The president of Aragon and the mayor of Zaragoza were quick to react to the news. On X, Jorge Azcón described the decision as “another despicable payment by Pedro Sánchez to his Basque allies,” saying that “another red line” had been crossed by releasing “a murderer of the worst kind who has caused so much pain in Spain and, especially, in Aragon.”
Another despicable payment by Pedro Sánchez to his Basque allies.
Another red line crossed with the granting of semi-open prison status to the ETA member who carried out the attack on the Zaragoza barracks. A murderer of the worst kind who has caused so much pain in Spain and, especially, in Aragon.… — Jorge Azcón (@Jorge_Azcon) September 9, 2026
The regional government leader sent his support to the victims: “We will always stand by them, even if others decide to whitewash murderers and terrorists.” Natalia Chueca expressed herself along the same lines, stating that “Zaragoza will never forget what the terrorist group did.”
The mayor said that this decision by the Basque Government, which is made up of the PNV-PSOE coalition, represents “another political payment by Pedro Sánchez to ETA’s heirs.” “This preferential treatment of one of its biggest murderers is deplorable,” Chueca wrote, before sending her full support to the victims.
Another political payment by Pedro Sánchez to ETA’s heirs. This preferential treatment of one of its biggest murderers is deplorable. All my support goes to the victims because Zaragoza will never forget what the terrorist group did, even if the PSOE tries to whitewash history. pic.twitter.com/gAUpgBmtEc — Natalia Chueca (@ChuecaNatalia) September 9, 2026
The Collective of Victims of Terrorism (Covite) also condemned the granting of semi-open prison status to Henri Parot in a statement. It called the benefit “unacceptable,” saying that Parot had shown no “real, public and verifiable remorse,” and criticized the fact that his sentence had been “softened” through a semi-open regime “once again based on private statements and generic wording against violence.”
“Henri Parot has not publicly shown sincere remorse for his crimes, nor has he made a clear, unequivocal and verifiable break with ETA and the political and social environment that justified and legitimized his murders,” Covite president Consuelo Ordóñez stated.
