Triple A (Spain)

Triple A
Alianza Apostólica Anticomunista
Dates of operation	1976–1983
Motives	Opposition to Basque and Catalan nationalism (including moderate nationalism) and communism; anti-Catalanism and Catholic fundamentalism
Active region(s)	Basque Country Spain France Catalonia
Ideology	Fascism Spanish unionism Spanish nationalism Francoism National Catholicism
Political position	Far-right
Notable attacks	El Papus bombing Ametzola bombing
Status	Inactive

Triple A (an acronym for Alianza Apostólica Anticomunista, Apostolic Anticommunist Alliance) was a Spanish far-right paramilitary, Spanish nationalist group active from 1977 to 1982, primarily in the southern Basque Country but also in the French Basque Country and Barcelona. A June 2010 report by the Office for Victims of Terrorism of the Basque Government attributed eight murders in the Basque Autonomous Community to the group and linked it to the Spanish police, SECED and the Guardia Civil.^[1] The group attacked the satirical magazine El Papus in Barcelona, killing one person and injuring 17.^[2]

Attacks

This list may be incomplete, because many attacks were never admitted. The acronyms GAE and others (Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey, Anti Terrorismo ETA or ATE, Primera Línea de Fuerza Nueva, Batallón Vasco Español, Grupos Armados Españoles and, later, GAL and GANE) seem to have been used by the same Spanish nationalist networks.

• July 27, 1976: The group claimed responsibility for kidnapping ETA political-military leader Pertur. The Batallón Vasco Español later claimed responsibility for kidnapping and murdering Pertur.^[3]
• December 16: Alianza Apostólica Española threatened Catalan singer Lluis Llach, attacking with machine guns at one of his concerts.^[4]
• January 25, 1977: Triple A claimed responsibility for the Atocha massacre (later proven false) and the bombing of the Pub Santa Bárbara.
• February 7: The Sala Villaroel in Barcelona was bombed during a performance of an Alfonso Sastre play; the theatre owner was wounded.^[5]
• February 17: The Triple A Francisco Franco Command sent death threats to journalists and Basque activists.^[6]
• February 21: A death threat was sent to José Luis Martín, dean of arts at the University of Salamanca, .^[7]
• February 24: A death threat was sent to Spanish president Adolfo Suárez, accusing him of treason against the Movimiento Nacional.^[8]
• May 27: A bomb threat was made against an Aranjuez cinema if a People's Socialist Party event scheduled to be held there was not canceled.^[9]
• September 20: A bomb exploded at the satirical magazine El Papus office in Barcelona. Juan Peñalver Sandoval was killed, and 17 people were injured. The group also threatened to attack the newspapers Cambio 16 and Mundo Diario and the magazine Por Favor.^[10]
• October 6: A bomb destroyed the offices of the magazine Punto y Hora de Euskal Herria in Pamplona.^[11]
• October 7: Taxi driver David Salvador Bernardo (Jonio) was murdered in Andoain, Gipuzkoa. Triple A claimed responsibility for Salvador Bernardo's murder, accusing him of being an ETA collaborator.
• November 5: Triple A attacked and robbed the headquarters of Comisiones Obreras in Bilbao.^[12]
• June 6, 1978: Death threats were sent to Diario 16 manager Miguel Ángel Aguilar.^[13]
• July 1: A bomb partially destroyed the Circulo Catalán de Madrid building, killing one person.^[14]
• July 2: Rosario Arregui Letamendi, the wife of former ETA military leader Juan José Etxabe, was murdered in Donibane Lohizune, France. The couple was shot while they were driving; Letamendi died at the scene, and Etxabe was seriously wounded. Etxabe's family had been attacked several times, and his brother was murdered three years before. Responsibility was claimed by the Triple A, in "retaliation for the latest developments in Euskadi".^[15] Five unknown assailants opened fire at Letamendi's funeral.^[16][17]
• September 13: The PSOE offices in Avilés were attacked with guns, and the group stole a statue of Francisco Franco.^[18]
• November 10: A Molotov cocktail was used to attack Comisiones Obreras headquarters in Madrid.^[19]
• May 5, 1979: Triple A announced a boycott of the Basque Country.^[20]
• May 6: Seventeen-year-old José Ramón Ansa Echevarria of Andoain, Gipuzkoa, was kidnapped and murdered at dawn as he returned home on foot after attending local festivities with friends. Ansa Echevarria was found with a bullet in his forehead in a roadside ditch between Andoain and Urnieta. Responsibility for his murder was claimed by Triple A, who accused him of being a member of ETA (an accusation denied by his family).
• May 11: A bomb destroyed the Socialist Party of Andalusia building in Seville.^[21]
• June 12: A bomb destroyed the UCD building in Granada.^[22]
• April 23, 1980: Basque painter and Euskadiko Ezkerra member Javier Aguirre Unamuno was severely injured in an attack.^[23]
• July 23: A 2-kilogram (4.4 lb) Goma-2 bomb exploded in the Ametzola neighborhood of Bilbao. In the explosion, two Roma died at the scene: Maria Contreras Gabarra, 17 (who was pregnant) and her brother, 12-year-old Antonio Contreras Gabarra. Fifty-nine-year-old Anastasio Leal Terradillos of Cabezuela del Valle, an employee of the municipal cleaning service, was fatally injured. After the attack, there was speculation about whether the intended target was a nearby nursery owned by a councillor of Herri Batasuna or the local Batzoki.^[24]
• August 27: Jesús Maria Etxebeste was murdered in Irun.^[25]
• December 19: A bar in Lekeitio was attacked.^[26]
• November 26, 1981: El Diario de Barcelona was attacked.^[27] Death threats against Xavier Vinader.
• January 2, 1982: Pablo Garayalde was murdered in Leitza.^[25]
• June 14: Four bombs in Madrid and attacks on two buses in Torremolinos^[28]
• February 5, 1983: A grenade attack on the US Embassy in Madrid^[29]
• February 11: Attacks on, and threats against, left-wing students in the University of Barcelona^[30]

See also

• Alianza Anticomunista Argentina
• Batallón Vasco Español
• Grupos Armados Españoles
• Warriors of Christ the King
• Far-right terrorism in Spain

References

1. Luis R. Aizpeolea, "Las otras víctimas", El País, 21 de octubre de 2010.
2. JOSÉ A. CANO (12 January 2015). "De 'El Papus' a 'Charlie'". ELMUNDO. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
3. Ediciones El País. "El Batallón Vasco-Español afirma que ha ejecutado a "Pertur"". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
4. Ediciones El País. "La puesta en práctica". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
5. Ediciones El País. "Atentado contra la "Sala Villarroel" de Barcelona". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
6. Ediciones El País. "Amenazas de muerte del Comando "Francisco Franco" y de la "Triple A"". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
7. Ediciones El País. "Salamanca: el decano de Letras, amenazado por la Triple A". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
8. Ediciones El País. "La "Triple A" amenaza al presidente Suárez". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
9. Ediciones El País. "La "triple A" amenaza al dueño de un cine en Aranjuez". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
10. Ediciones El País. "La "Triple A" explica los motivos del atentado contra "El Papus"". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
11. Ediciones El País. "Quince mil manifestantes en Pamplona por el atentado contra "Punto y Hora"". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
12. Ediciones El País. "Asaltada la sede de Comisiones Obreras en Bilbao". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
13. Ediciones El País. "El director de "Diario 16", amenazado de muerte por la "Triple A"". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
14. La "Triple A" reivindica el atentado contra el Circulo Catalán.
15. Ediciones El País. "Asesinada la mujer del ex dirigente de ETA Juan José Etxabe". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
16. Ediciones El País. "Tensión en Mondragón durante el funeral de Rosario Arregui". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
17. Ediciones El País. "Disparos contra los asistentes a un funeral". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
18. Ediciones El País. "La "Triple A" roba a punta de pistola un busto de Franco en Avilés". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
19. Ediciones El País. ""Cóctel molotov" contra la sede de CCOO en Madrid". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
20. Ediciones El País. "La Triple A anuncia una campaña de boicot al País Vasco". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
21. Ediciones El País. "La sede del PSA en Sevilla, parcialmente destruida por la explosión de una bomba". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
22. Ediciones El País. "Artefacto explosivo contra la sede de UCD de Granada". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
23. Ediciones El País. "El atentado a un vasco en París reivindicado por los "ultras"". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
24. La Vanguardia Digital. "Edición del jueves, 24 julio 1980, página 4 - Hemeroteca - Lavanguardia.es". lavanguardia.com. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
25. Ediciones El País. "Las otras víctimas". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
26. Ediciones El País. "La Triple A". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
27. Ediciones El País. "El atentado contra "Diario de Barcelona", reivindicado por la Triple A". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
28. Ediciones El País. "La policía sospecha de la extrema derecha como autora de las explosiones ocurridas ayer en Madrid". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
29. Ediciones El País. "El atentado contra la Embajada norteamericana en Madrid". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
30. Ediciones El País. "Paro en la Universidad de Barcelona por una agresión de 'ultras' a un estudiante". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 30 September 2015.