ETA blamed for bomb found on Spanish beach

Explosives experts combing a Costa Blanca beach today found a bomb planted by the Basque separatist group ETA, the government said.

The device was buried in a small backpack at the foot of some palm trees near Santa Pola, Spain’s Interior Ministry said.

The find follows a blast in a nearby resort on Friday and signalled the outlawed group’s determination to continue its summer terror campaign.

Several people have already been killed as ETA targets tourist areas - including resorts popular with Irish visitors.

A caller to a Basque newspaper who said he represented ETA had warned of two bombs on Friday, one in Torrevieja and another in Santa Pola.

No device was found in Santa Pola on Friday, but another caller today said the bomb was still there.

It was later discovered and safely defused, said an official in the resort. He said the bomb weighed about 11lb and had been buried about 5ft deep in the sand.

The bomb in Torrevieja, about 15 miles away, exploded in a burger bar and caused extensive damage but no injuries.

Santa Pola was hit by a car bomb outside a military barracks on August 4 that killed two people, including a six-year-old local girl.

ETA, or Basque Homeland and Freedom, has waged a 34-year campaign for independence of the region of two million inhabitants in northern Spain. About 800 people have been killed.

The party considered to be ETA’s political wing, Batasuna, pointedly refused to condemn the August 4 bombing in Santa Pola.

The government in Madrid responded by starting proceedings to have the party banned under a new anti-terrorism law.