The ''Batallón Vasco Español'' (BVE) (English: Spanish Basque Battalion), sometimes associated with the Alianza Apostólica Anticomunista (AAA) (English: Anti-Communist Apostolic Alliance), Antiterrorismo ETA (English: ETA Antiterrorism) or Triple A (English: Triple A), was a Spanish

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

parapolice organization present mainly in the Basque Country and

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. It began operations in 1975, a year and a half after the murder of Luis Carrero Blanco by

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 ...

and disbanded by April 1981. Some of its former members joined an organization formed not long after, known as the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación. The use of violence by the BVE was reported by ETA and its

allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, who identified it as violence committed directly by the Spanish government against the Basque population.

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...

, former

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

who was in office when the BVE was formed, defended it by saying it was a group of mayors who self-defended because ETA was going after them but had no influence in the course of the events.

Attacks

Attacks attributed to the Spanish Basque Battalion: *24 May 1978: Claimed assassination of José Martín Merquelanz Sarriegui, taxi driver from

Irún Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Ancient Rome, Roma ...

, for allegedly helping an ETA militant escape. This assassination was originally attributed to ETA, but the organisation denied it. *21 December 1978: Assassination of José Miguel Beñarán, " Argala" (ETA militant who participated in the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco in 1973), in

Anglet Anglet (; , )ANGELU
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia is a Communes of Fra ...

. Carlos Gastón, member of the BVE was accused for this crime. Former OAS member Jean-Pierre Cherid took part in it. *25 June 1979: Assassination of Enrique Gómez Álvarez (alleged ETA militant) in Bayonne. *28 June 1979: Assassination of F. Martín Eizaguirre and Aurelio Fernández (alleged GRAPO militants) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. *2 August 1979: Assassination of Juan J. Lopategui Carrasco (ETA militant) in

Anglet Anglet (; , )ANGELU
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia is a Communes of Fra ...

. *28 September 1979: Assassination of Tomás Alba Irazusta, HB councillor, in his hometown of

Astigarraga Astigarraga is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, in northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in ...

. *2 February 1980: Assassination of Jesús María Zubigaray Badiola, member of ''

Euskadiko Ezkerra Euskadiko Ezkerra (EE; ) was a Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque socialist political organisation. It was founded as a coalition of Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia (EIA, ''Basque Party for Revolution'' or ''Party for Basque Revolution'' ...

'', in Hernani. *2 February 1980: Kidnapping and assassination of Yolanda González Martín (student and member of the Workers' Socialist Party) in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Members of '' Fuerza Nueva'' were arrested for this case, including a policeman. *19 April 1980: Claimed assassination of Felipe Sagarna Ormazábal, member of HB in Hernani. *8 May 1980: Assassination of María José Bravo del Barrio (student without known political relation) in Donostia. *11 June 1980: José Miguel Etxeberria killed in Ziburu. *30 August 1980: Assassination of Angel Etxaniz Olabarria, member of Herri Batasuna, in

Ondarroa Ondarroa is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. Main sights *Church of St. Mary, in late Gothic style (late 15th century) *Likona Tower, a ty ...

. *7 September 1980: Assassination of Miguel María Arbelaiz and Luis María Elizondo (HB members) in Hernani. *14 November 1980: Assassination of Esperanza Arana and Joaquín Alfonso Etxeberria (ETA militants) in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

. *14 November 1980: Assassination of Joaquín Antimasbere Escoz, a Gypsy scrap dealer (with no known political connection), in Hernani. *23 November 1980: Machine-gun attack against the ''Bar Hendayais'' in

Hendaye Hendaye (; Basque: ''Hendaia'',HENDAIA
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

. *3 March 1981: Assassination of Francisco Javier Ansa Cincunegui, HB member, in

Andoain Andoain is a town in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the North of Spain. Nowadays it has a population of 14,637 inhabitants (2019), which has been quite stable since the 90s. Andoain is located where t ...

. *23 April 1981: Assassination of Xavier Aguirre in

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batallon Vasco Espanol Far-right politics in France Far-right politics in Spain Paramilitary organisations based in Spain 1975 establishments in Spain Organizations established in 1975 1981 disestablishments in Spain Organizations disestablished in 1981 Terrorism in France Far-right terrorism in Spain Anti-communist terrorism 20th century in the Basque Country Political history of Spain Spanish nationalism