The Basque Country

The Basque Nation of Spain is infamous for it’s strong and radical desire to be an independent region and it’s individualistic and extreme nationalism. Many of these beliefs towards the Basque Region are commonly associated with, and stem from the terrorist organization Euskadi ta Askatasuna, translated to Basque Country and Freedom, and abbreviated as ETA. ETA’s main objective is to make the Basque Region a free and independent nation from Spain. From their formation in 1959, during the rule of Franco, to their final and permanent lasting cease-fire in January 2011, ETA has taken extreme measures to promote their cause, as a result of legislative actions, and reactions to the terrorist organization. As Spain developed from a dictatorship into

The Basque Country culture is one of the most unique and identifying cultures in the world. Their culture is based highly on the identity, specifically ethnicity and race. “The Basques are, indeed, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, European people. They have probably lived in their home place longer than any other ethnic group on the continent”[3]. One of the most obvious aspects of their unique culture is their language. “Their language, Euskera, is not only non-Indo-European, but also, it has no clear family relationship with any other tongue”[3]. From the start, the Basque Country was founded on individualistic ideals, which are wildly unique to any other culture, including the Spain. Because of their unique language, culture, and identity of the Basque Region, Franco, the Spanish fascist dictator after the Spanish Civil War, quickly pinpointed this region as a major threat to his Spanish nationalism. The reasons behind the formation of ETA are not only numerous but also extremely complex. The repression that the Basques faced during the reign of Franco would be the main cause for ETA’s acts of violence against his government, yet more importantly it was the

The Spanish Constitutional Referendum in 1978 had an overwhelming majority of support among the Spanish population. However, “the important and enduring flaw in the constitutional process was the absence of the Basque nationalist in the form of their majority party, the moderate PNV. PNV extended to the rejection of all of their suggested amendments to the constitutional text, leading eventually to their abandonment of the Constitution Committee and, to this day, their ability to claim no involvement in or necessary allegiance to the document”. [5] As imagined, the Basque voter turn out was extremely low, and only less than 50% participated in the