The Basque government will commemorate the first child born by ETA . was murdered

March 29, 1980. Like every Saturday, Jose Maria Piris and Fernando Garcia, aged 13 and 11 respectively, returned home after playing a school football game. That day they did it in Fernando’s father’s car who parked the car in Plaza de los Atanos, in the Floreaga neighborhood of Azkoitia (Gipuzkoa), where they lived. As soon as they got out of the vehicle, the minors noticed the presence of a package in the center of the square, and José María had no doubts about it. He walked over to it and picked it up. It was an ETA bomb that exploded immediately.

José María died instead of the events, becoming the first minor victim of ETA, and his friend Fernando was seriously injured. The explosive had been placed by ETA in the underside of a vehicle owned by a vigilante who lived in the area, and according to police investigations, the package came off when the car was started and left it in the middle of the street. without exploding.

Today, 42 years later, the victims of the attack received the first official tribute from the institutions and were attended, among others, by an emotional Fernando who lives the hours leading up to the commemoration “wrapped in a mixture of feelings “. He remembers with astonishing serenity how he lived that tragic day that marked his life and that of his family. “I have very vague images of that day. I was a boy of 11 years old. I remember when we got out of the car and immediately I heard a big explosion. From that moment on I only remember a lot of noise, ambulances and doctors. I I have very vague images in my memory,” his story begins.

After the attack, Fernando remained hospitalized in the ICU at Donostia Hospital for 20 days, and since then has suffered from severe visual and hearing impairments. Those were very complicated times: it was the 80s, the years of the Transition and the violence of ETA was very present in Basque society. The man from Azkoitia assures that “the silence was absolute and there was a lot of fear”. “I didn’t understand anything, not what had happened, not what ETA was. I was able to move on with my life as a child, but my parents suffered a lot, especially for them it was very difficult. There was no communication or help. a lot of fear to talk about it. People looked the other way and nobody dared to raise their voices. It was all very difficult. We did not receive any kind of help, neither psychologically nor economically,” he clarifies .

Despite everything, he looks to the past without resentment, and in his words not an ounce of hatred is perceived. As he emphasizes, “thanks to my parents’ upbringing, hate has never been present in my life.” “Of course I have no appreciation for the perpetrators of the attack, but we live in a society where the people are very good and I stand by that. They did not raise me in hatred. They taught me to always look ahead.” he assures.

“Better late than never”, and for that reason Fernando does not hide his timid joy at today’s memorial ceremony, in which he had the opportunity to meet Jose María’s brother, who moved to Extremadura with his family after the attack and who is returned today for the first time to Azkoitia. “I especially hope that everything goes well and that it serves to remember José María, which is the least we can offer him,” he concludes.

The tribute, organized by the Basque government, the Azkoitia City Council and the Association of Victims of Terrorism in Extremadura, took place at 11 a.m. at the site of the attack. The act was supposed to take place in 2020, but due to the pandemic it had to be postponed.

Monolith in honor of José María Piris, at the site of the attack, in Azkoitia.