ARCHIVED - Controversy as PM attends steamrollering of 1,400 firearms confiscated from terrorist groups in Spain
Opponents describe the ceremony as a propaganda exercise on the part of PM Pedro Sánchez
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez attended an unprecedented ceremony on Thursday, when a steam roller was driven over approximately 1,400 firearms confiscated from various terrorist groups including the Basque separatists of ETA in the name of honouring the memory of their victims.
The event was held at the Guardia Civil’s “Colegio de Guardias Jóvenes Duque de Ahumada” in Valdemoro (Madrid), after the destruction of the weapons was authorized by the national courts as long ago as 2016. The firearms were placed on the ground in three rows and the white sheets covering them were removed by victims and members of the State security forces before the steamroller was set in motion.
Other than being an eye-catching event, the destruction of the weapons in this way has also proved controversial. Although few would argue with Sr Sánchez’s justification that the victims of terrorism in this country must not be forgotten, many of his political opponents have dismissed the ceremony as a propaganda exercise and it is perhaps significant that representatives of other political parties – including his coalition government colleagues of Podemos – were notable for their absence.
Pablo Casado of the PP declined an offer to attend, claiming that it was hypocritical of Sr Sánchez to proclaim victory over ETA while at the same time “collaborating” with the Basque separatist party Bildu (referring to the process described below of moving ETA prisoners closer to home) – and many victims’ associations also refused invitations for various reasons. Also missing were former Presidents of the national government Mariano Rajoy, José María Aznar and Felipe González (the latter is currently not in Spain), and the Ministers of the Interior who were most closely involved in the fight against ETA were not invited.
🔴EN DIRECTO
— La Moncloa (@desdelamoncloa) March 4, 2021
El presidente del Gobierno, @sanchezcastejon, asiste al acto simbólico de destrucción de armas incautadas a organizaciones terroristas por las Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad. https://t.co/jYf6m5l6qj
Earlier this week Pamplona unveiled a series of memorials to victims of ETA bombings and shootings.
ETA was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organisation in the Basque Country. Their main objective was to build a socialist state and gain independence from Spain and France, and members had no qualms about using murder, kidnapping and extortion to achieve it. Although they generally targeted police officers and soldiers, 41 per cent of their victims were civilians such as judges, politicians, journalists, business people and professors, along with innocent victims of attacks and bombings which ETA deemed as collateral damage. Altogether, the terrorist group (which took various different names over its 60-year history) is estimated to have caused 864 deaths.
ETA broke many a ceasefire and treaty with the Spanish government over the years, until they were finally disarmed in April 2017 and announced their dissolution on 3 May 2018.
Spain brought in a ‘Law of Solidarity with victims of terrorism’ on 8 October 1999 which aims to “pay tribute to and acknowledge those who have suffered terrorist acts.” Meanwhile, 188 members of ETA remain in Spanish jails and 28 in French jails.
This current government has gradually been permitting members of ETA who had been found guilty of the murders and imprisoned to be moved to jails nearer to their families to make visiting easier; in the years following the murders it was normal for ETA members to be jailed as far away from the Basque Country as was physically possible, in order to inconvenience the families and cause additional hardship, a situation which resulted in regular hunger strikes amongst the prisoners.
During the latest negotiations following the last Spanish elections, the current Prime Minister was forced to reach agreements with separatist formations in order to form a government, and this process was part of the concessions made, a situation which has created significant disillusionment amongst the organisations supporting the victims of terrorism, hence their decision not to attend the weapons destruction event.
Although ETA no longer exists in its former constitution, there are still many individuals sympathetic to the original cause and the separatist parties hold a great deal of power in their respective areas (not only the Basque Country, but also Catalonia, Galicia and Navarra), so it is impossible for the Spanish government to keep all of those with differing points of view happy without granting concessions which will offend other opinions.
Although it is a dramatized production, foreign nationals may be interested to watch the series “Patria” which has been aired on streaming services in the last few months and is available with English language dubbing, as it tackles some of the human aspects of the murders and the whole ETA cause ; it has been criticized by some, but is well worth watching.
As always, separatism is a contentious issue and is an extremely complicated and involved topic which is impossible for outsiders to truly understand, but at least the series attempts to humanise some of the aspects of the "separatist issues" which have been part of the identity of these areas of Spain for so long and to show how the lives of many innocent bystanders who had little interest in the cause being fought in their name, had their lives turned upside-down by what occurred.
âž¡ï¸ Esta madrugada se completó el proceso de destrucción de las 1.377 armas incautadas a las organizaciones terroristas ETA y GRAPO pic.twitter.com/jZVXTywzsX
— Ministerio del Interior (@interiorgob) March 5, 2021
On Friday the crushed remains of the weapons were melted down.