A powerful car bomb rocked Madrid early yesterday, causing many millions of pounds worth of damage in the commercial centre of the city. Nine people, two of them policemen, were injured in the blast - although only an Israeli-born beggar sleeping rough was seriously hurt.
Security officials say the bomb was the work of the Basque movement ETA, which telephoned calls to the police and fire departments shortly before 6 a.m. warning that a bomb placed in a car in the Plaza Callao would be detonated within 30 minutes. The explosion took place only 20 minutes later, before the area had been fully cleared.
The Plaza Callao, normally one of the busiest shopping areas of the city, was virtually deserted so early in the day, although the noise of the blast was heard over a radius of many kilometres. But if the bomb had gone off only 15 minutes later, the early morning workers and cleaning teams would have been at risk from the explosion as they arrived at El Corte Ingles, Spain's largest department store, and the huge Fnac record store. Both buildings were badly damaged in the blast and broken glass from dozens of shops littered the adjoining streets.
Police say the Renault 21 carrying the 20-kilo explosive device had been stolen in Madrid last February when ETA ended an 18-month truce by killing a Spanish army colonel in a similar carbomb attack. Security officials say it proves that ETA members have established a base in the Spanish capital and fear they could carry out another attack at any time. Five men have died in nine separate terrorist attacks in Madrid and the Basque Country since the ending of the ceasefire.
The bombing comes as Spain remembered the kidnap and murder of the young Popular Party councillor Miguel Angel Blanco just three years ago. His sister presided over a ceremony to present the Miguel Angel Blanco Award to the former prime minister Mr Adolfo Suarez for his work for human rights in Spain. Both Ms Blanco and Mr Suarez added their voices to condemnations of the bombing, which have been virtually unanimous.