Word: vitoria
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...King Juan Carlos' first official tour of Spain's volatile, autonomy-minded Basque country, and the reception was often only lukewarm, sometimes hostile. Security forces outnumbered the crowds nearly everywhere, and at most of their stops-from Vitoria to San Sebastian -the King and his wife, Queen Sofia, also had to endure the presence of angry Basque demonstrators, who were raising clenched-fist salutes and chanting anthems and slogans in their ancient language...
...Lutheran, claims that he has ordered an end to political torture, but local police and military officials persist in the practice, as do right-wing vigilantes such as those who kidnaped Bishop Hypolito. After the murder of Father Burnier last month, a Mass was said by the Archbishop of Vitoria "in memory of all those persons who in our country and in all of Latin America suffer violence, torture and death solely because they demand respect for their rights and dignity...
Years of Frustration. The fever of protest in Vitoria had been building for two months. Like workers all across Spain, the city's laborers gave vent to years of frustration after Franco's death. With the clergy's blessing, striking workers met in illegal assembly in the city's churches to air their demands for higher wages and their conviction that Madrid must yield more authority to local governments...
...Vitoria crisis was just the newest of many problems besetting Juan Carlos. The four Basque provinces in Spain's north are home to an enduring separatist movement. Similar regional discontent is brewing in Catalonia, where demonstrations last month paralyzed Barcelona on two successive Sundays and hastened the King's planned visit to the area. Apart from regional dissidents, who complain that Juan Carlos is not reforming Spain fast enough, there is mounting pressure on the King from diehard right-wingers who protest that he is moving too fast. The King himself seems to prefer moderate gestures: last week...
...citizens of Vitoria carried the coffins of the slain through their streets last week, one mourner warned darkly, "We want to know who is responsible for these things. It is not enough to have some resignations." As if to underline the widespread anger, Basque leftists and separatists vowed to continue work stoppages this week. Juan Carlos will not find it easy to appease that anger and to keep at bay those who feel the need to reimpose the old days of order and discipline...