July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Bombs exploded in hotels in the tourist resorts of Benidorm and Alicante on Spain's Mediterranean coast, injuring 12 people, officials said.

The buildings had been evacuated after the Gara newspaper received a call warning about the bombs from a person who claimed to be a member of the ETA Basque terrorist group, a government spokesman said.

Four bomb squad members were injured in a blast at the Hotel Nadal in Benidorm and eight people were injured by a bomb at the Bahia de Alacant hotel in Alicante, the spokesman said. Two of the victims have life-threatening injuries, he said.

ETA, whose initials stand for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, or Basque Homeland and Freedom, has killed more than 830 people since the late 1960s in its campaign for a separate homeland in Basque- speaking regions of northern Spain and southwestern France.

Tourism is Spain's biggest industry, representing about 11 percent of the economy. July and August are the two most important months of the year for the country's hotel owners. In the past ETA has targeted tourist areas in an attempt to hurt the economy.

In August last year ETA exploded a bomb in Santa Pola, also on the Mediterranean coast, killing a 6-year-old girl and a 50- year-old man.

Last Updated: July 22, 2003 11:43 EDT