Basque Protests Draw Tens of Thousands

Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched Saturday through the streets of three major cities, some protesting recent killings blamed on Basque separatists and others demonstrating support for the independence the separatists advocate.

A car bomb Tuesday killed Fernando Buesa, a Socialist politician and outspoken critic of the separatist group ETA, and his police bodyguard. Thousands of Spaniards protested Wednesday, including an estimated 60,000 in Vitoria, capital of the northern Basque region. Saturday’s combined marches appeared even larger.

In Vitoria, demonstrators split into two groups, one led by regional President Juan Jose Ibarretxe and political parties that favor independence but oppose ETA’s violent methods. Their banner demanded, “We Need Peace. Respect for Life. ETA Stop.”

Behind them, in the second march, Buesa’s widow and three grown children walked behind a white banner with the red-lettered slogan: “No More. ETA no.”

Some 50,000 demonstrators protested the car bomb killings in Pamplona, capital of the neighboring state of Navarra.

And farther north in the coastal Basque town of San Sebastian, a demonstration of several thousand supporters of Herri Batasuna, the political wing of ETA, called for a boycott of Spanish national elections March 12.

ETA, whose Basque initials stand for Basque Homeland and Freedom, has killed nearly 900 people since 1968 in its campaign to establish a sovereign state carved out of parts of northern Spain and southwestern France.