October 1978 Getxo attack

{{Infobox terrorist attack

| title = October 1978 Getxo attack

| image =

| caption =

| location = Getxo, Spain

| target = Civil Guards

| date = 22 October 1978

| time = 17:30

| timezone = UTC+1

| type = Gun attack, mass shooting, triple murder

| fatalities = 3

| injuries = 1

| perps = 4 ETA

| partof = the Basque conflict

| weapons = Machine guns
Shotguns

}}

{{Campaignbox Basque conflict}}

The October 1978 Getxo attack was a mass shooting gun attack by the Basque separatist organisation ETA which occurred on 22 October in the Basque town of Getxo, a suburb of Bilbao. The attack occurred six weeks before a referendum to approve a new Spanish constitution.

The targets were a group of four civil guards who were returning from policing a football game involving Arenas Club de Getxo. After the game had finished, the civil guards were returning to their barracks, walking along Maximo Aguirre Street in the town.{{cite news |last1=Careaga Artiach |first1=Gabriel |title=Otro criminal atentado en Bilbao |trans-title=Another criminal attack in Bilbao |url=http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1978/10/24/pagina-13/33744126/pdf.html |access-date=12 March 2013 |work=La Vanguardia (hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com) |date=24 October 1978 |page=13 |language=es |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607060542/https://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1978/10/24/pagina-13/33744126/pdf.html |archive-date=7 June 2015}}

Four ETA members, armed with machine guns and shotguns, who had been lying in wait behind the wall of the local Telefónica building, ambushed the civil guards, subjecting them to heavy gunfire before fleeing. Two of the civil guards were killed instantly, while the other two were seriously injured, with one of them dying in hospital four days later.{{cite news |title=ETA-M se atribuye los últimos atentados de Durando y Pasajes |trans-title= ETA-M takes credit for the last Durando and Pasajes attacks |url=http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1978/10/27/pagina-18/33746661/pdf.html |access-date=12 March 2013 |work=La Vanguardia (hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com) |date=27 October 1978 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052024/http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1978/10/27/pagina-18/33746661/pdf.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |page=18 |language=es |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Killing in Basque country |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19781024.2.50.14 |access-date=6 January 2025 |work=Press |agency=NZPA-Reuter |date=24 October 1978 |location=Christchurch, New Zealand |page=9 |language=en |via=Papers Past (paperspast.natlib.govt.nz)}}

The ETA members involved escaped in two cars, driven by a further two participants in the attack. The cars were later found abandoned in the Deusto district of Bilbao. ETA claimed responsibility for the attack in a communique issued the following day. The funerals of those killed saw protests against ETA.