Socialist party member Froilán Elespe was shot at least twice while standing at a bar where he habitually went for a lunchtime drink in Lasarte –a Basque town near the coastal city of San Sebastián.
Elespe, a father of two, died at the scene. Preliminary media reports indicate the deputy mayor chose not to have a bodyguard.
The shooting occurred hours after five ETA associates were detained by police.
Lasarte, an industrial town of 17,000 residents, is located six miles (10 kilometers) south of San Sebastián.
Spanish authorities immediately blamed the shooting on ETA, which would make it the sixth killing so far this year blamed on the separatists and its 29th since ending a 14-month-long unilateral ceasefire in December 1999.
This latest attack comes on the heels of a car bombing on March 17 that killed a police officer in the Mediterranean coastal resort of Rosas. Santos Santamaría, a 33-year-old regional policeman, was hit by flying shrapnel from the blast. Three others were also injured in the explosion.
A car bomb attack on March 9 killed a 25-year-old police officer in the northern Basque town of Hernani.
Spanish officials fear that the recent spate of attacks signal a more aggressive campaign of violence by ETA in anticipation of Basque regional elections on May 13. The group has also been linked to the theft of 1.6 tons of dynamite from a warehouse in southern France.
At Lasarte’s town hall, Elespe’s neighbors --joined by hundreds of protestors-- accused the three councilors of ETA’s political arm, Euskal Herritarrok, for being the only political party that did not condemn the killing.
The councilors were assailed with chants of "murderers," "fascists" and "you are nothing without pistols."
ETA, whose acronym stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom, has killed more than 800 people in its 32-year-long struggle to carve out an independent state from northwestern Spain and parts of southwestern France. The group has mainly targeted Spain’s security forces, politicians, and judiciary officials.
Frank Griffiths may be reached at fgriffiths@suite101.com
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