In the parliamentary elections in the Spanish Basque Country, the separatist left-wing alliance performed better than ever before. However, EH Bildu will probably remain in opposition.
The separatist left-wing alliance EH Bildu celebrated an unprecedented success in the parliamentary elections in the Spanish Basque Country on Sunday: after around 95 percent of the votes were counted, the alliance, which advocates the independence of the region in northern Spain, won 27 seats. That is six more than in the last vote in 2020, when it achieved the best result in its history with 21 seats.
The EH Bildu, which was founded in 2012, will probably remain in the opposition, because late in the evening it became apparent that the government coalition between the conservative regional party PNV and the Socialists (PSOE) would continue. According to the preliminary results, the PNV (27) and PSOE (12) have an absolute majority of 39 of the total 75 seats in parliament, as the electoral authority announced. The coalition would therefore lose two seats.
Self-determination for the Basques
Like EH Bildu, the PNV of the previous regional head of government Iñigo Urkullu is also nationalist in orientation and demands more self-determination for the Basques from the central government in Madrid, but appears less radical. Urkullu, who has been in power since 2012, no longer presented himself as the top candidate this time. He will most likely be replaced as head of government by his party colleague Imanol Pradales.
The terrorist organization ETA had waged a bloody battle for an independent Basque country in Spain for decades. In around 3,000 attacks, 857 people died and around 2,600 were injured. In 2018 the organization announced its dissolution. The Basque Country is now one of the wealthiest of Spain’s so-called autonomous regions.