News, November 2003

News theme: Basque politics and ETA

During July and August many of us were concerned by the numerous attacks by ETA terrorists, most notably for foreigners and Spaniards at large, the hotel bombings in Alicante and Benidorm. While concern will remain about the threat of ETA attacks, political interest is now mostly directed at the regional president's proposals for extending autonomy to become a 'free associated state', rather like Puerto Rico.

Basque regional president Ibarretxe made outline proposals during July and suggested the firm proposal would come in September. Reactions from the Spanish 'constitutionalist' parties, conservative Partido Popular (PP) and Socialist PSOE were varied. The PP, in government at present, is determined to maintian the status quo. They believe the regions have sufficient autonomy and that no more freedoms are necessary to allow everyone to feel the liberty demanded by 'extremists'. On the other hand the PSOE believes the time is ripe for a look into the Constitution to see what further decentralisation can be made, even if this requires adjustments to the Constitution itself. This 3-way argument is likely to be an important issue this month.

Mre about the Basque question and background: http://www.prayforspain.com/comment/index3.html