The ''Batallón Vasco Español'' (BVE) (English: Spanish Basque Battalion) sometimes associated with the Alianza Anticomunista (AAA) (English: Anti-Communist 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 that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration s ...

parapolice Parapolice are law enforcement officers considered "beyond", "ancillary" or "subsidiary" to the regular police force (as in "Paramilitary", "Paramedic", or "Paralegal"). The term has been used in criminology to refer to private security with an exp ...

organization present mainly in the Basque Country and

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

. It began operations in 1975, a year and a half after the murder of

Luis Carrero Blanco Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco (4 March 1904 – 20 December 1973) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of Spain and i ...

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

and disbanded by April 1981. Some of its former members joined an organization formed not long after, known as the

Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación GAL (an acronym for ''Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación'', "Antiterrorist Liberation Groups") were death squads illegally established by officials of the Spanish government to fight against ETA, the principal Basque separatist militant gro ...

. 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 explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, 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 in Francoist Spain, who was also the founder of the People's Party. Fraga was Minister of Information and Tourism between 1962 and 1969, Amba ...

, former interior minister 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.

Presumed link with Spain's security apparatus

In 2010's dossier by the Victims of Terrorism Association (Spanish: Colectivo de Víctimas del Terrorismo (COVITE))

Attacks

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

Irún Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Sp ...

, 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

in 1973), in Anglet. Carlos Gastón, member of the BVE was accused for this crime. Former

OAS OAS or Oas may refer to: Chemistry * O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis Computers * Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards * OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...

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 The First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups ( es, Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre, GRAPO) was a Spanish clandestine Marxist–Leninist group aiming for the formation of a Spanish Republican state. Besides its anti- ...

militants) in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. *2 August 1979: Assassination of Juan J. Lopategui Carrasco (ETA militant) in Anglet. *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. It is famous for its hard cider and the cider houses. References External links Official Website Informationavailabl ...

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

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

'', 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 most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Members of ''

Fuerza Nueva New Force ( es, Fuerza Nueva, FN) was the name of a far-right political party in Spain founded by Blas Piñar, director of the Institute of Hispanic Culture and longtime ''procurador'' in the Cortes Españolas during the Francoist period. Orig ...

'' 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 typ ...

. *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, abbreviated as 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 ...

. *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 language, Basque: ''Hendaia'')HENDAIA
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eusko Entz ...

. José Camio and Jean Pierre Aramendi (both without known political connections) were killed. Another 10 people were injured. *30 December 1980: Assassination of José Martín Sagardía Zaldua (ETA member) in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) 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. ...

. *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 (autonomous community), Basque Country, in the North of Spain. Nowadays it has a population of 14,637 inhabitants (2019), which has been quite stable sin ...

. *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 Spain Basque history Political history of Spain Spanish nationalism