Basque Homeland and Freedom
The death toll is up to 173 after a series of bomb attacks around Madrid this morning. Who are the Eta? Euskadi Ta Askatasuma, or Basque Homeland and Freedom. In 1959 under fascist dictator,Franco. the Basques' language was banned, their culture suppressed and intellectuals imprisoned and tortured for their political and cultural beliefs.
Their political party Batasuna has been banned as well from government and coming elections beacuse it is the only party that does not condemn separatists attacks.
The Basque region covers the areas between the Atlantic side of Southern France and Northern Spain. It is a beautiful, beach and mountainy area with sub-tropical climes in summer months. They are a proud folk and their language is still primarily spoken in the region. The main employment is industry and fishing.Their language (called Euskara) is said to predate the arrival of the Indo-European languages to the continent, of which French, Spanish, German, Icelandic, Welsh, Serbo-Croat and almost all others are the modern descendants.
Eta wants to establish a State separate from France and Spain, their own 'Euskadi ta', or Basque Socialist homeland. They are responsible for atleast 800 deaths to-date. Car-bombs, politicians -as- targets are commonly associated with Eta attacks.
Responsibilty for the attack has been denied by Eta. There are hallmarks of "Arab style" bombs_but it's early days.