ETA Timeline of Events

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ETA

ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...

Timeline of Events

1959

7.31.1959

The Basque separatist organisation ETA is founded.

1987

6.19.1987

Basque separatist group ETA commits one of its most violent attacks, in which a bomb is set off in a supermarket, Hipercor, killing 21 and injuring 45.

1996

7.20.1996

In Spain, an ETA bomb at Reus Airport injures 53

1997

7.10.1997

Partido Popular (Spain) member Miguel Ángel Blanco is kidnapped in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests.

1999

12.21.1999

The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.

2003

12.24.2003

The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.

2006

3.22.2006

ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, declares a permanent ceasefire.