Spanish police defused a powerful car bomb in the northern town of Getxo early today after a failed explosion attempt blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA, a police spokesman said.
The bomb, comprising around 50 kg of explosives, was timed to explode just 15 minutes after a warning call to police but the detonator failed to work, officials said.
Residents from the elegant Neguri area of Getxo - close to the Basque region's biggest city Bilbao - were evacuated as police used a robot and small explosive charges to blow open the car's boot where the explosives were packed into a rucksack.
Two anonymous calls on Monday evening to a pro-independence Basque newspaper in the name of ETA alerted police to the area. They detected the car by its false number plate.
The coastal town of Getxo, home to a number of leading Basque politicians and businessmen, was the target of bombings in June and July last year which injured more than 10 people.
Getxo Mayor Inaki Zarraoa branded ETA as fascists and called on the group to give up its 33-year armed campaign.
The outlawed group has claimed responsibility for 23 assassinations in 2000, its bloodiest year since 1992.
Reuters