Basque Autonomy Gets Another Look in Spain
http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=B22835:2F72C9DNew plan sowing discord in Spain, where country's 17 regions
already enjoy considerable autonomy A new autonomy plan is sowing
discord in Spain, where the country's 17 regions already enjoy
considerable autonomy. Drawn up by the moderate Basque government in
northern Spain, the proposal opens the possibility of a fully
independent nation. Madrid has rejected the plan as unconstitutional.
Even residents of this restive region are divided.
Just about everybody in this seaside Basque city seemed to be out for
a walk on a recent evening. Crowds strolled along a sidewalk hugging
the bay, watching the Atlantic waves curl in. Young men jogged on the
beach down below.
Most of San Sebastian's residents appeared to be ignoring a small
demonstration taking place in the middle of town, where several dozen
protesters marched on behalf of Basque separatist extremists locked up
in Spanish jails.
The demonstrators included young people supporting the violent methods
of the Basque terrorist group ETA, which wants to establish an
independent nation in northern Spain and parts of southwestern France.
But they also included older ones, like 55-year-old Charo Estolaca.
Mrs. Estolaca is a social worker in San Sebastian. She says she has
fought for an independent Basque country all her life. She says she
picked up her fight from her father and her grand father before that.
Dreams of an independent Basque nation stretch back decades, if not
centuries. Basque separatists point to a historical - and some say
mythical - past when the region was independent. But not everybody
agrees that violent methods are justified to achieve autonomy.
That includes the Basque government, headed by the moderate Basque
Nationalist Party leader, Juan Jose Ibarretxe. Mr. Ibarretxes party
rejects ETA violence. But it has drafted a new measure to renegotiate
the Basque region's 1979 autonomy agreement with Madrid, which was
accepted by the Basque parliament last month.
Besides calling for greater local control in areas such as research
and employment, the plan also raises the possibility of a so-called
status of free association with Spain, at some unspecified point in
the future. The government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero has denounced the autonomy petition, calling it
unconstitutional. The Spanish parliament is expected to vote on the
Basque proposal in the coming weeks.
Even it it is rejected in Madrid, Mr. Ibarretxe vows to put the plan
up for a popular referendum in Basque country this year. Basque
government spokeswoman Miren Azkarate explains why. "If Madrid says
no, we would like to know what [Basque] society thinks about it,
because nobody knows. Perhaps society does not back the new proposal.
Then we are mistaken. Then the most logical thing would be to call for
elections and have a new government. But if the Basque society says
yes, this is a moral strengthening of our position," he says.
Demands for greater autonomy are mushrooming across Spain and
elsewhere in Europe. In many cases the calls are peaceful.
Critics argue the Basque region already has far-reaching powers. It
has its own police force, and controls health care and other social
services. It is the only Spanish region with taxing powers, and most
road signs are in both Spanish and the ancient Basque language of
Euskera.
Skeptics also warn the Basque plan is sparking unrest elsewhere in
Spain, including the wealthy Catalonia region. There, another
independent-minded party, the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunia, has
described the Basque proposal as, in its words, "appetizer" for its
own autonomy demands.
Even Basque residents are deeply divided over Mr. Ibarretxe's
proposal. Just ask Elena Lopez, who runs a bookstore in Getxo, an
affluent town near the Basque capital of Bilbao. Ms. Lopez says she is
against separating from Spain. The Basque region is part of Spain, she
says.
Up the street, Basque lawmaker Marisa Arrue is also opposed to
seceding from Spain. Ms. Arrue is a member of the conservative Popular
Party, and is a deputy in the Spanish parliament as well as being a
town councilor in Getxo. Ms. Arrue warns that Mr. Ibarretxe's plan
provides fuel for ETA terrorists. Right now ETA is weak, she says. But
she says the secessionist proposal is like an injection of oxygen for
the extremists. Ms. Arrue also predicts the plan will be passed in a
referendum, because Basques who oppose it will be too scared to vote.
Like a number of local politicians opposed to Basque independence, Ms.
Arrue has received death threats from ETA.
But other Basque residents support the plan. Some think it offers a
peaceful road to independence, after 37 years of ETA violence that has
killed more than 800 people. Even the Batasuna party, the banned
political wing of ETA, voted in favor of the plan last month. But in
the Basque town of Guernica, a symbol of Basque resistance during the
Spanish civil war, 20-year-old university student Maria Arramuru
doubts Mr. Ibarretxe's proposal will ever become a reality.
She says, of course she would like Basque country to become
independent. But there are a lot of laws that make it difficult. That
is why, Mrs. Arramuru says, the dream of a freestanding Basque country
in Europe is probably a utopia.