concessions from the Spanish government, including a recognised Basque right to self-determination, El Correo newspaper reported yesterday.
Spain's parliament has already given the prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, permission to negotiate with Eta if it declares itself ready to renounce violence.