Almost unnoticed in the American press, what is potentially the greatest geo-political shift in Western Europe since the Second World War is set to be voted on tommorow.
When Americans think of Spain, they most often associate the country with the white hill villages of Andalucia, but unknown to most Americans is the tremendous diversity within the Spanish nation. What we call Spanish is commonly called castellano in its homeland, and while it is understood by almost all native Spanish, 3 other languages (Basque, Catalan, and Galician) are also official languages in their regions, and their resurgence has been part of a larger reawakening of non-Castillian identities in Spain. Tomorrow, the common indentity and territorial intergrity of Spain will be tested by the regional elections in Spain’s Basque country.
Spain has yet to deal with the terrible legacy of the Civil War, and while those who knew it first hand are begining to pass, the country still suffers deep psychic wounds. It’s easy to distill human conflict to Manichean simplicity, that good and evil are duking it out. In reality, things are rarely this clear. One of the books about those imprisoned by the Franco I brought home from Spain stated it more clearly than I can.
This isn’t a history of heroes. This is a story of normal people. Of people who knew the prisons. Who were detained and tortured. People who one day made the decision because it was what they had to do, because they couldn’t do anything else, because they wanted this country to change
Franco’s ghost hangs heavy over Spain, and still there are some who look fondly upon what they see as a simpler, more pure time. The reaction to the removal of the last statue of Franco in Madrid last month replete as is was with fascist salutes, reveals that some still believe that Franco was a hero, not a monster. Franco’s supporters would argue that his greatest achievement was the preservation of Spanish territorial integrity against Basque and Catalan nationalists.
Tommorow, the Basque Country will vote for a new parliament. Late last year the president of the Basque country, Juan Jose Ibbaratxe, was finally able to pass his autonomy (other’s would say independence) proposal, commonly called the Ibarratxe Plan through the Basque parliament with the assistance of Batasuna, a basque nationalist party that shares a relationship to the terrorist group ETA that is similar to that between Sinn Fein and the IRA. ETA is undoubtedly a terrorist organization, it has killed over 800 people since 1968, but the broader allegation made that the wider resurgence of Basque identity with the desire for greater autonomy or outright independence is by association support for ETA’s terrorist activities is more dubious.
Anti-nationalists go so far as to say that the millenia old Basque cross (which looks a swastika on acid) is evidence that the Basques are secretly Nazis. While the writings of Sabino, one of the earliet proponents of Basque nationalism and I believe a founding member of PNV (The Basque nationalist party, currently in power in the Basque country), are laced with racist elements, it’s important to remember that Franco depended on the Hitler’s Condor Legion to bomb Guernica, an act of state terrorism intent on destroying the Basques traditional capital. Basque nationalists along with Catalans, Communists, and all of Franco’s other enemies suffered tremendously. Why Basque nationalism has developed a pathological variant in ETA, while the Catalans have not adopted terrorism is widely debated. The previous PM of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, first depended on nationalists to get elected, then turned on the Basques. Aznar was able to get a lot of play out of capitalizing on fears of ETA, and largely untold in the history of last years March 11th attacks is the mad panic in which Aznar called the editors of Spain’s largest dailies blaiming ETA for the attacks. Ultimately the discovery of the bombers van in Alcala de Henares, provided proof the Aznar was full of shit, but this only became clear when the time for campaigning had ended. Aznar’s myth that ETA was resposnible for Atocha ending up costing the father of an imprisoned ETA member his life, and sparked off several days of riots.
I can’t do the full story of the Basques and Spain justice here, but I want to talk about one more piece that I don’t think is commonly known. Batasuna, the party associated with ETA, was banned several years ago by the Baltazar Garzon, the Spanish magistrate who wanted to try Pinochet. In 2003, people previously associated with ETA, formed a new party called AuB, that was subsequently banned. At that same time, a paper called Egunkaria, that had published statements from ETA was banned by the Spanish gov’t, and the editors were arrested. The editors alledge that they were tortured during their imprisonment. While the Spanish gov’t vehemently denies this, in the early 90’s the Spanish gov’t led by the Socialist PM Felipe Gonzales did operate death squads that murdered prominent Basque Nationalist. From a distance this pissing match between the Spanish gov’t and the Basques is mildly entertaininf, like whe Aznar told the Basque president he’d be thrown in jail if the Basque parliament passed the Ibarratxe plan. Like the Greeks say though, perspective is the difference between comedy and tragedy. The passions of nationalism Basque and Spanish alike spawn myriad beasts.
After the Basque parliament passed the plan, talk of political crisis began. The Ibarretxe plan doesn’t call for independence because that would place the Basque country outside of the EU, but it does call for a state of “free association”. One of the most significant elements of the Spanish transition to democracy was the acceptance of a limited state of autonomy for the Basque country and other “historical regions”. Over time this spread so that Spain has 17 autonomous communities with varying degrees of autonomy. Spain now is essentially a country with federalism as a form of governance, and where the Basques led the Catalans et al followed. Modifications to this system require the approval of Madrid, and outside of the Basque’s move for greater autonomy the Catalans want to rewrite the constitution so they can have greater autonomy. So to move forward with the Ibbaratxe plan, the Basque PM had to go to Madrid to make his plan.
And in February, Ibbaretxe went to Madrid to make his case. Although there was intense debate, the plan was voted down 313 to 29, with other regional parties supporting Ibbaretxe plan, resumably in the hope that where the Basque lead they might follow. Shortly thereafter, Ibbarretxe announced that he would call early elections in the Basque country as a vot of confidence. If his party takes an absolute majority in voting tommorrow, Ibbaretxe will put out a referendum asking the people of the Basque country whether or not they wish to adopt the a state of “free association” with Spain. It is in essence an indpendence vote, and the pulls show it likley that Ibbaretxe will get his absoulute majority, and the vote on the referendum would be extraordinarily close.
This situation has wider implications for the rest of Spain. Civil war seems higly unlikely, but significant civil unrest is a distinct possiblity. Polls taken that sample all of Spain show that majority of Spaniards favor the military occupation of the Basque country were Ibarratxe to call a referendum. The prospect of military occupation of a civilian population in the heart of Western Europe offers all kinds of very bad possibilities. Will Zapatero follow through with the threat of his defense minister Jose Bono to occupy the Basque country if there is to be a referendum? Would inaction by Zapatero lead to private action (remember as recently as 1981 generals took the parliament and told MPs to “Sit the fuck down” in a failed coup attempt, the spanish military has been downsized and the guardias civiles tranferred from military to civilian command since then) by the fascist element in Spain?
What about self determination? Do the Basques and the Catalans have the right to their own countries should they so choose in a democratic vote (intmidation of voters is a problem in the Basque country)? In the event of serious unrest, how would the US gov’t and the EU respond? The US maintains a significant presence in Spain at Zaragoza, Madrid, and in Andalucia. Only time will tell, but I just hope however this comes out it ends peacefully.
on a VERY interesting subject.
For the time, I will contribute with news of some new scenario forming after the Batasuna has called on its members to vote for the Communist Party.
There are expectations that, if the communists take 3-4 seats and with the Socialists rising in the polls, Ibbaretxe might not get majority. Things might get complicated indeed.
I normally get called a terrorist anytime I write on this subject by one of the Euro expats over at DailyKos. It just pisses me off. I just can’t understand what makes people think that banning parties is the way to combat extremism, I think it only feeds the victim mentality that groups like ETA and the IRA use to justify their actions.
I lived in Pamplona which although in Navarra is a Basque city. I got to see the way that the gov’t responded to a small demonstration against the banning of Egunkaria in Pamplona. A couple hundred police with Kalashnikovs, four humvee type vehicles, and about a hundred people wearing shirts saying that they opposed the banning of Egunkaria. Things stayed in control, it would have been ironic if they hadn’t. The demonstration was right on the Plaza de la Paz, the Peace Plaza, with a big postmodern statue saying peace in many languages.
I’ve heard about this development with the Communist party of the Basque Country, which is not to my understanding related to EB-IU, the alliance that the mainline communist party (PCE) is part of. Earlier this month Batasuna tried to throw together a party to bypass the banning, but got banned. I think that Ibarretxe was counting on Batasuna voters who would abstain, voting for PNV-EA to get an absolute majority.
Last thing I heard polls should PNV ekeing out an absolute majority.
This could get very interesting. The real mess only happens if there’s a referendum on the Ibarretxe plan which could pass. It’s a shame though that this has all gone almost unnoticed by the world press. If this goes to shit, watch they’ll all be trying to explain to people how this all came to head.
This is not only interesting it is very well written.
Thank you.
Glad you diaried this. Spain does not get nearly enough coverage in the U.S. press. Please do follow-ups. I’m particularly interested in the other side of the country, Catalonia and the Med islands.
I don’t really know that much about Catalonia, my knowledge of the Basque country comes from having lived there. I think that you’re absolutely right that Spain doesn’t get covered nearly enough. The disaapearance of Spain from the global scene after 1898 was an abberation.
The birth of a modern democractic spain has spawned a nation that can retake its place on the world scene. Aznar embraced the idea of hispanidad, the Spanish speaking fraternity, to be led by Spain. Zapatero has taken a different route, but Spain it seems is destined to have a special Atlantic relationship. With Zapatero, Spain has become an interlocutor between the global south (Lula, Chavez, Kirchner) and the North. Even in purely monetary terms, Spain has enormous investments in South America. Because it has links to the Arab world, Europe, and the Americas Spain can serve as a facilitator for communication betwen these areas.
Fantastic Diary and Recommended…
I used to live in Spain myself, although never did get a chance to go to Pais Vasco. I can tell you that Basque is one of the most difficult and bizarre languages in the world, and the fact that it’s survived all this time is a testament to the hardiness of that culture.
I saw recently where some people have pushed to have Catalan added as an official EU language as its spoken not just near Barcelona but also in a corner of France as well by millions of people.
Speaking of which, there is a sizeable Basque community in France across the border with Spain, meaning that independence and/or “free association” autonomy would also affect the Basques in France as well.
Catalan is a Romance language, but poor old Galician, which is dying out, is actually a Celtic language. It surprises some to know that there are native blond, blue-eyed Celtic speakers living in that corner of Spain. I know it did me.
As an American, my history of 1492 mainly dealt with the financing of a voyage westward across the seas. But for Spaniards, that period of time was significant because the kingdoms were finally united under one ruler with its base in Madrid.
And for the Jews, that year was significant because it was when they were forced to convert or be expelled en masse, leading to the half of that people known in Hebrew as the Sefardim.
I’m continually amazed that Spain has remained relatively conflict-free in modern history, with three such different language and cultural groups lumped together with one clearly in power.
You asked why Catalan managed to not spawn a violent separatist group. My guess is that it is because it is doing so well economically, usually the richest sector of the Spanish economy. I’ve met people from this region abroad and they usually refer to themselves as being Cataluños or being from Barcelona rather than as Spanish or being from Spain.
BTW, on a side note, did you ever hear the theory that the man in English we call Christopher Colombus was actually a Cataluño? That this was his first language?
Pax
You might want to take a look at the official gov’t text of the Ibarretxe Plan. Ibarratxe lays claim to Navarra and the 3 French basue provinces.
Basque is one of those really bizarre languages, my first night in Pamplona after I figured out that the university gave me the wrong address for the “dorms”, I had my fist encounter with Basque. The cabby told me that there was a cheap pension near where he had dropped me off. I found the plasce after I figured the address they gave me was an office, and the guy was talking in Basque when I came in. At that point my spanish wasn’t any good. Basque? Fuck me, I just started saying pension, pension. He got it.
I went to the Publica, and it seemed like protesting might just be a Basque pasttime for all the stuff they did. Pots, pans, and airhorns, marching through the classroom, once a or twice a month. The autonomous gov’t was trying to cut funding for Basque language courses. And the bannings, and the closure of Egunkaria. I figured out quickly that policing in Spain is less about law than order, and that the heavy hand of the state in the Basque areas. I went to visit a friend living in Madrid, and the differences were clear quickly. No guards with Kalashnikovs, or the humvee wannabes. ETA was particularly active in Navarra when I was there because, the Pais Vasco(which by the way is called Euzkadi in Basque, thus the E suffix on names of orgs in the country.)had cracked down.
Navarra was different because it had always retained its fueros, basically a medieval consitution of sorts, because the Carlists (Not really the bastards that the Falange were, though Franco forced their merger.) That was the reason I had come to study in Pamplona, to do a project on federalism in Spain. I’m not sure that most people realize that Hapsburg Spain allowed a great deal of “federalism”, Navarra was part of the Spanish Crown, but not integrated into the Spanish kingdom until well after its “conquest” (the Pamplonicos decided that the Spanish king would give them a better deal, they’re cheeky like that). During the transicion there was a tacit agreement that progress towards civil society trumped dealing with the demons of the Civil War and 40 years of Franco. The Basques were very active thought, and autonomy was given to the Basques in the late 70’s or early 80’s. Soon followed by the Catalans, then the Galicians (who are the hearth country of Portugese, Gallego is basically Portugese.)
By the mid 80’s autonomy was granted, regional parties inmportant players even in Andalucia and the Canary Islands.
After ascession in 1986,the EU has become a major element in the development of the national minorities with funding for the preservation of minority languages. Because of the emergence of the sovereign state post Westphalia, religion is seen as a binding element between the different kingdoms contained within the crowns of Spain and Great Britain, the early bloomers so to speak. But I think that far more important in the cohesion that these political units have had, is the common national market. In the British Empire, the Scots were adventurers. In the Spanish Empire, the Basques were the seafarers, the Catalans financiers, the Andulucians immigrants. Now that there is a European common market, is the national state necessary for the preservation of regional economies. Pre-EU the Basque country would have suffered from tariffs at its borders, but so long as the Basque and Catalans maintain the fiction that idependence is actually a state of “free association” they remain within the EU. The importance of the EU in this should not be underestimated.
You had mentioned about people from Barcelona thinking of themselves as Catalunyos first, Spanish second. El Pais or El Mundo did a poll in 2003 that found that a majority in Navarra, Basque Country, and Catalunya thought of themselves as citizens of their region first. The Navarrans see themselves as part of the medeival kingdom of Navarra, while others in Pamplona subscribe to the notion of a greater Euzkadi, swallowing whole the Basque country,Navarra, and the French Pays Bask. It’s suprising that the whole country hasn’t ripped itself to shreds, but the uniqueness of the Spanish model for transition, with civil society laying the basis of social pluralism before democracy is a model for change in contentious areas. Civil society is more important than electoral democracy for the establishment of durable, just political insitutions. The 1st world needs to apply this to our brothers in the Global South and East. If we make the acceptance of the free practice of religion, and independent trade unions conditions of entering the global market, democratic crusades will be unecessary the indgenous growth of democracy can be had with less blood.
I digress, Spain is fascinating.
I read Flogging the Simian everyday. You do great work, don’t let the bastards get you down like with the statue in Indiana. Keep it up.
Paz y esperanza.
The version I heard when I lived in Mallorca years ago was that not only was Columbus a Catalan speaker, but that he was a Mallorcan Jew. There is more than one street there with his name, and the history of the Jewish community in Palma is fascinating.
I was musing, earlier, that the harsh EU treatment of Lord Ashdown’s Mandate in the Balskans combined with a EU proposal to further break up the mini states of the Balkans was a play to increase the number so states in the EU with East and Central European alligned interests (a.k.a. friends for Germany). (THe criticism of Lord Ashdown is likely desereved, but since when has deserving criticism garnered it in an EU report except when there is some ulterior motive.)
Perhaps Spain, France, the UK and BeNeLux could use a few pocket states as proxies int he EU’s councels. Doesn’t France have a few “sort of” ethnic minorities that could be spun off?
I’d go for a Cathar state.
I’m not sure about Lord Ashdown. In western Europe, the emergence of the EU has removed access to a national market as one of the principal advantages of sucking it up if you’re a minority nationality in a heavily centralized state. France I see as eternal, the Revolution destroyed a lot of the diversity there. French Basques no longer speak Basque. Brittany and Corsica are notable exceptions. The EU can inadvertently
stir nationalist passions by funding magazines and radio in minority langauges. Overall, I think that France is so heavily centralized that it will remain untouched.
Spain, the UK, Italy, Belgium, even Germany are other stories. Spain I thnk I’ve covered. Blair has opened Pandora’s box in the UK, Scottish devolution has spawned proposals for 10 English regions. The Spanish course, with autonomy for historic regions forced wide open for the whole country is a possbility here. In Italy, I’ll refer you to Gilgamesh’s diary. The Northern Alliance is a major player. I’m not sure if this actually happened or was just mentioned as a possibility, but I remember something about taking a building in St Mark’s square in Venice with an ertzatz tank. Rememeber that the only regions that Berlusconi’s coallition won where in the north. There’s a half way serious movement for independence for Venice and other northern cities. Up until Garibaldi the country was divided. Belgium is also divided ethnically, but every Belgian I’ve met seems to speak at least 3 langauges. I want to say the Vlaams Blok is Belgian, but it could be Dutch. Belgium and Germany already have a pretty extensive degree of federalism for regions. In Germany, the East and the West still seem to exist in different worlds. The cnetrifugical politics of the east with people drawn to the recontructed Communists and the various nationalist parties is a recipe for disaster.
I really only see “balkinization” as a possiblity in Spain, and a less violent, more British way in the UK.
Italy
The Union of Parliaments, between England and Scotland in 1707, was the result of negotiation between elites. The basic deal was that the English no longer had to worry about a potential Catholic King of Scots allied with France and the Scots got access to markets in England and its colonies. The Treaty of Union allowed Scotland to retain its own legal system and church.
In modern circumstances neither the security or economic concerns of the 18th Century are relevant.
It is generally accepted by the English that Scotland is entitled to a right of self determination. Even Mrs Thatcher accepted that if the Scots were determined to be independent they could not be resisted. It would be like the seperation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The details would no doubt be contentious but the basic principle would not be in dispute.
Wales has been associated with England for longer than Scotland, but again it would be considered a nation which could be independent if it wanted to be.
Northern Ireland would be more complicated because of the divided loyalty of its inhabitants. Northern Ireland is also not an ancient nation, just the part of the island of Ireland the Unionists thought they could control in 1921. I suspect that there would be more chance of Northern Ireland being expelled from the UK than leaving voluntarily, at least until the demographic balance changes in the population of the Province so that it can be given to the Irish Republic.
The only English region with a democratic regional government is London. I do not think anyone is thinking of making our capital independent. As to the other eight English regions the average person would be surprised to know they exist as governmental units. Certainly the indirectly elected Regional Chambers are the most obscure political institutions imaginable.
There is some feeling that England, which is also an ancient Kingdom, deserves as much autonomy as Scotland. However I do not see the UK politicians ever willingly agreeing to an English Parliament and Executive which might potentially be too powerful to be contained within the structure of the United Kingdom. It would be ironic if it was Home Rule for England which finally destroyed the Union.
The British attitude to devolution and self determination seems less likely to cause major problems than the corresponding attitudes in Spain.
Gary, you fair to include the economic bail out provided to Scotland at the time of the Union. The “Equvalency money” made good losses in a disterous project in what is now Panama.
The scheme was to provide a sort of “dry canal” btween the Pacific and Atlantic by establishing a Scottish colony in Darien. The Scots invested half of their available capital. A comination of sickness and attacks from the Spanish (not discouraged by the English) brought down the ambition of setting up a “New Scotland”.
The Scottish Nationalist Party want an independent Scotland within the EU. There is also an “English Democratic Party” fighting the current election which wants a separate parliament for England to solve the “West Lothian Question” It is manifestly unfair that Scottish MPs at Westminster are ahle to vote on matters that have been devolved to the Scottish Parliament. A solution to that is unlikely as long as the Labour Party have a majority, which is quite likely to be dependent on their Scottish MPs after the election.
I accept that in a short post I did not deal with every factor which led to the Union. Clearly the disastrous failure of the Darien Project, which drained away a lot of Scottish wealth and demonstrated that the dream of a distinct Scottish empire was unattainable, contributed to the willingness of Scottish leaders to agree to the Union. English gold replenished Scottish wealth just as the new arrangement gave trading opportunities which would not have otherwise been available.
Clearly there are political forces which would like to bring the Union to an end. They have not yet attained anything like majority support in any part of the UK. The SNP has I believe recognised that its real problem is to convince the Scottish people of the need for independence in the EU, not the English.
Maybe it’s the fact that i come from Centralising France, but there is another story to the Basque-spanish dispute that you mention, namley that the Basques pretty much alrady HAVE all the autonomy they can have without becoming actually independent.
They have their own parliament, they can raise and keep taxes, they pretty much police themselves. Anything more and they would actually be independent.
I agree that the fight against Franco and for independence went together, and thus the right wing PP can always be suspected when they act against the Basque, but the Socialist Pary has been just as firm on the substance. As you write, the spaniards will not tolerate a break up of the country, and they feel that they have given a lot of autonomy to the regions already.
And the ETA are nasty terrorists. Do you know how many people (including simple town council members) live with 24 hour police protection in the region? How much of the ETA is funded by pure gangsterism and racketeering? How close Batasuna is to the terrorists.
After nazism WWII, a number of things which are allowed under the first amendment in the US have been forbidden in various countries. Banning politicla parties comes into that category of things that should not happen in an ideal world but which are understandable in view of historical precedents.
No Jerome, I value your opinion.
You are absolutely right that the Basques enjoy a great deal of autonomy. I lived in Pamplona, while I was there ETA blew up two policeman whose daughters went to the university I was studying at. ETA are terrorist bastards, but I think that overreacting banning Basque parties, closing Egunkaria only fuels a dying violent movement. ETA depends on Basques feeling that they are victims who will not recieve justice from Madrid. Banning political outlets for discussion does nothing but reinforce their sense of victimization.
Even if Aralar ,a party that has renounced violence, but shares the goal of Basque independence, were to gain power, I believe that Madrid would overreact. Is Madrid opposed to ETA’s terrorism or to self determination in the Basque Country? We in the demoratic West need to seek the resolution of conflict through the ballot not the bullet. Once you deny access to the ballot, passions will direct some to the bullet. Look at what’s happening in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein is being savaged for its association with the men who murdered the McCartney sister’s brother in a bar fight. They’re vicious little thugs, and with a political path to push for union wth Ireland, they are called out us thugs. They can not hide behind the shield of the “cause” now, they are shown to be criminals stripped of the mystique of romantic nationalism.
Zapatero seems to be treading lightly on this. He seems to be avoiding stirring up ethnic hatred like Aznar would reach for when he mucked up. Zapatero is offering up a limited version of what Ibbaretxe is asking for, which is politcally expedient because it helps deal with the Catalans wanting to rewrite the autonomy statutes at the same time. In the Basque country, the push for independence or autonomy is in large part a push to return to the state of affairs prior to the Carlist wars when Madrid began to centralize. Navarra and the Basque Country have traditionally had fueros, civil contracts that are proto-consitutional. They limited the power of the state, and granted local autonomy. Have you ever heard of this?
I have no doubt that Batasuna is closely related to ETA, but if we are going to say that banning Batasuna is justified then we must also support the banning of Sinn Fein, and almost all the Palestinian parties. For that matter local Republican parties have “enjoyed” similiarly close relationships to the Klan and other terrorist organizations throughout American history. Once you allow a political path to bring about change (no matter how crazy the shit they want is) you seperate sympathizers from the patholigical hard core criminal element. The core are thugs, the “cause” is a convenient cover for being violent.
Jerome, I respect what you have to say, but I think that as a general matter Europeans are often hypocritical when the ideas they support abroad come home to roost. Supporting Arafat while banning Batasuna, seems awfully hypocritical.
and my lack of detailed knowledge of the Basque situation will start showing if I argue further with you!
this thread, and because it will get no coverage in the U.S. press, I’ll toss in this story from today’s Independent, “Election kills off Basque leader’s autonomy plan.”