1987 Hipercor bombing
Encyclopedia
The 1987 Hipercor bombing was a car bomb
attack by the Basque
separatist organisation ETA
which occurred on 19 June 1987 at the Hipercor
shopping centre on Avinguda Meridiana
, Barcelona
, Spain
. The bombing killed 21 people and injured 45 people.
by suspected Islamic militants which had killed 18 Spaniards and injured 82 others, including 11 American servicemen, who were believed to be the target of the attack. The ETA attack which had caused the most fatalities had occurred on 14 July 1986 when a car bomb on República Dominicana Square in Madrid
had killed 12 civil guards and injured 50 people. On 10 June 1987, 10 days before the bombing, ETA's political wing Herri Batasuna had received its highest vote share in the European Parliament elections
, becoming the most voted for party in the three Basque provinces
.
The three visited various commercial centres and selected one where a car could be parked. They then met in a flat in Calle Casteldefels, Barcelona and assembled a bomb containing 30 kilos of amonal and 100 litres of gasoline together with a timer device and an indeterminate quantity of glue and flakes of soap to create a bomb weighing up to 200 kilograms. This was then placed in a stolen Ford Sierra.
The Spanish news agency said a man claiming to speak for ETA had told the Barcelona newspaper Avui
30 minutes before the blast at 16:15 that a bomb would go off in the store. A spokesman at the store said police officers and private security guards began searching the store minutes before the blast. However the store management decided not to evacuate the store as it was not the first time that a bomb threat had been received. Ferran Cardenal, the Barcelona Civil Governor, said at a news conference that the police had searched the building before the bombing but found nothing.
In total three telephone warnings had been received from a man who claimed to be an ETA spokesman with the first of the calls came 57 minutes before the explosion. Some relatives said they would sue the police and the Hipercor store for failing to clear the crowded building after receiving the warnings. A store spokesman said it was up to the police to clear a building. But the Government spokesman said the decision was up to management. "The building is private property. It's difficult to go against the will of the owners. The police's action was appropriate at all times."
, Felipe Gonzalez
, cut short a visit to Brazil
to return to Spain. He told reporters in Salvador, Brazil: "This attack is of a different style than what we have seen to date. It is an attempt to force the Government to change tack. But we will not give in to indiscriminate violence. We shall continue fighting terrorism with all the means we have."
There was almost universal condemnation of the attack. Some leaders of Batasuna also felt compelled to condemn the attack, although they pointed out that they did so in a personal capacity and not as party spokesmen.
An estimated 750,000 people marched through Barcelona with banners declaring, "Catalonia Rejects Terrorism." Around 700,000 workers paused for five minutes of silence to condemn the attack. While an ETA spokesman apologised for the attack, this apology was criticised, with the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia
asking: "Does anyone who does not want to kill many people plant a bomb in a supermarket, at a peak hour on a Friday?"
The Independent noted that "The attack was seen by many as a turning-point in the organisation's fortunes, its cold-blooded murder of women and children sickening many Basques who until then had sympathised with the group's aims."
ruled that they had acted in a premeditated manner and had spent a considerable time before the attack weighing up all the possible consequences. Both were ordered to pay 320 million pesetas to the stores and to 114 people who had been injured in the attack. Additionally they were ordered to pay 525 million pesetas by way of civil responsibility to the families of those who had been killed and 200,650,000 pesetas to another 45 people who had been injured in the bombing. At the trial Troitiño and Ernaga attempted to justify their actions, stating that they had only intended to incinerate the stores, not cause deaths, even though they were aware that there were inhabited buildings at the back of Hipercor.
In 1993 Rafael Caride Simon was arrested in France. Spanish police alleged that Caride Simon had been the former head of ETA's so-called "Barcelona Commando" and had planned the Hipercor attack. On 23 July 2003 he was sentenced to 790 years in prison for carrying out the attack, while at the same trial, Santi Potros received the same sentence for ordering the attack.
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
attack by the Basque
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
separatist organisation ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
which occurred on 19 June 1987 at the Hipercor
Hipercor
Hipercor S.A. is an up-scale chain of hypermarkets in Spain, belonging to the same group as El Corte Inglés. It has its head office in the El Corte Inglés head office building in Madrid....
shopping centre on Avinguda Meridiana
Avinguda Meridiana, Barcelona
Avinguda Meridiana is a major avenue in Barcelona, Spain, spanning parts of the Sant Andreu, Nou Barris and Sant Martí northern districts of the city...
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The bombing killed 21 people and injured 45 people.
Background
In the two years before the attack, ETA detonated six car bombs in Barcelona that killed three people. Up to this point, Spain's deadliest terrorist attack had been the 1985 El Descanso bombing1985 El Descanso bombing
The 1985 El Descanso bombing was a bomb attack against the El Descanso restaurant just outside Madrid, Spain, late on April 12, 1985. The explosion killed 18 Spaniards and injured 82 others, including 11 American servicemen, who were believed to be the target of the attack...
by suspected Islamic militants which had killed 18 Spaniards and injured 82 others, including 11 American servicemen, who were believed to be the target of the attack. The ETA attack which had caused the most fatalities had occurred on 14 July 1986 when a car bomb on República Dominicana Square in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
had killed 12 civil guards and injured 50 people. On 10 June 1987, 10 days before the bombing, ETA's political wing Herri Batasuna had received its highest vote share in the European Parliament elections
European Parliament election, 1987 (Spain)
The European Parliament election of 1987 in Spain took place on 10 June 1987. It was the election of all 60 MEPs representing the Spain constituency for the remainder of the 1984-1989 term of the European Parliament...
, becoming the most voted for party in the three Basque provinces
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
.
Preparations
Acting on orders received from the ETA leader Santiago Arrospide Sarasola, "Santi Potros", three members of ETA's 'Barcelona Commando' Josefa Ernaga, Domingo Toritiño and Rafael Caride Simón, decided to place an incendiary bomb inside a Hipercor store.The three visited various commercial centres and selected one where a car could be parked. They then met in a flat in Calle Casteldefels, Barcelona and assembled a bomb containing 30 kilos of amonal and 100 litres of gasoline together with a timer device and an indeterminate quantity of glue and flakes of soap to create a bomb weighing up to 200 kilograms. This was then placed in a stolen Ford Sierra.
The bombing
The attack occurred on a Friday afternoon. The car bomb, hidden in the boot of the vehicle, had been placed on the first floor of the three-storey subterranean car park below the commercial centre. At approximately 16:12, a timer activated the bomb which exploded destroying 20 vehicles parked nearby and causing a hole of around 5 metres in diameter in the ground floor of the shopping centre through which a huge ball of flame penetrated. Several of those unaffected by the flames were asphyxiated by the toxic gases produced causing several fatalities. The damage at the scene was so extensive that several of the corpses could not be located until two hours later and some had been burned so severely that identification was impossible. Initially 15 people were killed, 10 of them women (one of whom was pregnant) and 2 children.Telephone warnings
In a subsequent communique ETA claimed that they had given advance warning of the bomb but the police had declined to evacuate the area. The police claimed that the warning had come only a few minutes before the bomb exploded.The Spanish news agency said a man claiming to speak for ETA had told the Barcelona newspaper Avui
Avui
Avui is a Catalan daily newspaper, based in Barcelona, Catalonia . It is one of the city's newest papers, having been founded in 1976. The editorial line is Catalan nationalist.- History :...
30 minutes before the blast at 16:15 that a bomb would go off in the store. A spokesman at the store said police officers and private security guards began searching the store minutes before the blast. However the store management decided not to evacuate the store as it was not the first time that a bomb threat had been received. Ferran Cardenal, the Barcelona Civil Governor, said at a news conference that the police had searched the building before the bombing but found nothing.
In total three telephone warnings had been received from a man who claimed to be an ETA spokesman with the first of the calls came 57 minutes before the explosion. Some relatives said they would sue the police and the Hipercor store for failing to clear the crowded building after receiving the warnings. A store spokesman said it was up to the police to clear a building. But the Government spokesman said the decision was up to management. "The building is private property. It's difficult to go against the will of the owners. The police's action was appropriate at all times."
Reactions
Then Prime Minister of SpainPrime Minister of Spain
The President of the Government of Spain , sometimes known in English as the Prime Minister of Spain, is the head of Government of Spain. The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978...
, Felipe Gonzalez
Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.-Early life:Felipe was...
, cut short a visit to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
to return to Spain. He told reporters in Salvador, Brazil: "This attack is of a different style than what we have seen to date. It is an attempt to force the Government to change tack. But we will not give in to indiscriminate violence. We shall continue fighting terrorism with all the means we have."
There was almost universal condemnation of the attack. Some leaders of Batasuna also felt compelled to condemn the attack, although they pointed out that they did so in a personal capacity and not as party spokesmen.
An estimated 750,000 people marched through Barcelona with banners declaring, "Catalonia Rejects Terrorism." Around 700,000 workers paused for five minutes of silence to condemn the attack. While an ETA spokesman apologised for the attack, this apology was criticised, with the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia is Catalonia's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain. It has its headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia's largest city....
asking: "Does anyone who does not want to kill many people plant a bomb in a supermarket, at a peak hour on a Friday?"
The Independent noted that "The attack was seen by many as a turning-point in the organisation's fortunes, its cold-blooded murder of women and children sickening many Basques who until then had sympathised with the group's aims."
Subsequent arrests and trial
On 9 September 1987, Domingo Troitiño and Josefa Ernaga were detained and on 23 October 1989 both were given sentences of 794 years in prison and fined more than 1,000 million pesetas. The Spanish Central Criminal CourtAudiencia Nacional of Spain
The Audiencia Nacional is a a special and exceptional high court in Spain. It has its seat in Madrid and jurisdiction over all of Spain and international crimes which come under the competence of Spanish courts....
ruled that they had acted in a premeditated manner and had spent a considerable time before the attack weighing up all the possible consequences. Both were ordered to pay 320 million pesetas to the stores and to 114 people who had been injured in the attack. Additionally they were ordered to pay 525 million pesetas by way of civil responsibility to the families of those who had been killed and 200,650,000 pesetas to another 45 people who had been injured in the bombing. At the trial Troitiño and Ernaga attempted to justify their actions, stating that they had only intended to incinerate the stores, not cause deaths, even though they were aware that there were inhabited buildings at the back of Hipercor.
In 1993 Rafael Caride Simon was arrested in France. Spanish police alleged that Caride Simon had been the former head of ETA's so-called "Barcelona Commando" and had planned the Hipercor attack. On 23 July 2003 he was sentenced to 790 years in prison for carrying out the attack, while at the same trial, Santi Potros received the same sentence for ordering the attack.