A Spanish prison officer has become the 16th victim of terrorist violence since ETA ended a 14-month ceasefire in January.
Maximo Casado (44) died instantly when a bomb placed under his car exploded as he prepared to leave the garage beneath his home in the Basque capital of Vitoria to drive to the nearby Nanclares de Oca jail early yesterday morning.
Fellow workers in the prison, which houses several ETA prisoners, say that as a union representative and prison teacher Mr Casado had done much to improve conditions for the men behind bars.
All jails throughout Spain will stage work stoppages today as a sign of mourning. Other demonstrations have been convened in many cities and towns across the country.
The Interior Minister, Mr Jaime Mayor Oreja, spoke to journalists after visiting Mr Casado's wife and family. He said investigators believed the bomb contained between 1 1/2 and two kilos of explosives and was almost certainly the work of ETA. The latest killing came the morning after more than 100,000 people walked through the streets of Bilbao for two hours behind a banner reading "Peace. ETA No" on Saturday night.
The demonstration, convened by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), highlights the deep divisions in the region. The PNV's attitude to ETA is regarded as ambivalent by many, especially since the party signed a secret pact with the group prior to its 1998 ceasefire.
The demonstration was attended by PNV leaders, trade unionists and Catalan politicians, but only reluctantly by Socialist Party leaders, who threatened to walk out if it turned into a PNV political rally.
It was boycotted by many members of the Socialist Party, by the governing Popular Party, and by some peace groups and the association representing the victims of terrorism and their families.
The final communique was read by Ms Maria Isabel Lasa, the widow of a former Socialist civil governor of Guipuzcoa, Juan Maria Jauregui, murdered by ETA last July.
She appealed for a united front against ETA: "Many more points, such as the respect for life and freedom, unite us than those which divide us and we must strengthen these aspects and not allow hate to sour our hearts," she said.
Meanwhile, Mr Ibon Munoa (42), a former councillor for Herri Batasuna, ETA's political front, has been remanded in custody accused of collaborating in the kidnap and murder of the young Popular Party councillor, Miguel Angel Blanco, in 1997.