Costa Blanca
Former leader of ETA, will appear in court today charged with planting a bomb Alicante-Elche airport

Iratxe Sorzabal, a former ETA commander, will be tried by the National Court today, Monday 17th March, for the placement of a bomb at the Alicante-Elche Airport in July 1995. The Tedax (Tedax) was used to defuse the bomb, which was discovered in a bin by a cleaner. No damage was inflicted. The Prosecutor’s Office is requesting a six-year prison sentence for Sorzabal, who was apprehended in France in 2015 alongside former ETA leader David Pla. Additionally, the office is seeking a five-year prohibition on Sorzabal’s return to the location of the crime.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in its indictment alleges that the former ETA leader deposited an explosive device at the airport on July 29th, 1995. The device was discovered by a cleaner at approximately 12:45 p.m. while she was emptying the bins.
The Tedax deactivated the device, which was composed of a digital timepiece, a 9-volt battery, 500 grammes of explosive material, an electric detonator, and several cables, after the State Security Forces cordoned off the area. The statement states that no personal or material damage occurred, despite the fact that the incendiary device was placed with the intention of causing the most damage to people and public and private property.
These events are classified as a terrorism offence under the 1973 Penal Code, which was in effect at the time of the events. This classification corresponds to one of terrorist attacks under the current legal framework, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
For the first time in Spain, Iratxe Sorzabal was sentenced to 24 and a half years in prison in 2022 for a double attack that occurred in November 1996 in Gijón, targeting the Palace of Justice and a pharmacy. She was detained in Hernani (Guipúzcoa) prior to her arrest in France and subsequently released. Subsequently, she fled to France to join ETA, where she was apprehended once more in 2015.
The Basque Autonomous Police have attributed the crime of the murder of Ertzaintza non-commissioned officer Montxo Doral in 1996 to a commando under the supervision of Sorzabal. Recently, a court of the National Court has reopened the investigation into the matter.
In order to circumvent the prosecution, her defence has maintained that the Civil Guard coerced her into confessing her involvement in the attacks during her initial arrest in 2001, much like they did when she was tried for the double attack in Gijón.
In June 2006, the Paris Correctional Court sentenced her in absentia to three years in prison for her involvement in ETA’s political apparatus. In 2013, she was once again sentenced in absentia in the trial in which her daughter’s father, former ETA leader Mikel Carrera Sarobe, Ata, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two Civil Guards in Capbreton in 2007.
Discover more from Costa Blanca Daily
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Costa Blanca
Walkway from Aguamarina to La Caleta in Cabo Roig will reopen, again

According to the notification from the Provincial Expropriation Jury to the Orihuela City Council following its approval of the court’s appraisal report, the municipal coffers will incur a cost of 26,180 euros for the expropriation of the land to reopen the pedestrian crossing connecting Aguamarina with La Caleta in Cabo Roig, near the Bellavista development.
The City Council has now requested that the Treasury deposit the specified amount in the receptacle and proceed with the preoccupation of reopening the promenade this summer.
Unable to reach an agreement, the local government and the proprietors brought the process before the provincial jury. Almost 17 times the municipal technicians’ calculation (€69,113), the proprietors presented a valuation of €1.2 million for their 227-square-metre cliffside plots in January of last year.
Nevertheless, this proposition was a decrease from the 3 million euros that they had initially requested. The 52 residents of the residential complex have established a price of approximately 170,000 euros for the 142 square meters of land that is to be expropriated, which is a decrease from the previous price of 2 million euros. Conversely, Cabo Roig SA has requested 987,000 euros (previously 1 million euros) for 85 square meters of hotel use. The City Council’s initial assessment was 44,000 euros.
The jury ultimately found that the City Council had to pay just over €26,000. The 2024 budget allocated €600,000 for the expropriation of the land and the necessary works to reinstate an idyllic pedestrian promenade along the Orihuela coastline. This should be kept in mind. This promenade has been accessible to the public for many years, but it has been closed since December 2021. The City Council closed it in accordance with a court judgement, which necessitated a two-kilometre diversion for residents and numerous visitors to circumvent a section that was only 60 metres in length.
The residential development was authorised prior to the Coastal Law and the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) of 1990, which mandated that the initial line be used for public purposes. Nevertheless, the City Council refrained from expropriating this section, which ensured the promenade’s continuity along the entire littoral. In 2013, the residents of the development constructed a wall to seal off the path that runs along the precipice and is adjacent to the gardens of their residences.
In 2013, the local government, at the request of the socialist Antonio Zapata, the councillor for urban planning at the time, initiated the process of restoring urban planning legality against the development. The process involved the installation of a barrier and a wall, which impeded traffic on the section.
In March 2015, City Hall employees employed sledgehammers to breach the gate and wall, thereby allowing the public access to the trail, with the support of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ). In 2016, the Elche Administrative Court ruled in favour of the residents of the development, annulling the rulings and directing City Hall to restore the cliff walkway at the Bellavista I residential complex, which was never considered public property.
Although the local government has been appealing its enforcement, the ruling became final when the City Council, which was then governed by the People’s Party (PP), did not appeal. The Provincial Coastal Service reported in May 2017 that a right of way impacted the land in Aguamarina. Consequently, the 52 residents of the residential complex were unable to close the passageway and were required to maintain it undisturbed.
The City Council filed an appeal against the October 4th, 2018, order, which ordered the fencing and restitution of the demolished wall. The TSJ overturned the appeal in a November 2020 ruling, stating that the wall was legally constructed by the residents prior to the implementation of the current Coastal Law, which is the foundation of the Provincial Coastal Service’s right of way discussion. The City Council assumed the report and was subsequently obligated to execute the 2016 ruling, which mandates the reconstruction of the demolished perimeter fence and annuls the 2013 agreement of the Governing Board and the 2015 demolition decree.
Therefore, in December 2021, it was once again closed to adhere to the ruling, which mandated that the City Council restore it to its original condition.
Discover more from Costa Blanca Daily
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Costa Blanca
Crackdown on illegal sales in Calpe

As part of a campaign against street vending that will be further bolstered in the spring and summer of 2025, the Guardia Civil and Local Police have deployed over 25 officers and a drone to the beaches of Levante and Poniente.
A police operation was conducted a few days ago to combat the illicit sale and counterfeiting of products by plainclothes and uniformed officers from the Guardia Civil and the Calpe Local Police. The prevention and deterrent campaign against illicit street vending will persist throughout the spring and summer of 2025, and this action is a component of it.
The Guardia Civil officers from the Main Post and the specialised unit PAFIF (Tax and Border Patrol), which monitors borders and controls taxation in our country, as well as the UTAI and USC CALP units of the Calpe Local Police, were involved in the police operation, which was aided by a drone from the UMAC (Calpe Local Police Aerial Means Unit). This police operation, which was conducted on the Levante and Poniente beaches of Calpe, involved over 25 officers from both forces.
In the course of the operation, 180 leather products, 212 T-shirts, 38 swimsuits, 12 caps and 291 pairs of trainers were confiscated, in addition to five vehicles that were purportedly used as warehouses. The prospective market value of all counterfeit items, which includes the value of the immobilised vehicles and the seized materials, is €15,000. The competent authorities were also informed of the sellers who were identified.
The Councillor for Citizen Security of the Calp City Council, Guillermo Sendra Guardiola, conveyed his satisfaction with the positive relationship and spirit of collaboration and cooperation between the Guardia Civil and the Local Police. “The councillor underscored that the fact that both forces are collaborating, despite their differences in resources and efforts, results in heightened safety for Calpe residents and visitors.”
The local government’s dedication to law enforcement is complemented by its efforts to increase community awareness of the risks and repercussions of supporting this unlawful trade, as the municipal ordinance prohibits both the street sale and purchase of these products.
Discover more from Costa Blanca Daily
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Costa Blanca
Another man arrested for his alleged involvement in the death of a man during a fight in Alicante

Police sources say that the National Police have arrested a second individual in Alicante yesterday, Thursday April 17th, for their alleged involvement in the death of a man who was stabbed during a dispute near the General Hospital last Friday afternoon, April 11th.
Initially, authorities apprehended a male on suspicion of involvement in this incident, which resulted in a fatality and a knife wound that required hospitalisation. The person arrested is believed to be only 14 years old. The Violent Crime Group of the Alicante National Police Brigade is currently conducting an investigation, and no additional information has been disclosed regarding the identities of those apprehended.
Last Friday, at approximately 6:00 p.m., officers responded to a call and proceeded to an area near Alicante General Hospital. When they arrived, they found two individuals who had sustained injuries from a weapon. One of them passed away, while the other needed treatment in the ICU.
Discover more from Costa Blanca Daily
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
-
Costa Blanca2 weeks ago
This week the DGT will issue over 64,000 speeding tickets
-
Costa Blanca2 weeks ago
Six arrested for the use of AI to defraud over 19 million euros
-
Costa Blanca5 days ago
Torrevieja records a 2.8 magnitude earthquake
-
Costa Blanca2 weeks ago
Fire in Benidorm sees two being treated for smoke inhalation
-
Costa Blanca1 week ago
Spanish family killed in helicopter crash in New York
-
Costa Blanca2 weeks ago
Why aren’t salaries in Spain rising while everything else is?
-
Costa Blanca2 weeks ago
Beware if you receive an orange envelope in your postbox
-
Costa Blanca2 weeks ago
Police are investigating a shooting in Alicante