Palmanova bombing

And so ETA has brought its bombs to the tourist areas of Majorca. It is not the first time that ETA has committed an outrage on the island; the bomb today in Palmanova coincided with the eighteenth anniversary of two car bombings in Palma. It is also fifty years since ETA was formed, a fact that was "celebrated" by the bomb in Burgos. 

Two Guardia Civil officers lost their lives in Palmanova; the bomb appears to have been placed under their Nissan Patrol vehicle. The incident occurred outside the offices that serve as post office, local police station and Guardia office - just like in Playa de Muro. The Guardia acted swifty; hotels were closed, residents told not to leave their homes, the airport put on the highest level of security and helicopter and coastal patrols put into full action. While the outrage was a direct attack on the forces of law - as was the case also in Burgos - it was also in a tourist area. That is not a normal modus operandi for ETA; or it had previously had not been. 

One supposes that this will all lead some to question whether it is safe to come on holiday. It might be understandable, but it would not make sense. There is no suggestion at all that tourists are targets; indeed the very notion is both extremely remote and extremely unlikely. ETA has a beef with the Spanish state, and the Guardia Civil is a personification of the state as well as being ETA's "enemy". The Guardia and the National Police are highly skilled anti-terrorist bodies. Alongside their British police counterparts, they rank as the most adept anti-terrorist forces in Europe; they, like the British security forces, have had a lot of practice.

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