30 January 2005

DENIA- A bomb exploded in a hotel in a Spanish tourist resort, leaving one person slightly injured, in an attack claimed by the armed Basque separatist organisation ETA.

The 160 guests at the Port Denia hotel in the eastern resort of Denia, south of the city of Valencia, were evacuated prior to the blast at around 3:10 pm following a telephoned warning from ETA, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.

One person suffered eardrum damage from the blast.

Police had earlier said two people were injured, but one was a hotel employee treated for nerves, it added.

A caller claiming to represent ETA called a vehicle breakdown service in the northern Basque city of Bilbao warning that a bomb would explode in 40 minutes in the Port Denia hotel.

"This person said: 'this is ETA. There is a bomb at the hotel Port Denia in Denia. The explosion will take place in 40 minutes,'" an employee of the breakdown service said.

Police said the device, hidden in a backpack, was left in the hotel patio.

The blast damaged the second and third floors of the building.

ETA's armed struggle for independence in northern Spain has killed more than 800 people in more than 30 years.

The Basque extremist group in 2003 stated that economic interests and tourism in particular were its priority targets.
  
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news