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20.12.

1973: One of the Most Unusual and Violent Assassination Attempts in History

1973: One of the Most Unusual and Violent Assassination Attempts in History
Photo Credit To http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jSA2MwJ-HPs/UrSty0XQv9I/AAAAAAAAJLA/-ncUf9_IRn4/s1600/Muerte_de_Carrero_Blanco_8.jpg

Story Highlights

  • Historical event
  • 20 December 1973
  • The car of Prime Minister Admiral Carrero Blanco was so strongly thrown by the explosion that it was sent up about 20 meters into the air, flew over the roof of a neighboring building and landed in the inner courtyard.

On this day in 1973 the terrorist group ETA carried out one of the most unusual assassinations in history. They killed none other than the Spanish prime minister – the powerful Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. ETA is a Basque terrorist organization, which is fighting for independence of Basque from Spain. Namely, the Basques are one of the oldest nations in Europe, living in the territory of northern Spain and southern France. The acronym ETA comes from the Basque words “Euskadi Ta Askatasuna”, which means “Basque Homeland and Freedom”.



The assassinated Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco was regarded as a powerful successor of Francisco Franco. They both ruled Spain with an iron fist. Franco named Admiral Carrero Blanco a prime minister just six months before the aforementioned assassination. Admiral Carrero Blanco from Franco also received a high peerage Duke of Carrero Blanco (Spanish: Duque de Carrero Blanco).

ETA members spent months preparing the assassination. They rented a basement apartment in Madrid, precisely along the street that the prime minister used to drive trough. Approximately for five months, they dug a tunnel from the apartment towards the street, until they came below the street lane. They told the landlord that they were student sculptors. Below the street lane, they packed the tunnel with a large amount of explosives.

On this day, just as the Prime Minister’s car was moving down the street, ETA members detonated the explosives. The Prime Minister’s car was so strongly hit by the explosion that it was sent flying up about 20 meters into the air, flew over the roof of a neighboring building and landed in the inner courtyard. It is almost unbelievable that the prime minister actually survived the blast, though he did die shortly afterwards.

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