Bildu chiefs view Vitoria fiesta with ETA families

Gipuzkoa provincial administrator Martín Garitano and the mayor of San Sebastián, Juan Karlos Izagirre, both from the pro-independence platform Bildu, courted further controversy Thursday when they watched the start of the Vitoria fiestas from the balcony of City Hall with two members of the association of families of ETA prisoners.

Garitano caused a stir on Monday when he backed the release of ETA prisoners on grounds of ill health and those due for parole. One of the family members accompanying him on Thursday, José Luis López de Luzuariaga, is the father of Gotzone López de Luzuariaga, a jailed member of ETA's Araba cell who has breast cancer.

The so-called Parot Doctrine, which allows the government to keep ETA members in jail for extended periods, has been applied to Luzuariaga.