Far-right terrorism in Spain (Spanish: Terorrismo de extrema derecha) surged after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and continued until the early 1980s. The term (Spanish: terrorismo tardofranquista, lit. late Francoist terrorism) refers to the actions undertaken by fascist and far-right groups who were against the changes taking place during the transition to democracy, and essentially dedicated to street violence against persons of other ideologies.
As a result of their actions, between 66, 77 and 95 people died.[1][2][3] Their actions ranged from assassination of individuals to mass murder, and were centered against leftists, although they also murdered citizens with no relation to politics.[2] They used various names, such as Batallón Vasco Español (Basque Spanish Battalion), Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey (Warriors of Christ the King) and Alianza Apostólica Anticomunista (Apostolic Anticommunist Alliance), abbreviated Triple A or AAA, although it has been commonly stated that there were only a few terrorism networks and they created different names as needed.[citation needed]
In parallel with the declaration of state of exception in Vizcaya and Gipuzkoa in April 1975, the first attacks were made against goods and persons related with ETA and their support networks, mainly in the French Basque Country, but also in Spanish territory. The bomb attack against the Mugalde library of Hendaye of 7 April 1975 is considered to be the first armed action of the Spanish neofascist terrorism. On July 12, 1975 these groups publicly presented their first name: ATE (Anti Terrorismo ETA, "Anti-Terrorism of ETA"), when claiming the attacks in the previous months in the media.[4] At this time, these groups had not yet perpetrated acts which resulted in fatalities.