The Catalan Crisis and the Basque Country

On October 1, 2017, an independence referendum was held in Catalonia, marking a new development in the Catalan crisis that has been ongoing since 2010. News from that day surprised many viewers around the world with footage of residents voting despite opposition from the Spanish central government, and police seizing polling stations, ballot boxes, and papers. Since then, a series of significant events—including former President Carles Puigdemont's flight to Belgium, the detention of regional government officials and pro-independence activists, the suspension of Catalonia's autonomy by the central government, and the passage of a declaration of independence in the regional parliament—have caused major repercussions both within and outside Europe.

Within Spain, the region most concerned about these events was likely the Basque Country. Like Catalonia, the Basque Country has its own unique language and ethnic identity, possesses a high degree of autonomy within Spain's system of autonomous communities, and has produced an independence movement dating back to the 19th century.

So, how is Basque society reacting to the Catalan crisis? While it is impossible to provide an exhaustive answer here, I would like to describe how media outlets in Spain and abroad have spoken about the situation in the Basque Country since last October, and consider recent movements in Basque politics that do not necessarily align with media discourse.

Since the situation in Catalonia intensified last autumn, many media outlets—including widely read Spanish dailies like El País, the New York Times, and the Basque regional public broadcaster—have focused their reporting on how the current situation in the Basque Country differs greatly from that of Catalonia.

In fact, it can be said that the Basque Country and Catalonia have followed extremely similar paths from the industrialization and birth of regional nationalism in the 19th century, through oppression under the Franco dictatorship, to the democratization and restoration of autonomy after 1975. However, as these media outlets emphasize, there are also important characteristics that distinguish Catalonia and the Basque Country.

One difference is that in the Basque Country, unlike Catalonia, the power to collect taxes lies with the autonomous community rather than the state, granting it a higher degree of fiscal autonomy. This is said to be linked to the fact that the Basque Country does not have as strong an economic motive for independence as Catalonia. Furthermore, Basque society experienced 50 years of armed struggle until the terrorist organization ETA declared a ceasefire in 2011. As a result, it is said that modern Basque society is more interested in healing past wounds and building peace after a long conflict than in jumping into new attempts at independence.

Thus, the media has portrayed a cautious Basque society that remains largely unaffected by the Catalan crisis. However, to what extent does this image faithfully capture the current political situation in the Basque Country?

In fact, public opinion polls conducted around the time of the independence referendum in Catalonia showed that while a majority of Basques sympathized with the Catalan independence movement, it was clear they desired a higher degree of autonomy for the Basque Country rather than full independence. Furthermore, both the Basque regional government itself and the ruling Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) made efforts at the time to express a moderate stance on the Catalan issue without hesitation.

Recently, however, movements differing from the aforementioned stance have become prominent. In that sense, the discussions in the "Commission on Autonomy," which was established in the regional parliament last year and is scheduled to present a draft for a new political status for the Basque Country this October, are considered particularly important. This is because in this commission, which is composed of representatives from each political party in the regional parliament, the three parties that received over 70% of the votes in the regional elections (PNV, the pro-independence left-wing party EH-Bildu, and the Basque branch of the Spanish left-wing party Podemos) have indicated their intention to defend the Basque right to self-determination. Although many points remain uncertain regarding how that demand for self-determination will be realized, the possibility that it could eventually lead to a referendum on independence cannot be denied. The fact that the ruling PNV is clearly asserting the Basque right to self-determination—in contrast to the cautious stance it showed when the Catalan crisis intensified—is attracting widespread interest.

Furthermore, the grassroots organization "Gure Esku Dago" (It is in our hands), which held an event in 2014 that gathered over 100,000 participants to form a 123-kilometer "human chain" demanding the right to self-determination, has called for a new "human chain" activity this June connecting the three provincial capitals of the Basque Autonomous Community. A large turnout of residents is expected.

While it is difficult to imagine that 2018 will become the year of a "Basque crisis" following the Catalan crisis, it is necessary to pay attention to future developments in the Basque Country as it walks its own path while being influenced by the situation in Catalonia.

*Affiliations and titles are those at the time of publication.