A day after the huge car bomb that blew up a Guardia Barracks in Burgos, it appears that the Basque seperatist group have struck again with a bomb planted in front of a Guardia Civil station in Palmanova, Mallorca. Two Guardia Civil officers were killed. It is the first deadly terrorist attack ever in the Balearic Islands.

A bomb appears to have been placed underneath a police patrol car, which exploded killing the two occupants of the car according to the representative of the Government Ramón Socías, who also said that the area has been closed down and extra bomb detection squads sent to the area to ensure no other devices are present.

The bomb exploded at around 14:20, around 500m from a busy tourist beach, and only a couple of kilometers from the Palacio de Marivent, the Imperial Palace where the Spanish Royal Family will be passing their summer holidays. The King and his family are expected to arrive in two days time.

The two Guardia Civil officers have been named as Carlos Saenz de Tejada (28) and Diego Salva (27).

A second car bomb was later found underneath a Guardia Civil land cruiser parked outside the old police station in the town. It was remotely detonated by explosive experts at 19:30. The Nissan Patrol car had not been used in a month. Police and sniffer dogs continue to roam the area checking vehicles.

Ramon Socias has confirmed that there were no other injuries reported apart from the two deaths of the officers. It is reported that Carlos Saenz, who was born in Burgos, was a nephew of an officer hurt in Wednesdays attack. Diego Salva was a probationary officer who had only joined the Mallorca force as a trainee a few weeks ago.

According to a visible emotional Minister for the Interior Rubalcaba, it is believed that the bomb was placed underneath the car a few minutes before the officers got into it and was remotely detonated. Police are working on the assumption that the killers were within viewing distance of the car when it exploded. Rubalcaba, in a press conference with Defense Minister Chacon, has sent his solidarity and his love to the families of the two officers.

The explosion seriously damaged the bodies of both officers, and the body of one officer was found in a tree on the other side of the street. The street remains closed.

Tourists in local hotels remain indoors, as a security perimeter of 2 km has been established around the explosion. There are 30,000 hotel rooms in the affected vecinity, but it is not known how many of them are occupied.  The airport and the port of Mallorca were closed and the island is on maximum alert, although the airport resumed limited flights at 17:55. Police are searching cars at random across the island, although they have admitted that it is possible that the terrorists may have a rented flat somewhere on the island.

Meanwhile, security forces across Spain are on the highest alert in case of a third attack. 

President Zapatero told the nation this evening that "those who have been jailed show the way for these killers. They will be caught, and will remain behind bars for the rest of their lives", a sentiment that other major political leaders have supported. President Zapatero also told reporters that he has "told the security forces to be extremely vigilant and to do their utmost to save us from these vile assasins". 

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