Sinn Féin Councillor Sandra Duffy from Derry spoke at the 50th anniversary commemoration of killings by Spanish security forces in Gasteiz, Basque country, on Tuesday.

The event marked the deaths of five striking workers on March 3, 1976. Victims included Pedro María Martínez Ocio, aged 27; Francisco Aznar Clemente, aged 17; Romualdo Barroso Chaparro, aged 19; José Castillo García, aged 32; and Bienvenido Pereda Moral, aged 30. The workers had gathered in the San Francisco of Assisi church in the Zaramaga area when police attacked using tear gas, riot gear and live rounds. Around 100 others sustained injuries. The incident took place during a strike over wage caps and working conditions, months after Francisco Franco's death.

Duffy compared the Basque events to Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972 and the 1971 killing of her uncle by British forces. No one has faced accountability for the Gasteiz deaths.

During the visit, Duffy met leaders of the Euskal Herria Bildu party, including Basque Parliament member Pello Otxandiano. She joined Bloody Sunday Trust chair Tony Doherty. Duffy noted parallels in families' ongoing campaigns against state denial and for truth.