This piece from the Times may interest our small Spanish following, as well as anyone contemplating a trip to Biarritz. The piece also makes clear that the Basques have a very high degree of autonomy already, so it is not at all clear what Eta is fighting for- except to 'honour' the blood already spilled. This is reminiscent of Macbeth, who waded so far into blood that he couldn't go backwards or forwards. Once again an uncompromising line (on both sides of the Pyrenees) seems to be neutralising a lethal terrorist movement, thereby rejecting the "its good to talk" fixation of the British.

After my piece on the Tamils (see below) various bits of BBC radio have been trying to get me on discussion programmes. Evidently I jolted their habit of asymmetric indulgence towards liberation movements, guerrillas, militants and so forth. As the cases of Eta and the Tigers prove, talks are usually an excuse for terrorist entities to rearm and regroup. Even the softheads around Zapatero seem to have grasped this.