- Title: SPAIN: TOURISTS WORRIED AFTER TWO BOMB ATTACKS IN TOURIST HOTELS IN ETA CAMPAIGN
- Date: 23rd July 2003
- Summary: (W5) BENIDORM, SPAIN (JULY 23, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE/ PAN BENIDORM SKYLINE, PAN TO HOTEL NADAL, DAMAGED IN BOMB BLAST ON JULY 22 0.14 2. WIDE OF FRONT OF HOTEL WITH BIG HOLE IN IT, CRANE INSIDE THE HOTEL 0.18 3. PAN DOWN FROM TOP OF BUILDING THROUGH THE BUILDING WITH HOLE CAUSED BY BOMB 0.28 4. CLOSE UP WHAT USED TO B
- Embargoed: 7th August 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BENIDORM, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Reuters ID: LVA8UX51C2P9K2BEP8PYWL7YMFCA
- Story Text: A day after two bombs blew up inside hotels in Spain,
holidaymakers are wondering whether they should stay or cut
short their vacation.
Anxious holidaymakers with frightened children gathered
on the beach in Benidorm on Wednesday (July 23), a day after
bombs tore through hotels in two Spanish seaside resorts,
wounding 13 people, in what appeared to be a new campaign
against tourism by Basque separatist group ETA.
The devices went off minutes apart in the Hotel Residencia
Bahia in Alicante and the Hotel Nadal in Benidorm.
In Alicante, the blast seriously wounded a Dutch man who
suffered an open fracture at the left temple and had to
undergo surgery. A German man was also in serious condition
while two Swedes, two Russians, one Briton and a Spaniard
suffered lesser injuries.
In Benidorm, four police officers were hurt.
ETA gave advance warning of the attacks in a call to a
Basque newspaper, but the bombs exploded 30 minutes early,
leading Interior Minister Angel Acebes to call them "booby
traps". The devices went off shortly after 1200 (1000GMT).
Both resorts, which lie about 40 kms (25 miles) apart on
Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast, were packed with Spanish
and foreign holidaymakers, though the warning gave police time
to evacuate the hotels.
The blasts caused extensive damage to the two small hotels
and appeared to mark the start of another summer bombing
campaign by ETA, which in recent years has targeted tourism in
an effort to undermine Spain's most important industry.
It was almost business as usual on Wednesday, as tourists
flocked to the crowded beach, overlooked by skyscrapers.
Watching the Spanish teams working at the site of the
bombed hotel Nada on one side, and the clear blue
Mediterranean on the other, tourists seemed confused.
Bert van Eikland, a Dutch tourist, said the bombs had
brought an abrupt end to his holiday.
"Yes, I feel that the holidays are over now, it's all in
my brain here. You sleep, and you wake up and you think about
it," he said.
But Ian Edgar, who had come all the way from Scotland,
said he would try to forget about the blasts.
"No, I wouldn't go home, I'll just carry on with the rest
of my holiday, hem... It could happen anywhere, you could walk
in the street and get knocked down by a car. "
But many tourists are planning to go back early. Jordie
French, also from Britain, was shaken by the attacks.
"Yes, still a little bit shaky, because we didn't know if
a bomb was going to go off. We thought a bomb might go off, so
we tried to stay on the beach, away from buildings at first, I
don't know, I just feel I want to go home, really,"
Local businessmen said they were worried about the
economic impact of the blast. Arnoud Landemaene, owner of a
coffee shop, said most Spanish tourists are not afraid of ETA
and were unlikely to stay away.
"I hope not, because normally, most of the tourists who
come in the summer are Spanish, and the Spanish know the story
about ETA, and you know normally there are no deaths, only
destruction."
Many tourists decided to carry on with their vacations,
despite the attacks.
"We will in any case carry on with our vacations.
Yesterday when it all happened, we were worried, mainly
because of the kids, but then we discussed the situation and
reached the conclusion that we will continue with our
vacation," said Renato Heimann, from Germany.
The government announced this month it was sending 5,000
extra police to patrol tourist resorts over the summer to
guard against ETA attacks and other crimes.
ETA is Western Europe's most active guerrilla group and
has been branded a terrorist organisation by the United States
and European Union. It has killed 841 people since 1968 to
press for an independent state in northern Spain and
southwestern France.
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