The October 1978 Getxo attack was a mass shooting gun attack by the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

separatist organisation

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

which occurred on 22 October in the Basque town of

Getxo Getxo () (Spanish: ''Guecho'') is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, in Spain. It is part of Greater Bilbao, and has 75,430 inhabitants (2023). Getxo ...

, a suburb of Bilbao. The attack occurred six weeks before a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

to approve a new

Spanish constitution The Spanish Constitution () is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. The current version was a ...

. The targets were a group of four civil guards who were returning from policing a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

game involving

Arenas Club de Getxo Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it currently plays in , holding home games at Campo Municipal de Gobela, with a 2,000-se ...

. After the game had finished, the civil guards were returning to their barracks, walking along Maximo Aguirre Street in the town. Four ETA members, armed with machine guns and shotguns, who had been lying in wait behind the wall of the local

Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...

building, ambushed the civil guards, subjecting them to heavy gunfire before fleeing. Two of the civil guards were killed instantly, while the other two were seriously injured, with one of them dying in hospital four days later. The ETA members involved escaped in two cars, driven by a further two participants in the attack. The cars were later found abandoned in the

Deusto Deusto, also known as Deustu in Basque language, Basque and formerly known as ''San Pedro de Deusto'', is one of the eight districts of Bilbao, Spain. It is located on the right side of the Estuary of Bilbao, Bilbao estuary, in the northwestern p ...

district of Bilbao. ETA claimed responsibility for the attack in a communique issued the following day. The funerals of those killed saw protests against ETA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Getxo attack ETA (separatist group) actions Mass shootings in Spain 1978 murders in Spain 1978 disasters in Spain Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1978 Terrorist incidents in Spain in the 1970s 1978 mass shootings in Europe October 1978 in Europe October 1978 History of Biscay Mass murder in 1978 20th-century mass murder in Spain Mass shootings involving shotguns