In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the baskitis was quite widespread in Catalonia. The Convergent social base envied the degree of self-government achieved by the Basques in the Transition pacts, especially the economic agreement, and was already beginning to feel that we Catalans had been taken for a ride. The feeling was so widespread that Jordi Pujol—always attentive to these things—took care to create a narrative to avoid comparison and reinforce self-esteem: the project and personality of Catalonia were not based on tax control but on the language and educational competencies. "They may have the agreement, but the country is broken by violence and they've lost the language." Social cohesion and the progress of Catalan, the mantra went, were proof that the right bet had been made.
In parallel, within the independence movement—then very different from now, in size and political culture—the baskitis It had directly metastasized, not because of the economic agreement, but because of an undisguised admiration for ETA's armed struggle. The permanent desire for imitation repeatedly collided with the same evidence: Catalonia was not the Basque Country. But it was a matter of banging our heads against the wall as many times as necessary, until "the people" came to their senses and saw the light. The independence movement didn't emerge from the catacombs until a generation of leaders, led by Àngel Colom and Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira, explicitly broke with this dynamic.
A long time has passed, and now that things up there are—fortunately—so different, perhaps it's time to look back at the Basque Country and compare without fear. Specifically, without fear of discovering that we're losing out on all the indicators and that the only possible conclusion is that they've been making the right strategic decisions for years, and we've been doing exactly the opposite.
Let's look at this with some data. Twenty-five years ago, in 2000, both the population of Catalonia and the Catalan GDP were three times larger than those of the Basque Country, but the GDP per capita was practically identical: €19,383 here, €19,542 there. It was a snapshot of two countries that produced in proportion to their population and with equivalent wealth per capita. Where are we today? Catalonia's population has skyrocketed, and so has its GDP, but the GDP per capita has become heavily weighted in favor of the Basque Country. With data from 2024, the wealth produced per capita in Catalonia is €35,325, and in the Basque Country it is €39,547. Twenty-five years ago, we were just as efficient. Today, they are much more so.
Basque workers, by the way, also earn more than Catalans. The average gross monthly salary there is €2,545.8 (the highest in Spain), while in Catalonia it's €2,281.3. They're more efficient at producing, and families also have more money in their pockets. What has happened in the last 25 years? The answer is very simple. Catalonia decided to focus on tourism and construction, with the resulting population explosion via the importation of cheap labor, and the Basque Country chose a different path: focusing on industry and maintaining tourism within sustainable parameters (tourism represents 6.6% of Basque GDP and 12% of Catalan GDP; the Basque Country receives 1 tourist).
And what has happened with the language? Well, what was bound to happen, considering that the main language policy of a stateless country is the productive model. The Basque Country has avoided population growth (only 160,000 inhabitants have grown in the last 25 years) and has had a solid strategy to promote Basque, especially focused on youth. Today, 57.9% of young people are Basque speakers. Of the total population, 28% are Basque speakers in the Basque Country and 32% are Catalan speakers in Catalonia, but with one key difference: their arrow is pointing up, and ours is pointing down. They are rising, we are falling back.
Our economic and political elites have made many mistakes for a long time, and have led us into a social, economic, and linguistic dead end. We're not on the right track, and it seems they don't want to change their minds: there are 8 million of us, and they're asking us to prepare to reach 10 million; we have an airport with a capacity of 55 million passengers, and they tell us we should make it one with 70 million (side note: Bilbao's doesn't even have a capacity of 7 million, and the Basque economy is healthier). More population, more tourism, more of everything, but we can't afford an apartment, and our language is slipping through our fingers. Mom, when I grow up, I want to be Basque.
