In an unspecified location in the French Basque Country, a man with his back turned writes a note on a piece of paper: it is an order to "kidnap a PP councilor," giving a 48-hour ultimatum linked to the transfer of prisoners to prisons in the Basque Country. If the government does not comply, the hostage will be killed. July 10, 1997, 2:10 p.m. Miguel Ángel Blanco Garrido, a PP councilor in Ermua, eats lunch at home with his mother and leaves for work in Eibar as he does every day. Miguel Ángel is approached by a woman who manages to get him to accompany her a few meters before forcing him at gunpoint into a car driven by her accomplice.