Spanish Mayor Plays Down 'Little Bomb' Blast

Although played down as "just a little hole in the sand" one teenage tourist required treatment for shock after a small bomb exploded early this morning on Torremolinos beach, near Malaga in the Costa del Sol.

However, a large party of British holidaymakers staying close to the blast in the Aloha Puerto Hotel escaped without injury.

People were strolling on the La Carihuela promenade when the bomb went off, leaving a metre-wide hole in the sand.

Torremolinos Mayor Pedro Fernandez Montes played down the attack and called on tourists not to panic.

"Obviously people are frightened... above all the British tourists. You know what the English tabloids are like, they exaggerate everything, and say there's been a bomb on the Costa del Sol, when really it wasn't a bomb. There's just a little hole in the sand, something that's not very big," Fernandez Montes said on Spanish National Radio.

Spain's Interior Minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, has confirmed that the Basque separatists terror group, ETA is believed responsible for the bomb blast that rocked Torremolinos last night, but ruled out the possibility that the gang has an operative cell permanently based in the Andalucía region.

Mr Rubalcaba also confirmed that a handgun had been found along with two loaded ammunition clips, two batteries, an electronic timer, a detonator and a black 'bumbag' had been found in a stone quarry later the same morning, not far from La Carihuela beach where the bomb went off at around 2am.

The bomb, which had been placed near the promenade, opposite the Aloha Puerto Hotel in the La Carihuela district, went off at around 2am without prior warning.

While it emerged during last week's operation against ETA's 'Vizcaya' cell that the terrorists had been planning a series of attacks on Spain's south coast this summer, though no group has yet claimed responsibility.

However, it is thought the bomb, which caused scant material damage, contained around 1kg of explosives.

Four bombs exploded along Spain's northern coast earlier this month.

Local authorities also blamed those on Basque separatist group ETA, which has previously bombed tourist resorts during the summer holiday season.

(BMcC)