In 1971, ETA began setting up hideouts in Madrid, where they could contact some other left-wing groups, with a view to establishing an anonymous and safe rearguard and creating a local armed cell in Madrid. Argala made many trips to the Francoist state's capital. They shelved the idea of creating a local armed group in the short term, and instead began to consider staging attacks themselves in Madrid. It was here that Argala made his first contacts with Alfonso Sastre and Eva Forest.