The government plans to assign 4,150 additional police to monitor tourist areas in July and August hoping to protect visitors against both common crime and possible terrorist attacks. State security forces believe that the Basque separatist group ETA intends to stage an attack soon on tourist areas of Spain’s Mediterranean coast. Perhaps in recognition of the widespread condemnation of al-Qaeda’s Madrid train station bombings, ETA is said to be planning major attacks that will not produce fatalities. The target is the tourism industry, not tourists themselves. Two ETA members arrested in France June 17 were allegedly on their way to the Mediterranean as a second team to carry out terrorist offensives.
