Grupos Armados Españoles

Spanish Armed Groups
*Grupos Armados Españoles* (Spanish)
Spanish Armed Groups; Grupos Armados Españoles (Spanish)
Leaders	Unknown
Dates of operation	c. 1979 – c. 1980
Motives	Opposition to separatism, communism and democracy
Active regions	Spain (Basque Country)
Ideology	Neo-fascism; Spanish nationalism; Vasco-phobia
Political position	Far-right
Status	Inactive
Size	Unknown
Allies	Batallón Vasco Español; Alianza Apostólica Anticomunista; Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey; Acción Nacional Española; Antiterrorismo ETA
Opponents	Basque National Liberation Movement Euskadi ta Askatasuna; Iparretarrak; Autonomous Anti-Capitalist Commandos; Kale Borroka; Hordago; Euskal Zuzentasuna; Communists and other leftists; Government of Spain
Battles and wars	the Basque Conflict

Spanish Armed Groups
Spanish Armed Groups
Grupos Armados Españoles (Spanish)
Leader	Unknown
Dates of operation	c. 1979 – c. 1980
Motives	Opposition to separatism, communism and democracy
Active regions	Spain (Basque Country)
Ideology	Neo-fascism; Spanish nationalism; Vasco-phobia
Political position	Far-right
Notable attacks	Alonsotegi bombing
Status	Inactive
Size	Unknown

The Grupos Armados Españoles (GAE) (English: Spanish Armed Groups) was a Spanish neo-fascist paramilitary organisation active from 1979 to 1980, primarily in the Basque Country. A report by the Office for Victims of Terrorism of the Basque Government in June 2010 attributed six murders to the group, and linked it to the National Police Corps, SECED and the Civil Guard.^[1]

Attacks

Attacks attributed to the Spanish Armed Groups:^[a]

28 September 1979: Assassination of Tomás Alba Irazusta, Herri Batasuna town councillor of Donostia in Astigarraga.
15 January 1980: Assassination of Carlos Saldise Corta (member of the Gestoras Pro Amnistía) in Lezo.
20 January 1980: Alonsotegi bombing. Four killed and 10 injured.^[2]

Alleged links with Francoist repression

The report of the Office of Victims of Terrorism of the Basque Government said that the GAE was a well organized group that "acted with a high level of tolerance, when no complicity with important sectors of the police apparatus of the time",^{[full citation needed]} and criticized the impunity and lack of investigation about group actions.

Notes

^ This list may be incomplete, because many of their attacks were never claimed. Additionally the acronyms GAE and others (Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey, Antiterrorismo ETA, Primera Línea de Fuerza Nueva, Batallón Vasco Español, Alianza Apóstolica Anticomunista, and later Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación and GANE) seem to have been indistinctly used by the same Spanish nationalist networks capriciously.

References

^ (In Spanish) Las otras víctimas (El País)
^ (In Spanish) El grupo de ultraderecha GAE reivindica el atentado de Baracaldo (El País)

[2] This list may be incomplete, because many of their attacks were never claimed. Additionally the acronyms GAE and others (Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey, Antiterrorismo ETA, Primera Línea de Fuerza Nueva, Batallón Vasco Español, Alianza Apóstolica Anticomunista, and later Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación and GANE) seem to have been indistinctly used by the same Spanish nationalist networks capriciously.

[1] (In Spanish) Las otras víctimas (El País)

[3] (In Spanish) El grupo de ultraderecha GAE reivindica el atentado de Baracaldo (El País)

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