A suspected ETA guerrilla leader arrested in France this week had information on sports facilities Madrid is offering in its bid for the 2012 Olympics, officials said today.
Peio Esquisabel Urtuzaga, alias "Xerpa", was arrested in Caussade near Toulouse yesterday along with a second suspected member of the banned armed group.
He had "very vague" data in his rucksack about Madrid's planned Olympic setup, which the Interior Ministry thinks were obtained from the city's web page, a ministry spokeswoman said.
Madrid is a candidate to host the 2012 games in competition with London, Paris, Moscow and New York.
Spanish and French police have detained 56 ETA suspects this year in a crackdown that has weakened Western Europe's most active guerrilla group.
ETA, which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, has killed more than 800 people since 1968 in demand of an independent Basque state but has not carried out a fatal attack for nearly two years.