FACTS

-In November 2000, ETA planted a bomb at the door of her house with 2 kg of explosives and shrapnel.

-Juan, Aurora’s husband, was leaving the house to take his son to the nursery. He opened the front door forcefully, which disconnected the wire that connected the detonator to the bomb, which was hidden in a plant pot on the landing. Only the detonator exploded, causing some damage.

-After the attack, the Ertzaintza (Basque Police) told Aurora and her husband that they would need a police escort if they planned to stay in the Basque Country.

-Juan and Aurora rejected the option of having to live with bodyguards. They made the decision to leave the Basque Country.

CONSEQUENCES

“It has always been difficult to be a journalist in the Basque Country. Those of us who have been covering current affairs, political information, and have not yielded to the blackmail and demands of Herri Batasuna (HB) have been in the spotlight. There came a time when the world of HB banned media like mine or Juan’s – El Pais and A3, respectively – from their press conferences. Every time you asked a question they didn’t like, you appeared in their papers. We wrote what we wanted, but we knew we were taking a risk. We were risking our lives each day. We wrote things we knew they weren’t going to like. On several occasions I was told they had information on me. Any journalist who says he or she has worked without coercion is lying because the attack against us was a warning for all of journalists“.

“That was a very tough period, not only for journalists but for many other people. Following the assassination of the former prefect in Gipuzkoa, Juan Mari Jauregui, and of the president of ADEGI, the Gipuzkoa employers’ association, Jose Mari Korta (both in the year 2000), there was a time when I said: now they’ll be coming for us. I had a strange feeling that they were going to attack the media, that after those murders it was going to be our turn. In addition, documents were uncovered stating that they had already tried, that ETA had been following journalists…. We had even installed a device in the office, a scanner, so that all the packages received at the office could be screened”.

“We were a couple of journalists working for major media companies. We were easy targets, we had a very routine life. Until the attack, I always thought they were going to try to attack us. But I thought it would be by planting a bomb under our car, or something like that. The day they planted the bomb at home we were lucky because Juan moved the device when he opened the door so forcibly. The Ertzaintza told us to stay at the other end of the house, to move as far away from the bomb (which was outside the front door) as we could. We followed their instructions and I started playing with Lego blocks with the child”. 

“Finally, we left the house with care and without using the lift. The bomb was hidden in a plant pot that held a fern. It consisted of 2 kilograms of dynamite and a pot with 6 kg of shrapnel.”

“When we left, Juan went straight to the Ertzaintza (Basque Police) to make a statement. I started to contact the family to avoid any unrest when they heard about it in the media”.

“The situation was quite dramatic. After the first turmoil after the attack, I went to testify. They asked me whether I agreed with my husband that we had to leave. The alternative was to stay but with two bodyguards each. We didn’t want to live with the possibility of being killed any day going through our minds. So we decided to leave. We left that very day”.

“Fundamentally, we had our child in mind. We didn’t want our son to grow up in such a rotten society. If we had brought him up here, he would have grown in an environment without freedom and full of hatred and bitterness. My son is now a healthy young man, a democrat, to the point that when we explained what had happened to us, he didn’t make much of it; he faced the facts, accepted what had happened because he knows what the situation is like in the Basque Country. He’s leading a normal life. He has his ideas, but he enjoys life and has no feelings of hatred towards anyone. We have also brought him to San Sebastian. Indeed, his favourite football team is the Real Sociedad. He’s a healthy kid”.

“Leaving the Basque Country was tough. We didn’t leave because we wanted to, but because our lives were in danger. It was very hard to leave. But there was also a good side to it: being able to speak freely knowing that, while other people may not share your views, they will respect you and even be your friend. That happens outside the Basque Country and it was very important to us at that time”.

“All that was much more difficult for the family than for us. They stayed in the Basque Country with the same people who might have passed on information about us – HB people, whose very presence may be unbearable, but with whom you have to coexist. It was very hard for the family, and some of Juan’s family members even decided to leave the Basque Country, too”.

“An attack does not only affect those who are the targets of the attack, but the entire family and friends. They stayed with us all the time for the first few weeks. We are a large family and we were really supported for the first few months because we were wrecked”.

“People gave us their support; nationalists also. They called us and gave us encouragement. And we are grateful for that. But at that time, we got no help at all from the Basque government. I remember an event held at the Basque Parliament when Ibarretxe (Lehendakari of the Basque Government) told a colleague of mine: “What are we supposed to do with them, put them in jail?”. That was inappropriate, because at that time the Basque government was not supporting and protecting the victims but it was providing aid for the families of convicted terrorists to go and visit them. That was outrageous and indecent and very painful for us”.

“I hope that there are no more victims and that no-one else has to go through this pain, which has no measure. But if any other people do have to go through this, the institutions should help those families”.