Basque Spanish Battalion murdered Miguel Mari Arbelaitz and Luis Mari Elizondo in Hernani. From the Zikuñaga festivities, they were shot by fascists Ignacio Iturbide and Ladislao Zabala.

After mass funerals, a strike was called in Hernani, which spread throughout Gipuzkoa two days later. There were major clashes between protesters and the police. In San Sebastian, an eleventh year old boy, Julen Vadillo, was seriously injured by a police riot.

BVE is one of the denominations that the Spanish secret services used for the dirty war between 1975 and 1982, made up of extreme right-wing members. These groups killed at least 70 people in the Basque Country during this period.