Aratz Bilbao Gómez and Malen Grünig Ibáñez are in provisional detention over suspected terrorism offences. Police say material linked to former ETA hideouts and security officers was found in their possession.
Material linked to Aratz Bilbao Gómez and Malen Grünig Ibáñez included plans of former ETA hideouts and information about security officers. The two are in provisional detention over suspected terrorism offences. The Ertzaintza, the Basque autonomous police force, first identified them weeks earlier during a roadside check in Eskoriatza, Gipuzkoa.
Officers stopped the vehicle on September 26, 2026, for an alcohol and drug check. According to EFE reporting, it contained Bilbao and Grünig, as well as Irish national Naoise O’Conarain, described as connected to an organisation supporting IRA prisoners. Investigators said they seized encrypted or satellite communications equipment, maps or plans associated with former ETA hideouts, and security-related records. Those records included lists of Civil Guard personnel and vehicle-registration information, along with data concerning a National Police officer.
The two are members of Jardun, a dissident coordinator within the Basque nationalist left. The group was publicly presented in 2020 and brings together Jarki and Aske. Astindu is its student organisation. Jardun advocates an independent socialist Basque state and criticises the institutional strategy pursued after ETA ended its armed campaign in October 2011.
Jardun’s stated principles include Basque independence and revolutionary socialism. It also supports amnesty and internationalism. The organisation rejects the idea that independence can be achieved through integration into Spanish institutions. Court reporting describes Jarki as promoting an ideological struggle that is revolutionary, independentist and socialist. Aske is described as independentist and socialist, supports amnesty and opposes political repression.
Jarki describes itself as an independentist and revolutionary socialist organisation focused on ideological training and political action. It emerged after ETA’s end, when some sectors of the Basque nationalist left opposed the abandonment of terrorist violence. In 2023, the Basque government identified Jarki as responsible for an attempted sabotage of the Tour de France during its passage through the Basque Country.
Aske says its work centres on opposing political repression and seeking amnesty for prisoners and others linked to the Basque nationalist left who are fugitives or refugees. Jarki and Aske share the aim of advancing an independentist socialist project outside the current strategy of that movement.
According to El Mundo, Bilbao and Grünig were in the vehicle alongside O’Conarain, who is linked to Saoradh, a dissident IRA organisation. After the roadside check, they travelled to southern France, where French police detected them. Bilbao and Grünig later turned themselves in with a lawyer at an Ertzaintza station in Irún on October 17.
On October 20, National Court investigating judge Antonio Piña ordered Bilbao and Grünig into provisional detention without bail on suspicion of terrorism offences. The order followed their surrender in Irun. RTVE reported that the judge cited the need to prevent possible “acts of greater seriousness.” The detention is provisional, and the allegations remain subject to investigation.
National Court judge Piña described Bilbao as a central figure in Jardun, with responsibilities that included recruiting members and preparing security manuals, as well as communicating with like-minded groups. EFE reported that investigators considered Bilbao the principal driving force of Jarki/Jardun. Piña also linked Grünig to other violent acts attributed to the organisation.
The court is examining the significance of the maps showing former ETA hideouts and the information relating to security personnel. El Correo reported that the seized material included satellite phones and manuals. Bilbao and Grünig were held in provisional detention without bail, with communication allowed, while the Audiencia Nacional investigation continued.
