Just heard on my radio here in the UK that several explosions at various gas-stations have been reported in roads leading out of Madrid. Apparently ETA had threatened to set off explosions today.
What is meant to be gained by this nasty, stupid behaviour defeats me. I wouldn't trust people like this with political power over a doll's house.

I always have bbc.com up @ work - just saw the story - thank God no one has been reported as injured or worse ----

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4067127.stm

Busy weekend....holidays Monday and Wednesday...puente in-between...answer your own question:

Disruption of business as usual, economics as usual. Just like a good marketer, ETA means to continue to keep its "name" in front of its "consumers."

Wouldn't it be nice if all terror groups phoned in their plans like ETA? I just don't imagine OBL saying "el vuelo que va a Estocolmo esta noche, lo van a tratar de secuestrar unos terroristas Shiitas, gracias."

[Apologies to Mr. Almodovar...]

Five small bombs in gas stations in almost every Madrid exit highways. Next monday and wednesday are holiday, so people intented going on vacation for 5 days and traffic was dense.

The bombs were announced by ETA on their newspaper (Gara) and as a consequence there have been two policemne injured and material damages.

They have achieved what they wanted: publicity, propaganda and seeding the chaos in Madrid's highways (which are now with traffic jams of several kilometers) in holidays.

At least nobody got killed. We must congratulate ourselves

Fernando

You are right CaliBasco, but don't think they are nicer because they warn to say where the bombs are placed.

They usually try to confuse police with the time or the exact place in order to catch a policeman in the blast.

The only reason they didn't kill someone is that they have not enough explosives (due to recent police operations) and because after 11-M bombings killings would be very very unpopular (internationally).

Fernando

That is possibly the most subtle understatement I have heard in some time!

When an organization is attempting to gain its own self rule and homeland, how is it that they feel that terrorist acts will make the opposition want to see things their way?? This is the sort of act that Bin Laden thought would bring the US to his line of thought and make us want to give and do things his way, he never dreamed the US would respond the way it did. Now it is show time for Sr. Zapatero. It is now we see just what he is made of. Will he move into the Basque region and clean house, or will he act in his usual cowardly manner?

Oh, believe me desert dweller: there are always people in your own band that think that the best you can do is to refrain police to act or to retreat your troops because they think that showing a kind of understandment to terrorists will make them stop killing.

Fernando

Fernando: You are 100% right, we have a jerk by the name of Jesse Jackson that wanted to go to Afganistan and talk to Bin Laden. He was told in no uncertain terms to stay out of it, that he had not authority to talk on behalf of the US. To quote Colin Powell "his assistance is neither needed or welcome." Bin Laden is now ridding around on a donkey running for his life, and Jackson is doing what he does best, sitting around looking stupid.

How lucky you are! USA must be a great country if you only have one person.

Our current government retreated our troops from Iraq (which was formed by 1,000 soldiers of a medical batallion) because the war was "illegal and unfair".

And one of the political parties that support this government, ERC (catalonian communists and independentist) had a meeting with ETA leaders and agreed with them that ETA would not put bombs in Catalonia (no matter how many they killed in the rest of Spain). Of course our president said nothing about that.

And basque nationalists have been saying for decades now that the "policial path" was not the solution to the "basque conflict" while ETA was killing dozens of persons. Socialists believed them and did not acted with all their forces against terrorists. Now they still say that "no matter police capture ETA leaders they will keep on existing because there is a political conflict underneath". Well, after the capture of ETA leaders two months ago three dozen terrorists have been captured. Perhaps they will keep on existing no matter what the police does, but in the meantime we have had two years without inocents killed by ETA terrorists (something that had never happened in 50 years of ETA terrorism). The policial path might be the solution or not, but with the nationalist recipe we had 40 killed every year and now we have 0.

And now Ibarra (socialist president of Extremadura) and Elorza (socialist major of San Sebastián) say that the government should talk with ETA. Now that they are almost defeated they want to give them political power!

Aren't you lucky?!

Fernando