Spain. Basque Country. Biscay province. Hermon. Policemen from the "Guardia Civil" with machine guns and bulletproof jackets because of fear from terrorist attacks from ETA. The three men are all law enforcement officers checking the use of explosives in a stone-pit quarry. The Civil Guard (Spanish: Guardia Civil) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ("Basque Homeland and Liberty" or "Basque Country and Freedom", was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization in the Basque Country (in northern Spain and southwestern France). The group was founded in 1959 and later evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group engaged in a violent campaign of bombing, assassinations and kidnappings in the Southern Basque Country and throughout Spanish territory. Its goal was gaining independence for the Basque Country. ETA was the main group within the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important Basque participant in the Basque conflict. The Basque Country (Euskadi, País Vasco, Pays Basque), officially the Basque Autonomous Community (Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, Comunidad Autónoma Vasca, CAV) is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa. The Basque Country or Basque Autonomous Community was granted the status of nationality within Spain, attributed by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The autonomous community is based on the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, a foundational legal document providing the framework for the development of the Basque people on Spanish soil. 20.03.92 © 1992 Didier Ruef