Three young Ecuadorians unfurl a hand painted yellow banner on Madrid’s metro. “The Ecuadorian people support the victims of ETA,” one reads aloud as the whistle sounds and the train pulls out of the station. Next to the slogan the banner carries photos of Ecuadorians Diego Armando Estacio and Carlos Alonso Palate, the latest victims of Spanish terrorist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA). Along with 200,000 other residents of Madrid, these three are on their way to march against ETA’s violence.

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Everyone was looking for trouble in Alcorcón last night. The ironically named “Parque de la Paz” (Park of Peace) was overrun with journalists waiting for chaos to break out; with a large deployment of police officers with batons at the ready; with residents of the neighbourhood holding placards against racism; and with neo-nazis sniffing for violence.

They were all waiting for a fight, a big fight, like the one that broke out last Saturday night in this south-western district of Madrid. Read the rest of this article »

Official tape blocked the main exit from the arrivals hall when I got back to Madrid, sending jet-lagged arrivers like myself into confusion as we wheeled our trolleys around looking for an alternative way out. The tape was due to ETA’s New Year’s Eve Eve fireworks: the dormant terrorist group set off a car bomb in the airport carpark on the 30^th of December which killed two people and the shaky ceasefire-based peace negotiations. Read the rest of this article »