25 years have passed since the day that ETA kidnapped the PP councilor in Ermua
It has been 25 years since ETA kidnapped Miguel Ángel Blanco, whom he murdered 48 hours later in a ultimatum that shrunk the heart of the Spaniards. We summarize the hundred hours that passed from his captivity to his murder, a chronology of anguish and rage that unleashed a massive civic rebellion against the terrorist organization.
July 10th
15:20/15:30.- Miguel Ángel Blanco, a PP councilor in the Biscayan town of Ermua, does not go to work at a consultancy in Eibar. He has been kidnapped by an ETA commando.
17:30.- The terrorist group claims responsibility for the kidnapping in a call to Egin. They threaten to kill him if within 48 hours – on Saturday, July 12 at 4:00 p.m. – the Ministry of the Interior does not bring ETA prisoners to prisons in the Basque Country.
18:00.- A device is launched to find the whereabouts of the 29-year-old councilor. As the afternoon progresses, hundreds of Police, Civil Guard and Ertzaintza agents mobilize to search areas of Euskadi and Navarra. Controls are installed on the roads and the police coordination center in Deusto (Bilbao).
8:00 p.m.– The judge of the National Court Manuel García Castellón instructs the investigation. He asks that Blanco’s photograph be distributed. Until midnight he remains in his office analyzing the available information about the kidnapping.
8:15 p.m.– The residents of Ermua take to the streets to ask ETA to release Miguel Ángel Blanco. Television networks insert a blue ribbon that replaces their logo during broadcasts.
23:00.- The Minister of the Interior, Jaime Mayor Oreja, appears before the media. He assures that the Government “will fulfill its obligation” and asks society to know how to mobilize “around the pain, anguish and anxiety” of the Blanco family.
July 11
7:00.- Spain wakes up covered in blue ribbons as a symbol of freedom and before the blackmail of ETA for the kidnapping of Miguel Ángel Blanco. The security forces continue combing the Basque Country, mainly in the twenty-kilometer radius that connects the towns of Ermua -place of Blanco’s kidnapping-, Mondragón -where José Antonio Ortega Lara was held captive- and Elorrio -where Cosme Delclaux was released- .
First thing in the morning, the president of the PNV, Xabier Arzalluz, describes the kidnapping as “brutality” and assures that to the extent that his party can, “it will do whatever it takes” for his release, while Carlos Totorika, mayor of Ermua , says that “fear is disappearing in Euskadi”.
12:00.- Lehendakari Ardanza urgently convenes the table of the Ajuria Enea pact in Vitoria to analyze the situation. All its signatories, the parties of the so-called democratic bloc -PNV, PSE-EE, PP, IU, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) and Unidad Alavesa (UA)- urge ETA and Herri Batasuna not to “cross the limit”.
13:00.- Silent concentrations take place next to town halls from all over Spain. In Ermua, hundreds of telegrams and communiqués of solidarity with Miguel Ángel’s family paper its main façade.
20:00.- Miguel Ángel Blanco’s sister addresses the residents of Ermua behind a banner with the slogan “We are waiting for you”. Hundreds of thousands of people gather in squares throughout Spain shouting “Miguel Ángel, you are not alone”.
23:00.- The squares continue to be full of people throughout Spain who, with lit candles and in silence, demand the release of the councilor. Thousands of citizens spend the night on the street.
12th of July
A few hours before the end of the term given by ETA, the security forces continue the search for the councilman, without any investigation having borne fruit for the moment.
12:00.- The Spanish continue their massive mobilization to demand that ETA release Blanco. The massive demonstration in Bilbao is supported in hundreds of cities. “Enough is enough”, “ETA, here is my neck”, “Miguel Ángel we are all” are the unanimous cries of the citizens.
16:00.- The term given by ETA to assassinate Miguel Ángel Blanco expires without news of his captivity. Spain spontaneously takes to the streets to demand his release.
five pm.- Some residents of Lasarte (Gipuzkoa) found Miguel Ángel Blanco, handcuffed and with two shots to the head, on the outskirts of the town. He is transferred with a breath of life to the Hospital Nuestra Señora de Aránzazu in San Sebastián.
19:00.- Thousands of citizens in squares throughout Spain express their rejection of the murder. In many cities of the Basque Country, the protests are directed against the headquarters of Herri Batasuna and herriko tabernas, forcing Ertzaintza agents to protect them.
July 13
Minutes before 05:00.- Miguel Ángel Blanco died in hospital after a deep neurological coma caused by the irreversible injuries caused by the two bullet wounds.
11.00 The Lehendakari convenes an extraordinary meeting of the Ajuria Enea Board to “send a message of unity and firmness against terrorism” and announce demonstrations.
At the same time, several hundred people spontaneously began to walk the streets of Bilbao shouting “don’t look at us, join us”, “ETA, the people do not forgive”, “freedom” or “the Basques united will never be defeated”. “.
15:00 The ardent chapel is installed in the City Council of Ermua, which in a plenary session hours before declares the councilor’s favorite son and three days of official mourning.
July 14
12:00.- Miguel Ángel Blanco is buried at noon in the Ermua cemetery, with the assistance of the Prince of Asturias, Felipe de Borbón; the President of the Government, José María Aznar, several ministers and thousands of residents of the town who accompanied the coffin from the church of Santiago Apóstol.
20:00.- More than a million people in a four-kilometre human flood took over the center of Madrid under the slogan “for peace, unity and freedom”, in one of the most massive demonstrations in memory, a symbol of those that took place throughout the national territory.