Grupos Anti-terroristas de Liberación

Since the return of democracy in 1977, ETA's terrorist campaign on behalf of Basque independence made Spain the epicenter of domestic terrorism in Western Europe. As a counter-terrorism strategy, between 1983 and 1987, a government-sponsored paramilitary force, the Grupos Anti-terroristas de Liberación (GAL), (Anti-terrorist Liberalization Groups), battled ETA using ETA's own tactics: assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings. The GAL's aim was the complete eradication of ETA by eliminating its leadership. To that end, the GAL unleashed a wave of indiscriminate violence on both sides of the Spanish-French border, which resulted in the deaths of numerous innocent civilians. A full third of those killed by the GAL had no connection to terrorism whatsoever.

Democracy and Dirty Wars in Spain Omar G. Encarnación Human Rights Quarterly 29.4 (2007) 950-972