Tourists hurt in ETA bomb attacks

Car bombs rocked two Spanish tourist resorts yesterday, injuring at least six people in attacks by suspected Basque separatists timed to coincide with the start of a European Union summit in Seville. The injured included a British man, seriously hurt by flying shrapnel, a Spanish couple and three children, two of them British and one Moroccan, officials said. Officials said they received a telephoned warning in the name of armed Basque separatist group ETA before the first blast which blew in windows at a 10-storey hotel in the popular beach resort of Fuengirola, near the southern city of Malaga. A second car bomb exploded in the nearby luxury resort of Marbella hours later, causing extensive damage to the four-star Hotel Sultan. There was no immediate word on injuries. The bombs exploded as EU leaders began a heavily guarded two-day summit in Seville, 160 kms (100 miles) from Fuengirola. Spain's chief government spokesman Pio Cabanillas said ETA appeared to be using the media attention on the Seville meeting to gain publicity. “ETA attacks where and when it can, and when there are meetings that can give it a greater media impact, they try to take advantage of that,” he told reporters in Seville. The EU added ETA to its list of terrorist organisations following the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities. Spain and France have also stepped up a crackdown on the group. ETA has targeted Spanish holiday resorts in the past, hoping to damage tourism which is vital to Spain's economy. The government has also said it has foiled plans by the group to attack previous high-level meetings in Spain during its six-month presidency of the EU that is nearing an end.