Crossword Genius

Greek character who struggled in Spain? (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eta

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'greek character' is the definition.
(letter from the Greek alphabet)

'struggled in spain?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'spain?' could be 'e' (abbreviation for Espana) and 'e' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ta' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'who' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eta that I've seen before include "Something like 10 [RHO]" , "Letter from abroad" , "character abroad?" , "Letter of Greek alphabet" , "Militants" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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