Madrid ( CNN ) -- British police arrested a man wanted for an attempt to assassinate the king of Spain more than a decade ago , they announced Thursday . Spanish national Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui was detained in an armed operation in the city of Cambridge , England , police said . He is suspected by the Spanish authorities of being a member of the Basque separatist group ETA . Members of ETA allegedly tried to kill Spain 's King Juan Carlos when he attended the inauguration of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao , Spain , in October 1997 . `` It does n't matter where they go , there 'll always be a police officer after them . They have it very difficult . We are not going to change this until ETA ends its violence , '' Spanish Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told reporters Thursday after the arrest was announced . Rubalcaba said it was believed that the suspect held a high position in ETA logistics around 2006 and 2007 but that his current role with the ETA -- if there is one -- is under investigation . Rubalcaba also said he did not think there was a stable ETA structure in Britain , according to Spanish media reports . Gogeaskoetxea , 44 , is due to appear in court in London later Thursday . The European arrest warrant states Gogeaskoetxea is wanted for participation in an armed gang ; attempted assassination of the king ; terrorism resulting in death ; possession of weapons ; theft and forgery . The offenses are alleged to have taken place on October 18 , 1997 , in Spain . Gogeaskoetxea 's arrest comes a day after that of ETA suspect Daniel Derguy , who was detained in the town of Cahors , in southern France . According to anti-terror sources cited by the Spanish newspaper El Pais , Gogeaskoetxea moved to Britain with his family in early 2010 , using false papers . El Pais reports that his brother Ibon Gogeaskoetxea , an alleged ETA leader , was arrested in February last year in France . ETA has been waging an armed struggle since the late 1960s for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwestern France . It is blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people over the decades , while several thousand others have been wounded . ETA is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union . CNN 's Al Goodman contributed to this report .
NEW : Spain 's Spanish police says the man 's current role in the murder is under investigation . The police will continue to pursue ETA members wherever they go , Rubalcaba says . The man is suspected of being a member of the Basque separatist group ETA . The alleged assassination attempt occurred in Madrid .