Thousands of people have been demonstrating in Spain against the murder of a politician and his wife in an attack blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA.

City councillor Alberto Jimenez Becerril and his wife Ascension Garcia Ortiz, were shot in the head as they returned home early on Friday from a dinner with friends in the southern city.

Mr Becerril was a member of Spain's ruling Popular Party. He and his wife, both 37-year-old lawyers, are survived by three young children.

People in Seville showed their revulsion at the killings by flocking to the city's main square, carrying high photos of Mr Becerril and posters showing drawings of a hand, the symbol of the rejection of ETA violence.

Similar demonstrations are being organised throughout Spain.

The murder scene

At at news conference the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar pledged that the killers would be punished.

"ETA has killed another town councillor. This time, in its endless cruelty, his wife too," he said. "No one should have the least doubt that they will pay dearly for what they are doing."

He described the shooting as an attempt by ETA to provoke the government and undermine public confidence in what he called its anti-terrorist policies.

Mr Becerril was the fourth politician from the Popular Party to be murdered in the past seven months.

All the deaths have been blamed on ETA, and apart from the latest killing, have taken place in the Basque region in northern Spain.

The Popular Party had recently said it would accept public contributions to pay for extra security measures for local councillors.

Last July millions of people took to the streets of Spain to protest against ETA violence after the group kidnapped and killed a local politician in the Basque region.

The capital Madrid witnessed its biggest ever demonstration.

Last month, the Spanish authorities sentenced 23 leaders of ETA's political wing, Herri Batasuna, to seven years in jail on charges of collaborating with ETA.

ETA has killed more than 800 people during its 30-year campaign for an independent homeland in the north of Spain.
 

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