A number of youths wearing balaclavas set a public bus alight last night at around 9.30pm. The incident took place in the San Sebastian neighbourhood of Ategorrieta.

Although nobody was injured in the attack a nearby restaurant had to be evacuated due to the amount of smoke produced by the fire. Last night was one of the busiest during the city’s week long fiestas.

This incident is both suprising and worrying and harks back to a few years ago when city buses were set alight almost every week by youths supporting the cause for Basque independence. One explanation for this incident could be the crisis in the negotiations between the government and ETA over the way forward for the Basque peace process.