Mass protests against growing violence were planned in Spain today as the country mourned the killings of a local politician and a senior police official blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA.
Mr Jose Javier Mugica, a 58-year-old conservative town councillor, died yesterday when a bomb planted beneath his van exploded in the northern Spanish region of Navarre.
Hours later, gunmen struck in the neighbouring Basque Country, killing Mr Mikel Uribe (44) a leading member of the regional police force, one of the main symbols of the Basques' broad powers of self-rule.
The attacks coincided with the swearing-in ceremony for the Basque region's newly re-elected president, Mr Juan Jose Ibarretxe, whose moderate Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) has governed for the past two decades.
Political analysts said ETA was apparently trying to intimidate the PNV government, which it has accused of reneging on a pledge to join a more radical push for independence.
Many mainstream nationalists share ETA's goal of Basque self-determination but reject its violent methods.
Spanish Prime Minister Mr Jose Maria Aznar was to lead mourners at Mr Mugica's funeral today, state radio said. Anti-ETA demonstrations were planned for today and tomorrow in the Basque Country and the Navarre region.