Terra Lliure Terra Lliure ( , " Free Land " ) , sometimes referred to as TLL , was a terrorist Catalan nationalist and left - wing separatist organisation . Formed in 1978 , with the goal of establishing an independent Marxist state in the Catalan Countries , the group carried out dozens of attacks that left many people injured and one person dead . Terra Lliure , which was proscribed as a terrorist organization by the Spanish authorities , became known to public with a manifest in a mass meeting at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona in 1981 . An important police raid in 1991 and the renunciation of violence by some of the group members led to the dissolution of Terra Lliure in 1995 . After disbanding , many members joined the political party Republican Left of Catalonia . Background . After Francisco Franco ' s death in 1975 , Spain began its transition to democracy . Under Franco ' s rule the Catalan language had been banned , the culture suppressed , institutions abolished and people imprisoned for their political beliefs . In 1977 , the president of Catalonia in exile came back to Catalonia and the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored . Following the approval of the Spanish constitution in 1978 , a Statute of Autonomy was promulgated and approved in referendum . Catalonia was organized as an Autonomous Community . Not satisfied with that level of autonomy , some organisations started to demand the full independence of Catalonia . The demand for an independent Catalonia had been present since the beginning of the 20th century but after the end of the dictatorship , it gained more support among the Catalan society . This would lead to many people using violence to achieve that goal . History . 1978 - 1990 . Most of Terra Lliure ' s original members converged into the group around 1980 , arriving from other armed organizations such as the " Popular Catalan Army " ( EPOCA ) , the " Catalan Liberation Front " ( FAC ) or political organizations such as the " Socialist Party of National Liberation " ( PSAN ) and Catalan Countries ' Independentists . In 1979 , Terra Lliure started its armed activities and two of its members died that year , one in a shootout with Civil Guard members and another one blew up himself . In May 1981 , Terra Lliure kidnapped journalist Federico Jiménez Losantos , shot him in the leg and set him free . He was targeted due to signing and promoting a manifesto commenting on the Catalan nationalist menace to Spanish language in Catalonia . In June , the group published its first statement , called " Free Land Calling " , in a mass meeting at the Camp Nou stadium . In 1982 , Terra Lliure held its first assembly , while it continued its armed campaign against Spanish and French interests , bank offices and other administrations . A second assembly was held in 1984 and the group started publishing official statements and claimed actions that they carried out through the Alerta magazine . In 1985 and 1985 , two more members died while carrying explosive devices . Between 1984 and 1989 some of Terra Lliure ' s leaders were arrested , nevertheless the group maintained its structure and capacities and a parallel political movement was developing , the " Solidarity Committee with the Catalan Patriots " ( CSPC ) and the " Movement for the Defense of the Land " ( MDT ) . In 1987 , the group committed its only killing , with a bomb attack in Les Borges Blanques , Lleida . Terra Lliure admitted the killing was an error . The group also committed several attacks , mainly against American interests , together with the Catalan Red Liberation Army . In 1988 , Terra Lliure held its third assembly and developed three documents to describe the theoretical framework and analyze the social reality of the Catalan National Liberation Movement . 1991 - 1995 . In July 1991 , Terra Lliure announced it was declaring a ceasefire and that some of its members would start joining Republican Left of Catalonia . Despite that , some cells kept carrying out attacks , especially due to the proximity to the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 . Also in 1991 , a former member of Terra Lliure , who had joined ETA , was killed in a police raid after a bomb attack in Vic , Barcelona . In July 1992 , under an order of judge Baltasar Garzón , police arrested around 40 of members of the group . Years later , the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Spanish government to compensate some of the arrested people for failing to investigate allegations of torture during the raid . The following years , the group did not commit any attack and announced its dissolution on the 1995 National Day of Catalonia .