Thousands of people stood in silence across Spain today to protest against the killing of a police officer in a car bombing blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA.
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Police examine the wreckage of a car-bomb in the suburb of Aluche, Madrid.
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The blast overshadowed today's confirmation vote for the recently re-elected Basque regional president who is seeking to halt more thanthree decades of separatist violence.
A car bomb blew up Luis Ortiz, a 33-year-old policeman in aresidential suburb last night as he tried to clear people from thearea after warning calls in the name of ETA.
"They have cut short a human life and they have killed a citizen who,by profession, worked for the safety and security of all," Mr JuanMaria Atutxa, president of parliament in the Basque Country ofnorthern Spain, said in the opening speech of the investiture.
He said the regional legislature and the majority of Basques wouldcontinue to work for an end to ETA attacks, which he branded ascowardly and cruel. In total the group has killed around 800 peoplesince 1968 when it unleashed a violent campaign to forge anindependent Basque homeland in parts of northern Spain and southernFrance.
Politicians, workers and friends of the slain officer joined groupsof protesters who gathered in front of city halls and publicbuildings across Spain ahead of today's funeral in Madrid.