Critic Hurt in Basque Bombing

A letter bomb exploded Tuesday in the face of a journalist who has denounced separatist bloodshed, the first outburst of violence since regional elections two days earlier produced a victory for a moderate Basque nationalist party.

Gorka Landaburu, a reporter for the Spanish magazine Cambio 16 and several national TV stations, sustained serious injuries to his face, hand and abdomen, but his life was not in danger, hospital officials said.

Landaburu’s wife, Marina, told Radio Nacional that the letter arrived Monday at their apartment in Zarauz, an Atlantic coast town near San Sebastian in the Basque region. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The blast came two days after the Basque Nationalist Party outpolled anti-independence parties. The party advocates Basque self-determination through legal means and has also condemned the violence of the ETA, an outlawed group that has been blamed for 800 deaths in a 33-year armed campaign for independence.

“This is an insult to the Basque people. We said no to ETA in the elections,” said Blanca Diez, an insurance agent.

Landaburu, 49, is from a well-known family in northern Spain’s Basque region, where his brother directs a regional edition of the national newspaper El Pais.

Both men were believed to be on the ETA’s hit list and have been threatened during rowdy demonstrations by the extremist group’s sympathizers.