The Basque Country explores the seams of the State

Since the fortunate end of ETA terrorism, the Basque Country has lost the media prominence it enjoyed since the Transition, but this does not mean its political conflict with the Spanish State has ceased to exist. The political struggle for greater self-government has historically been led by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), although in recent years the pragmatic shift of EH Bildu has also led the radical Basque nationalist left to join the fray. Basque society is so convinced that negotiation is the right path, after the trauma of political violence, and that to optimize this negotiation it is necessary to strengthen its own parties that the PNV and Bildu together hold 65% of the votes in the Basque Parliament and 54 of the 75 seats. On the 16th, the Basque and Spanish governments, within the framework of the Joint Transfer Commission, signed the transfer of five new powers to the Basque Country: Maritime Rescue, the management of the Barakaldo Machinery Verification Center, non-contributory family benefits, unemployment benefits, and school insurance. It was also approved that the Basque Country will manage unemployment benefits starting January 1, 2027, meaning that the SEPE (State Public Employment Service) offices will become part of the Basque Lanbide network (in Catalonia, there is a dual network of the SEPE and the Generalitat's OTGs for active employment policies). It is highly significant that all these powers have taken 45 years to be transferred, despite being enshrined in an organic law such as the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.

It must be emphasized that, unlike the other autonomous communities, the Basque Country has not approved a new Statute, both due to a lack of political agreement and because the current one is still far from being fully implemented. Some of the powers it includes for the Basque Country, which the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) is negotiating with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) for transfer, touch the very core of the State, especially the payment of pensions, the transfer of airports, and immigration policy. We're getting there by leaps and bounds.

The transfer of pensions is taboo for Spain because for them it means breaking up the "single Social Security fund." This is perhaps the transfer that is most stalled, since the deep state He considers it a kind of casus belliSecondly, there is the issue of airports, which Catalonia is watching closely. The opposition here comes from Aena, which argues that with 49% private ownership, it cannot break up the company. But the Spanish government hopes to find a solution before Easter. The transfer of immigration powers basically means giving the Ertzaintza (Basque police force) more authority and resources in this area, the same thing Junts (Together for Catalonia) wants for Catalonia. It can be said, then, that the Basque Country is currently exploring the seams of the State, its limits, on a path that Catalonia must observe closely. However, it does so from the privileged position of having a special economic agreement that grants it sufficient resources to meet the needs of its citizens.