On holidays, we expect to be able to forget the worries of our working lives, and also the problems of the world at large. However, as the weekend's bombings in Spain (and the recent bombing in Co Fermanagh) have once again demonstrated, tourism is particularly vulnerable to sharp reminders of political conflict, in the form of terrorist attacks. Immediate sympathies are naturally engaged with the maimed and shocked victims of particular outrages, such as Saturday's ETA bomb in Reus Airport, but there are also significant long term considerations.
The legitimate movement of very large numbers tourists, by definition strangers to the places they are visiting, offers excellent cover for the illegimate move of very small numbers of terrorists. This places the authorities in a dilemma: security measures sufficient to inhibit seriously the terrorists will also create an atmosphere which will undermine the tourists confidence in the country they are visiting, and ultimately destroy a country as a tourist destination.
On the other hand, where the terrorists are sufficiently ruthless, inadequate security will sooner or later result in such loss of life that tourism will face collapse. This is the case of a country like Egypt, which has seen a rapidly developing and desperately needed tourist industry nose dive in the face of a conflict between an increasingly authoritarian government and a radicalised Islamic opposition.
Long term concerns, therefore, are raised by ETA's current "summer campaign", of which last weekend's six bombs (three of which were made inactive by the security forces) represent a serious intensification. ETA (Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna - Basque homeland and Liberty) has pursued total independence for the Basque region, through violent means, for nearly 40 years. The widespread sympathy the organisation enjoyed under Franco's dictatorship has shrank to a small but persistent core (13 per cent of Basque voters) since the advent of democracy.
The concession of extensive powers to the Basque autonomous government has not diluted hard core support for ETA. But it has led to open hostility between moderate Basque nationalist parties, who control that government, and this self appointed "liberation movement". Recently, these parties have expressed unprecedented unity with the Madrid government in the application of anti-terrorist policies. A short unilateral ceasefire declared by ETA last June seemed to be aimed at dividing these forces again, but had the opposite effect. In response, ETA began to target tourist centres.
Disturbing as this is, however, no one thinking of visiting Spain this summer should imagine that this is a new campaign, or that it will necessarily escalate. ETA has periodically bombed coastal resorts since the early 1980s. While fully acknowledging the suffering caused to victims and their relatives, it is important to note that these campaigns have largely been designed to create nuisance and insecurity rather than full scale carnage, and confidence in Spanish tourism has never been permanently dented.