Editing GAL (paramilitary group)

{{Short description|1983–87 Spanish government death squads}}
{{Lead too short|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = GAL (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación)
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = 
| other_name       = 
| logo             =  
| caption          =  
| dates            = {{Start date|1983|10|15}}{{snd}}{{End date|1987}}
| leader           = [[José Barrionuevo]]<br>[[Enrique Rodríguez Galindo]]<br>[[Rafael Vera]]<br>[[José Amedo Fouce]]<br>Ricardo García Damborenea<br>Julián Sancristóbal
| motives          = Elimination of [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]]
| area             = France<br/>Spain
| crimes           = 
| attacks          = [[Monbar Hotel attack]]<br>[[Killing of Lasa and Zabala]]
| status           = Inactive
| size             = Several dozen members
| revenue          =
| financing        =
| url              = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
[[File:Eugenio gutierrez tigre-01.jpg|thumb|Memorial for Eugenio Gutiérrez Salazar, killed by GAL|alt=Memorial with a picture, flowers and a Basque flag]]
'''GAL''' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación'', "Antiterrorist Liberation Groups") were [[death squad]]s illegally established by officials of the [[Spanish government]] during the [[Basque conflict]] to fight against [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]], the main [[Basque nationalism|Basque separatist]] [[militant]] group. They were active from 1983 to 1987 under [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE)-led governments.

GAL's activities, known as "the dirty war," primarily targeted ETA members and Basque nationalists, with attacks occurring mainly in the Basque country on the French side of the Spanish-French border, but kidnappings and torture also took place in Spain. The daily newspaper El Mundo played a crucial role in exposing GAL. Several Spanish police officers and government officials were convicted and imprisoned when the operation ended. The death squads were an important issue during the 1996 election, when the PSOE was defeated by José María Aznar's People's Party (PP) for the first time.   

== {{anchor|General history}}Background ==
GAL operated primarily in the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque country]] on the French side of the [[France–Spain border|Spanish-French border]], but kidnappings and torture also took place in Spain. Most victims (at least 27 dead and 26 injured) were ETA members or activist Basque nationalists, but some were not known to have links to ETA or any other organization advocating [[political violence]]. GAL was active from 1983 to 1987, a period known as ''la guerra sucia'' ("the dirty war") in [[History of Spain (1975–present)|Spanish history]].

Its main purposes were to attack ETA members and Basque nationalist targets and to wreak havoc in French territory to put pressure on the French government.<ref>[[François Mitterrand]] was [[President of France]]; Prime ministers in the years 1983 to 1987 were [[Pierre Mauroy]] (21 May 1981 – 17 July 1984), [[Laurent Fabius]] (until 20 March 1986) and [[Jacques Chirac]] (until 10 May 1988).</ref>

Apart from the [[Spanish nationalism|nationalist]] rationale for its opposition to Basque separatism, GAL was not on the [[left–right political spectrum]]; many members were foreign mercenaries. Many of these mercenaries were recruited from the European [[Far-right politics|far right]] (including the [[Organisation armée secrète|OAS]]), however, and many perpetrators and organizers were active or former [[Francoist Spain|Francoist]] civil servants.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|author1=Julián Casanova|author2=Carlos Gil Andrés|title=Twentieth-Century Spain: A History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-107-01696-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOrCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA339|location=Cambridge|page=339|access-date=February 22, 2023|archive-date=April 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415140916/https://books.google.com/books?id=AOrCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA339|url-status=live}}</ref>

From its beginning, GAL attacks indicated a close connection to high-ranking officials in the PSOE government and a number of [[Law enforcement in Spain|police officials]] in the Basque Country.<ref name=":0" /> In addition to GAL operatives, several Spanish police officers and government officials were convicted and imprisoned when the operation ended. Interior Minister [[José Barrionuevo]] and his associate, [[Rafael Vera]], were convicted of the kidnapping of [[Marey case|Segundo Marey]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Políticos condenados por su relación con el GAL pasaron menos tiempo en la cárcel que los jóvenes de Altsasu|url=https://www.publico.es/politica/prision-gal-politicos-condenados-relacion-gal-pasaron-carcel-jovenes-altsasu.html|access-date=2021-10-24|website=www.publico.es|date=August 9, 2019 |archive-date=June 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614173205/http://www.publico.es/politica/prision-gal-politicos-condenados-relacion-gal-pasaron-carcel-jovenes-altsasu.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Gipuzkoa]] governor [[Julen Elgorriaga]] and [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Civil Guard]] general [[Enrique Rodríguez Galindo]] were found guilty of the [[Killing of Lasa and Zabala|murder of Joxe Antonio Lasa and Joxe Ignacio Zabala]] in October 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webeurcountries/SPAIN?OpenDocument|title=Spain|website=Amnesty International Report 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106211340/http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webeurcountries/SPAIN?OpenDocument |archive-date=2006-11-06 }}</ref>

After the assassination of PSOE [[Senate of Spain|Senator]] Enrique Casas by the [[Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas|CAA]], PSOE officials attempted to assassinate [[Herri Batasuna]] representative Santi Brouard. Would-be assassin Jose Luis Morcillo received 7.5 million [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]] from high-ranking Civil Guard official Rafael Masa, as ordered by Spanish State Security chief director [[Julian Sancristobal]]. Part of the payment for the attempt on Brouard's life, however, was diverted to unknown purposes.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-04-15|title=Morcillo confiesa que asesinó a Santi Brouard por orden de Interior|url=https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/1313222/asesinato-santi-brouard--confesion-jose-luis-morcillo/|access-date=2021-10-24|website=EITB Radio Televisión Pública Vasca|language=es|archive-date=January 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129043922/https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/1313222/asesinato-santi-brouard--confesion-jose-luis-morcillo/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=elmundo.es|title='Yo asesiné a Santiago Brouard'|url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/04/15/espana/www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/04/15/espana/1366040385.html|access-date=2021-10-24|website=www.elmundo.es}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[File:Lasa eta Zabala gogoratuz.jpg|thumb|Memorial demonstration for Joxe Antonio Lasa and Joxe Ignacio Zabala in 2008|alt=Demonstrators holding pictures in front of uniformed people in red helmets, perhaps police officers]]
Prosecutors proved that the police officers who recruited mercenaries and the government officials who organized the dirty-war operations also embezzled large amounts of public money{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}. Rafael Vera and others were sentenced for illegal appropriation of funds from the Interior Ministry. To ensure their silence, the PSOE government bribed inspector José Amedo Fouce and Michel Domínguez. Vera was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and his secretary received a nine-month sentence.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Público|url=https://especiales.publico.es/hemeroteca/210024/el-supremo-confirma-la-condena-de-ano-y-medio-de-prision-para-vera-por-malversacion-de-fondos|access-date=2021-10-24|website=especiales.publico.es|archive-date=January 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121193655/https://especiales.publico.es/hemeroteca/210024/el-supremo-confirma-la-condena-de-ano-y-medio-de-prision-para-vera-por-malversacion-de-fondos|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Investigative journalism|Investigative journalists]] from the newspaper ''[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]'' reported that [[Prime Minister of Spain|Prime Minister]] and PSOE leader [[Felipe González]] was suspected of GAL involvement. Several years of investigation concluded that "Señor X" was the chief official of an organization supervising Interior Minister [[José Barrionuevo]] and Vera, but Gonzalez was not named or tried. The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] eventually identified Señor X as the prime minister.<ref>{{cite web |title=Documentos de la CIA relatan que Felipe González acordó crear los GAL |url=https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/7303287/felipe-gonzalez-acordo-crear-gal-cia-14-junio-2020/ |language=Spanish |work=EiTB |date=14 June 2020 |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615220030/https://www.eitb.eus/es/noticias/politica/detalle/7303287/felipe-gonzalez-acordo-crear-gal-cia-14-junio-2020/ |url-status=live }}</ref> González' involvement was confirmed by former [[National Police Corps (Spain)|National Police Corps]] officer [[José Manuel Villarejo]], who told the [[Congress of Deputies]] on October 21, 2021 that González had created GAL.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Villarejo defiende la 'guerra sucia' contra ETA: "Me hubiera gustado participar"|url=https://www.publico.es/politica/villarejo-defiende-guerra-sucia-eta-me-hubiera-gustado-participar.html|access-date=2021-10-24|website=www.publico.es|date=October 21, 2021 |archive-date=October 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025160658/https://www.publico.es/politica/villarejo-defiende-guerra-sucia-eta-me-hubiera-gustado-participar.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The death squads were an important issue during the [[1996 Spanish general election|1996 election]], when the PSOE was defeated by [[José María Aznar]]'s [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] (PP) for the first time. González then resigned as PSOE leader. With the exception of [[Ricardo García Damborenea]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1998/08/14/espana/903045607_850215.html|title=Damborenea es el primero de los condenados por el "caso Marey" que ha recurrido al Constitucional|date=1998-08-14|work=El País|access-date=2019-04-27|language=es|issn=1134-6582|archive-date=2019-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427094839/https://elpais.com/diario/1998/08/14/espana/903045607_850215.html|url-status=live}}</ref> PSOE leaders have never acknowledged responsibility for the GAL or condemned their crimes. González, who has never been charged with a GAL-related offence, has called publicly for pardons for his former subordinates. PSOE leaders campaigned for leniency towards their former colleagues, and the Aznar government pardoned several of them.

== {{anchor|Chronology of attacks}}Timeline ==
* {{em|1983}}
**October 17: Kidnapping and assassination of alleged ETA members [[Killing of Lasa and Zabala|Joxe Lasa Arostegi and José Ignacio Zabala]].<ref name="ElPai">{{cite news | url=http://elpais.com/diario/1995/03/24/espana/795999604_850215.html | title=La Guardia Civil pensó que la muerte de Zabala y Lasa era un ajuste de cuentas | website=[[El País]] | date=24 March 1995 | access-date=23 April 2013 | archive-date=28 November 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128225722/http://elpais.com/diario/1995/03/24/espana/795999604_850215.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Their mutilated bodies were found in [[Province of Alicante|Alicante]] in 1985, but not formally identified until 1995.<ref name="ElPai"/> Several Civil Guard officers were convicted.
**October 18: Attempted kidnapping in [[Bayonne]] of alleged ETA leader José Mari Larretxea Goñi by four Spanish [[Cuerpo Nacional de Policía (Spain)|policemen]].<ref name="ELP01">{{cite news | url=http://elpais.com/diario/1995/01/29/espana/791334003_850215.html | title=Los años del talión | website=[[El País]] | language=Spanish | date=29 January 1995 | access-date=23 April 2013 | archive-date=28 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128075224/https://elpais.com/diario/1995/01/29/espana/791334003_850215.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The four officers were arrested by French [[Gendarmerie|gendarmes]]. 
**December 4: [[Marey case|Kidnapping of Segundo Marey]]<ref name="ELP01"/> by mercenaries hired by the Spanish police, who demanded the liberation of the four police officers arrested for the attempted kidnapping of Larraetxea. The officers were released on December 8, and Marey on December 13. Marey, not related to ETA, was apparently kidnapped by mistake. 
**December 19: Assassination of alleged ETA member Ramón Oñaederra in Bayonne<ref name="ELP01"/>
**December 29: Assassination of alleged ETA leader Mikel Goikoetxea in [[Saint-Jean-de-Luz]]<ref name="ELP01"/> by a mercenary sniper 
*{{em|1984}}
**February 8: Assassination of alleged ETA members Vicente Perurena and Angel Gurmindo in [[Hendaye]]<ref>[http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1984/02/09/pagina-3/32827741/pdf.html Dos dirigentes de ETA, asesinados en Hendaya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623030126/http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1984/02/09/pagina-3/32827741/pdf.html |date=2015-06-23 }}, La Vanguardia, 9 February 1984, p4</ref>
**February 25: Sniper assassination of alleged ETA member Eugenio Gutiérrez Salazar in [[Idaux-Mendy|Mendi]]<ref name="ELP01"/>
**March 1: Assassination of railroad worker Jean Pierre Leyba in [[Hendaye]]<ref name="ELP01"/>
**March 19: GAL mercenary Jean-Pierre Cherid dies in [[Biarritz]]<ref name="ELP01"/> when the bomb he is planting explodes prematurely.
**March 23: Assassination of alleged ETA leader [[Javier Pérez Arenaza]] in Biarritz<ref name="ELP01"/>
**May 3: Assassination of alleged ETA member Rafael Goikoetxea in [[Baigorri]]. His companion, [[Jesús Zugarramurdi]], is injured.<ref name="ELP01"/> ETA kills industrialist Ángel Rodríguez, whom they accused of assisting the GAL, that day.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**May 26: Kidnapping and torture of Rafael and Endika Lorenzo, members of the anti-nuclear committees in [[Algorta]] ([[Getxo]], [[Biscay]]) 
**June 15: Assassination of alleged ETA member Tomás Pérez Revilla by a bomb hidden in a motorcycle in Biarritz. His companion, Ramón Orbe, is injured.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**July 10: Bomb attack on the Consolation tavern, injuring three<ref name="ELP01"/>
**November 18: Assassination of dancer Christian Olaskoaga in [[Biriatou]]. Olaskoaga was not known to have ETA connections.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**November 20: Assassination of [[Santiago Brouard]], leader of [[Herri Alderdi Sozialista Iraultzailea|HASI]], in his physician's office in [[Bilbao]]<ref name="ELP01"/>
**December 11: Attack injuring José Iradier in [[Hendaye]]<ref name="ELP01"/>
*{{em|1985}}
**February 1: Attack injuring [[Herri Taldeak]] leader [[Xabier Manterola]]
**February 5: Bomb attack injuring Christian Casteigts in Bayonne. Casteigts was not known to have ETA connections.
**March 4: An attack on the Lagunequin bar in Bayonne injures two.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**March 26: Assassination attempt on alleged ETA member Ramón Basañez Jauregi in Bayonne, seriously injuring him<ref name="ELP01"/>
**March 29: Attack on Les Pyreneés tavern in Bayonne. Five people (one of whom was allegedly an ETA member) were injured, one fatally.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**March 30: Assassination of photojournalist Xabier Galdeano in [[Saint-Jean-de-Luz]]<ref name="ELP01"/>
**June 14: Attack on the Trinkete tavern in [[Ciboure]]. Two people were killed,<ref name="ELP01"/> neither known to have ETA connections.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**June 26: Assassination of alleged ETA member Santos Blanco González in Bayonne.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**July 8: Juan Carlos Lacertúa is injured in an attack on the Vittor Bar in Ciboure.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**July 16: A bomb is discovered attached to the car of Fernando Eguilior in Anglet.<ref name="ELP01"/>
**August 2: ETA member Juan María Otaegui Elizegui ("Txato") is killed in [[Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port]].<ref name="ELP01"/>
**August 31: Assassination of Dominique Labeyrie in St. Jean de Luz.<ref name="ELP01"/> Labeyrie had no known ETA connections.
**September 25: [[Monbar Hotel attack]] in Bayonne kills ETA members José Mari Etxaniz, Iñaki Asteazu Izarra, Agustín Irazustabarrena and Sabin Etxaide Ibarguren.<ref name="LV1">{{cite news | url=http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1985/09/26/pagina-15/32868707/pdf.html | title=Los cuatro víctimas del atentado de Bayona pueden ser miembros de ETA militar | work=[[La Vanguardia]] | language=Spanish | date=26 September 1985 | page=15 | access-date=23 April 2013 | archive-date=3 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903202249/http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1985/09/26/pagina-15/32868707/pdf.html | url-status=live }}</ref>
**December 24: Robert Caplanne is fatally injured in Biarritz. Caplanne had no known ETA connections.
*{{em|1986}}
**February 8: Attack on the Batxoki tavern injures three.
**February 17: Assassination of Christophe Matxikote and Catherine Brion, who had no ETA connections. GAL did not claim responsibility but Miguel Brecia (with known links to the groups) was convicted of the attack, and the court considered it a GAL attack.<ref>[http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1999/06/05/031.html La Audencia ordena investigar a Interior por dos asesinatos del GAL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216002452/http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1999/06/05/031.html |date=2013-12-16 }}, ABC (Madrid), 5 June 1999, p31</ref>
*{{em|1987}}
**July 24: Assassination of Juan Carlos García Goena, unconnected with ETA. Although GAL did not claim responsibility, the mercenaries who killed him accused GAL of ordering it.

== {{anchor|Convicted GAL members}}Convicted members ==

*[[José Barrionuevo]], interior minister in PSOE cabinets from 1982 to 1988
*[[Rafael Vera]], director of state security
*[[Ricardo García Damborenea]], secretary general of PSE-PSOE in Biscay
*[[Francisco Álvarez (Spain)|Francisco Álvarez]], antiterrorist czar
*[[Miguel Planchuelo]], chief of Bilbao's Police Information Brigade
*[[José Amedo Fouce]], police chief
*[[Julián Sancristóbal]], ''gobernador civil'' (delegate of the Spanish government) in Biscay
*[[Enrique Rodríguez Galindo]], chief of the Civil Guard headquarters in [[San Sebastián#Intxaurrondo|Intxaurrondo]]

== Similar groups ==
*[[Warriors of Christ the King|Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey]]
*[[Anti-Terrorismo ETA]] (ATE)
*[[Batallón Vasco Español]] (BVE)
*[[Grupos Armados Españoles]] (GAE)
Members of [[Batasuna]] gave the name "Green GAL" to a Civil Guard group (who wear green uniforms) based in San Sebastián's Intxaurrondo barracks, alleging that the group attacked ETA members illegally.

== See also ==

*[[Henri Curiel]], reported by [[Lucien Aimé-Blanc]] to have been killed by [[Jean-Pierre Maïone-Libaude]] on behalf of the GAL in 1979
*[[Pierre Goldman]], killed by Maïone-Libaude
*[[Stefano Delle Chiaie]], Italian [[neo-fascism|neofascist]]
*[[Jean Pierre Cherid]], former member of [[Organisation armée secrète]], [[Batallón Vasco Español]] and the GAL

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Books ==
* ''Dirty War, Clean Hands -- ETA, the GAL and Spanish Democracy'' by [[Paddy Woodworth]] - {{ISBN|0-300-09750-6}}
* ''Garzón -- La Hora de la Verdad'' by [[Loretta Napoleoni]] {{ISBN|978-84-938316-9-1}}

{{Basque Conflict}} 
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:GAL}}
[[Category:1980s in Spain]]
[[Category:Basque conflict]]
[[Category:Terrorism committed by Spain]]
[[Category:Terrorism in France]]
[[Category:Terrorism in Spain]]
[[Category:Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación| ]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Spain in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in France in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Paramilitary organisations based in Spain]]
[[Category:Paramilitary organizations based in France]]
[[Category:France–Spain military relations]]
[[Category:Extrajudicial killings in Europe]]
[[Category:Cross-border operations]]
[[Category:Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]]
[[Category:Combat incidents]]
[[Category:Military scandals]]
[[Category:Assassination campaigns]]
[[Category:1996 in politics]]
[[Category:Political scandals in Spain]]