Has ETA carried out attacks since the 9/11 attacks?
Yes. Since 9/11, ETA has been implicated in dozens of attacks, though many of them were minor and caused no injuries. Most of the attacks were preceded by a warning call, allowing people to evacuate before the explosion. Some experts say that ETA has been quieter than usual since 9/11 because of successful law enforcement measures.
Soon after 9/11, ETA set off car bombs in Vitoria and Madrid, injuring one hundred people but missing the government official targeted in the attacks. In March 2002, Spanish officials defused a bomb in the Bilbao Stock Exchange after receiving a tip under the name of ETA. Two months later, ETA took responsibility for two bombs that exploded outside the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium of Real Madrid, injuring seventeen people.
In December 2003, the Spanish police said they foiled an ETA plot to detonate two bombs in a Madrid train station. The detained ETA members reportedly told Spanish officials they had placed two additional bombs beneath railway lines in Aragón, one of which blew up a day early but injured nobody. For the next three years, ETA kept the conflict at a constant simmer, frequently bombing tourist and police targets but causing few injuries.
Yes. In June 2005 the Spanish Parliament voted to restart talks if ETA disarmed; the group said it was willing to talk but not to disarm. More than 250,000 people demonstrated before the vote, urging the government against negotiating with ETA.
In March 2006, ETA announced a "permanent cease-fire" to take effect March 24. In a statement delivered though the Basque media, ETA explained: "The object of this decision is to drive the democratic process." The group also called on all Basque citizens to participate in the political process in order to construct "a peace built on justice." In a reversal of his earlier position, Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero agreed to begin negotiations with ETA despite the group's continued refusal to disarm. Spain's conservative opposition party, the Popular Party, withdrew its support for peace talks, and demonstrators gathered in Madrid in June 2006 to protest the negotiations.
In December 2006, however, a car bomb leveled a parking garage at Madrid's international airport, killing two men. A phone call to authorities in advance of the attack acknowledged ETA's responsibility for the bombing. In June 2007, ETA announced an end to the cease-fire amid reports that the group was planning attacks for later in the summer. Sporadic attacks did occur throughout the following year. Though ETA's strength has waned over the years, experts warn the separatists can still prove disruptive and lethal.