My Island Mallorca, Gets Bombed

Comment: Its not often I stray from window cleaning news. But today was purely strange. I consider myself lucky passing by todays car bomb only 15 minutes before & then working round the corner 400 meters away. I didn't hear the explosion - maybe due to shop noise, but nether the less the news traveled quickly. It was only a matter of time before the Islands emergency crews & police were on hand to try & apprehend the perpetrators of today's bombing. Sadly, it was very easy for me to leave the area a half hour after the blast, I saw & heard after they were blocking roads on motorways & the port & airport were frozen in movement. A little too late, the way this island normally operates. You have to feel sorry for the 2 Guardia Civil policemen & their families, one of them from Burgos where yesterdays explosion occurred & the other from Pamplona where recently he'd just recovered from a coma. This "Sun" news story says it all: -

Stranded British tourists told of their terror today after a bomb killed two cops in the heart of a Spanish holiday hotspot. A schoolboy reeled in shock after seeing the charred remains of an officer being dragged from a blazing patrol car. And others told how the force of the blast — which rocked a police station at lunchtime — shook them from their sunbeds in Majorca's crowded Palma Nova resort. This afternoon the island — where an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Brits are staying — was closed off amid fears of another blast.
Roads, ports and the airport were shut and large areas of the town remained on "lockdown" as Spanish police feared further devices may target tourists. Palma Airport was said to be on high alert as searches continued for more terrorist bombs. Brit Maureen Mitchell — on holiday with her partner Peter Van Dijk, 50, and his sons Mitchell, 11, and Cameron, nine — spoke of her shock. The foreign exchange sales consultant Maureen, of Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, said: "We were sat around the pool enjoying the sunshine and suddenly there was a massive bang - a really huge explosion. "We all raced over to see what it was and we saw the black clouds of smoke coming from the police station. "Everyone was panicking because it was so terrifying. "Peter´s elder son Mitchell ran over and saw a charred body with no legs being pulled from the burnt out wreck of the car."
The 34-year-old added: "Children were crying hysterically. Then we were all ordered back into our apartments. "We are right at the Magaluf end of Palmanova here, and there are thousands of Brits on holiday. "Mitchell's still shaken up by what he saw - it's the last thing you'd expect in a resort like this." Company director Derek Sedge, 51, was relaxing on a sun lounger just 50 yards from the blast when the bomb detonated. He said: "The was an absolutely enormous bang that almost shook me off my sunbed. "The noise was hug and I knew pretty quickly that it was a bomb. "When I got to the Guardia Civil station the car was well alight and engulfed in flames and black smoke. "I could see anyone inside for the smoke but knew right away that anyone in that car wouldn't have stood a chance. "There are British families all over this resort and it's appalling to think a bomb went off among so many people. "Many more than two could have died and it's left a lot of tourist very shocked and concerned about more attacks. "The police have sealed off the whole area and its understandably quite tense."
The blast erupted at 1.50pm outside the Civil Guard station in Palma Nova, near the brash Magaluf loved by thousands of Brits. The blast was heard throughout the area, sending tourists running from bars and beaches. Bombers are believed to have targeted a green and white police car parked close to the Guardia station. The police driver of the car was believed to have been killed instantly by the blast with a colleague who was close by. The police barracks is situated around 50 yards from the Playa Ca´s Saboners holiday apartments, where Maureen was staying. A member of staff there said: "All the guests have been ordered to stay in their rooms while police check the area for more bombs. "We are full at the moment and the vast majority of our guests are British." A spokeswoman for the Civil Guard said: "At the moment all we can confirm is that there has been an explosion outside the police station." Spanish media immediately linked the bomb to Basque terrorist group ETA. The explosion happened a day after Eta blew up a Civil Guard barracks in the northern Spanish city of Burgos, injuring 60 people. Eta have killed more than 850 people since it was founded in the 1960s.