Guardia Civil arrest member of terrorist group ETA, Liher Aretxabaleta Rodríguez, in Bilbao

Liher Aretxabaleta Rodríguez was at liberty with a binding ruling pending from June for a car bomb attack committed by the terrorist group ETA on 25 May 2005 at the junction of the streets of Alcalá and Rufino González in Madrid. This trial led to the identification of the authors of this attack, who were previously unknown.

12 years on, the justice system has determined that Liher Aretxabaleta Rodríguez was one of the authors of this terrorist act. A sentence was imposed of more than 500 years in prison for a criminal offence of the attempted murder of 45 people. Liher Aretxabaleta Rodríguez committed this attack together with Alaitz Arramendi Jaunarena.

In order to commit this criminal attack, the terrorists stole a van from the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid) on 24 May 2005, which they loaded with a 25 kg chloratite bomb. The following day, the terrorists placed the car bomb on the corner of the streets of Alcalá and Rufino González in Madrid, and while the buildings close by were being vacated, the bomb went off. The explosion caused significant material damage and injured many people, many of whom were workers in nearby businesses, as well as members of the State law enforcement agencies who were taking part in setting up the security perimeter after receiving a call announcing the presence of the car bomb.