Description

On the morning of 30 December 1980, José Martin Sagardia Zaldúa left his home in Biarritz (France) to go to work. At around 7.00 am, he got into his partner’s Renault-12 and started the engine. A bomb containing three kilograms of Goma-2 went off, blowing up the car. José Martín Sagardia was killed instantly and two people in the surrounding area suffered minor injuries. The far-right terrorist group the Basque-Spanish Battalion (Batallón Vasco-Español) claimed responsibility for the murder.

José Martín Sagardia Zaldúa, alias Usurbil, fled to France in 1973 as a result of his membership of ETA. He was employed in a furniture factory in Biarritz and had succeeded José Miguel Beñaran, alias Argala, as ETA militar leader.

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Description

On the evening of Sunday 23 November 1980, the lounge of the Hotel Hendayais, in Hendaye (France), was packed. Shortly after 7.00 pm, a Renault 18 with three terrorists from the Basque-Spanish Battalion (Batallón Vasco-Español) pulled up outside the door. One of the individuals got out of the vehicle and walked up to the premises carrying a machine-gun, which he used to break the front window before firing a burst of shots at the customers inside. José Camio and Jean Pierre Haramendi were shot dead and another ten people of French and Spanish nationality were injured. The establishment was frequented by left-wing Basque nationalist sympathisers and ETA members.

José Camio, of Spanish origin but a naturalised French citizen, was playing cards at a table with Jean Pierre Haramendi and other friends. He was a worker and had been in the French Foreign Legion.

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Description

On the evening of Sunday 23 November 1980, the lounge of the Hotel Hendayais, in Hendaye (France), was packed. Shortly after 7.00 pm, a Renault 18 with three terrorists from the Basque-Spanish Battalion (Batallón Vasco-Español) pulled up outside the door. One of the individuals got out of the vehicle and walked up to the premises carrying a machine-gun, which he used to break the front window before firing a burst of shots at the customers inside. José Camio and Jean Pierre Haramendi were shot dead and another ten people of French and Spanish nationality were injured. The establishment was frequented by left-wing Basque nationalist sympathisers and ETA members.

José Camio, of Spanish origin but a naturalised French citizen, was playing cards at a table with Jean Pierre Haramendi and other friends. He was a worker and had been in the French Foreign Legion.

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On the afternoon of 2 August 1979, Juan José Lopategui Carrasco, Ángel Iturbe Abásolo and María Asiaín Echave, were driving to the beach at Petite Chambre d’Amour in the French Basque town of Anglet. As they were looking for a place to park, a vehicle with French registration plates pulled up beside them and the occupants, terrorists from the Basque-Spanish Battalion (Batallón Vasco-Español), opened fire on them through the window with a machine-gun. Juan Lopategui attempted to escape but was shot through the head as he was getting out of the car. He died instantly. The two other occupants of the car were wounded.

Juan José Lopategui Carrasco, alias Pantu, had gone into hiding in France five years before. Although he had been refused a residence permit, he continued tom operate as a leader of ETA militar from the French Basque Country, whilst also working as a grinder in a machining workshop in Biarritz.

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Description

On the night of 25 June 1979, Enrique Gómez Álvarez went with some friends to dine at a restaurant owned by an ETA fugitive in Bayonne (France). At around 9.30 pm, as they were leaving the establishment, a white Peugeot 305 slowed down and asked for directions. As he approached the car, several of the four occupants opened fire. He was hit at least twelve times. The Basque-Spanish Battalion (Batallón Vasco-Español) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Enrique Gómez Álvarez was 30 years old and had spent the previous five years living with his wife in the French Basque Country after fleeing Spain because of his links with ETA. In 1975, he had been arrested by the French police for acting as an instructor to ETA units in the Pyrenees.

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Description

Around 9.30 am on 21 December 1978, ETA militar leader José Miguel Beñarán Ordeñana, (aka Argala), left his home in Anglet (France) and got into his orange Renault-5. When he switched on the ignition, an explosive device attached to the front wheel on the driver’s side exploded. José Miguel Beñarán and much of the vehicle were blown into the air. The victim, who had been a member of the unit that killed Franco’s prime minister, Luis Carrero Blanco, five years before, was killed instantly. Responsibility for the attack was claimed that same evening in the name of the para-police group the Basque-Spanish Battalion (Batallón Vasco-Español, BVE).

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Description

On 19 April 1980 at around 5:00 am, Felipe Sagarna Ormazábal was murdered by the Basque-Spanish Battalion (Batallón Vasco-Español) in Hernani as he was walking towards the front door of his apartment block. Several members of the terrorist group shot him twice in the head at practically point-blank range. Felipe was an Herri Batasuna sympathiser. In his spare time he was a drummer, ad was well-known in the town.

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Description

On the night of 28 September 1979, Tomás Alba Irazusta had dined alone at the Koko cider house in Astigarraga He left the establishment at half past two in the morning, at the same time as one of the proprietors and another person. They parted company at the door of the restaurant. Tomás Alba and the other customer went to their respective cars to drive home, while the proprietor locked up.

As the proprietor was walking up to his home he heard two gunshots. When he went back down he found Tomás Alba lying mortally wounded, four metres from his vehicle.

There were some initial doubts as to what group was responsible for Alba’s murder. The attack was initially claimed by the Grupos Armados Españoles [Spanish Armed Groups] and shortly afterwards by a man alleging to speak for ETA-militar. The latter claim had some plausibility, given that the councillor had had some disputes with Herri Batasuna. However, both ETA-militar and Herri Batasuna denied any involvement and the attack was finally attributed to the Iturbide Unit of Batallón Vasco Español [the Spanish Basque Battalion].

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Luis María Elizondo Arrieta had been attending a friend’s stag night with another friend. The celebration began with dinner and continued on well into the night. The friends then parted company and Miguel María Arbelaiz and Luis María Elizondo headed back together to their respective homes. As they were walking down the Balanchas hill in the town of Hernani they were shot a number of times. Their assailants then shot them again on the ground.

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Description

Francisco Javier Ansa Cincunegui walked the 200 metres from his farmhouse (Antxisu) to the road running from Andoáin to Hernani. There he waited opposite the Kraft factory for a bus to take him to the Fierro electromechanical workshop where he worked. A few minutes before 8.00 am, a car pulled up. Two hooded individuals got out of the vehicle and fired five pistol shots. Francisco was hit twice in the head and fatally injured.

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