Hotel Corona de Aragón fire

The "Corona de Aragón" fire killed at least 80 people in the five star "Corona de Aragón" Hotel in Saragossa on 12 July 1979.

According to the official version of events , provided at the time by the Spanish government, the fire was started accidentally by an oil fire in the Hotel cafè.

At the time of the fire the Hotel lodged many high rank military personnel (5 of whom died in the fire), Carmen Polo, Carmen Franco y Polo and Cristóbal Martínez Bordiú. Since 1979 many voiced the idea that ETA was the real culprit of the fire [ [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ZARAGOZA/ETA/incendio/Corona/Aragon/fue/provocado/Alcazar/elpepiesp/19791120elpepinac_16/Tes/ "El incendio del Corona de Aragón, fue provocado, según "El Alcázar"] ] ["Misterio en el Corona de Aragón. Muchos situaron a ETA detrás del incendio que mató a 80 personas...En todo momento, las autoridades aseguran que se trata de un hecho fortuito, pero son muchos los que colocan a ETA detrás de este trágico suceso...En 2000, los familiares de los fallecidos comienzan a recibir las indemnizaciones...El estado asume así de facto la autoría de ETA" Cited from "El Camino de la libertad 2.1979", ISBN 9788492540006, page 68. Published by "El Mundo"] or simply described the fire as an intentional attack [ [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/victimas/fin/ETA/elpepiesp/20060213elpepinac_4/Tes "Resultó herido en el atentado perpetrado contra el hotel Corona de Aragón, de Zaragoza, en 1979"] ] .

In the year 2000, relatives of the deceased started to receive benefits as terrorism victims. According to El Mundo that is an implicit recognition of ETA authorship ["En 2000, los familiares de los fallecidos comienzan a recibir las indemnizaciones...El estado asume así de facto la autoría de ETA" Cited from El Camino de la libertad 2. 1979, page 68. Published by "El Mundo"] . The Civil Guard website lists a high rank retired Civil Guard member deceased in the fire as a victim of ETA, and states that many injured died after the fire, but were not included in the official account of 80 dead [ [http://www.guardiacivil.org/terrorismo/acciones/detalle.jsp?id=326 Civil Guard website listing the Civil Guard retired high rank member died in the fire as an ETA victim ] ] .

The council of state explicitly stated that they do not consider the fire to be an act of terrorism. Napalm traces were found in the rubble, some witnesses claimed to hear two explosions before the fire and a local newspaper ("Heraldo de Aragón") received two phone calls claiming authorship in the name of ETA (m) and the FRAP [ [http://www.elmundo.es/2000/10/05/espana/05N0039.html "Las víctimas del Corona de Aragón, indemnizadas en breve"] ] .

The AVT asked for the official recognition of the fire as a terrorist attack [ [http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:Lct2x8F5ftkJ:www.avt.org/victimas/HOTEL_CORONA.pdf+%22hotel+corona+de+aragon%22+%22eta%22&hl=es&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=es "Hotel Corona de Aragón", hosted at thje AVT website] ] .

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