The bombing was ETA's first attack in Majorca since it tried to kill King Juan Carlos I in the summer of 1995, and its deadliest attack since it killed two Civil Guard officers in Capbreton, France in 2007.
The two unarmed plainsclothes civil guard officers were in Capbreton, France, to meet with French police about joint operations against ETA, which traditionally uses France as a base for its attacks in Spain.