Tourists defy ETA threats

MADRID, Spain -- Spanish police have been put in force to reassure tourists that they are safe from threatened attacks by Basque separatist group ETA.

Bar-owners and tour guides on the Costa del Sol said the terror group had failed to dent the tourist trade which relys heavily on visitors from Britain, Germany and Scandinavia.

Police in the resort of Fuengirola made a show of force as they patrolled the beach front in large numbers on Sunday.

The officers stopped people to check their papers and quickly towed away illegally parked or suspicious cars.

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A spokesman at the Comisaria de Policia in Fuengirola told the UK Press Association: "The aim is to give British tourists the message that they will be safe here.

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"We have brought in extra officers and are keeping a very high profile to deter any potential terrorist activity."

British ex-pats Gill and Roger Ross, who run the Windjammer Bar, in Fuengirola, said most holidaymakers were ignoring the ETA menace.

"People here aren't even mentioning it," Ross said.

"They're just going about having fun and no one seems to be paying it much attention at all.

"The only problem is that the papers keep splashing it all over the front pages.

"My worry is that people might stay away because of that, which would be bad for us."

An Airtours holiday representative in the resort said there had been no cancellations since a huge ETA bomb was found -- and safely defused -- at Malaga Airport on Thursday.

She said: "To be honest, a lot of people here don't even know what ETA is and they're not concerned about it at all."

Tourists at the nearby resort of Benalmadena earlier vowed to defy the threats, although some admitted they were nervous about the possibility of attacks.

A First Choice spokeswoman said: "We are following Foreign Office advice and we are taking this very seriously, but the risk is quite low.

"All those flying over to Spain should be quite vigilant, and report suspect packages to police."

Earlier this week, ETA claimed responsibility for 15 attacks, including five killings, between March and mid-July this year.

The group said politicians and police were the targets of its attacks because they were "responsible for the oppression of the Basque country," The Associated Press quoted.

But the Malaga airport bomb -- suspected to be the work of ETA -- follows a warning earlier this year from the group in which it said it would also target tourist sites.

ETA has targeted tourist destinations in previous years in the knowledge that it would damage a lucrative industry for the government.

About 800 people have been killed since ETA launched its violent campaign for Basque independence in 1968.