A BOMB HAS BEEN DEFUSED by Spanish police in the Southern city of Almerica; luckily, unlike last Friday, it was de-activated before it exploded:

Spanish police have defused a small bomb in the southern city of Almeria, possibly planted by the Basque separatist group ETA and set to explode on Monday, Spain's Constitution Day.

ETA set off five bombs simultaneously in Madrid on Friday night, the outlawed group's first serious attack in the capital in two years.

The Interior Ministry says the latest bomb was hidden in a suitcase and left in a square in Almeria on Saturday.

It says it was made with less than 200 grams of the ammonia-based explosive commonly used by ETA.

A note bearing the initials ETA was found in the suitcase.

The bomb had been set to go off at 1230 GMT on Monday, the anniversary of Spain's 1978 constitution.