The Basque country is a fascinatingly enigmatic corner of Europe, it captured my attention during university, initially due to its connections to surfing (the region is home to some of the worlds best waves, Mundaka, Les Estagnots etc.) and since visiting last year I was lucky enough to study the region in one of my final politics modules taught by the mighty Prof. Jon Tonge. The Basque country is the black sheep of Europe, almost everything about the region is somehow skewed from the norm. Even the Basque language, Euskadi, has puzzled linguists for years with its muddled history seemingly pointing to an anthropological connection with the Celts of the British Isles and the Berbers of North Africa rather than with the Spanish or continental Europeans.
The regions violent struggle for independence, by no means exceptional in Spanish history, took off under General Franco's oppressive efforts to homogenize and unite Spain under his dictatorship. In the face of violent reprisals by Franco's secret police and military and with their language outlawed they understandably took up arms. The account of several brave fishermen fighting a heavily armed battleship in the Biscay is a pretty stirring read, here.
However, since the demise of Franco, the efforts of the Basque separatists seem increasingly desperate. Admittedly, the violent and illegal murder of leading Basque separatist activists, terrorists and sympathisers by the Spanish government did not stop with the end of Franco's regime. However, recently the region has enjoyed almost complete autonomy, wielding its own powers over tax and police force. This lurch towards constitutionally framed autonomy is reflected in the current trend amongst the population in erring towards unionism and consociation with Spain, finding political expression in the election of a coalition of the mainstream, unionist Spanish Socialist Party and the conservative Partido Popular. An unprecedented shift towards acceptance of Spanish rule.
Why then are we still seeing the bombing of civic buildings and the murder of local government officials? I naively thought we were starting to get over nationalist terrorism in Europe with increased regional and international globalisation, and with new found moderation of nationalist political parties a la Scotland's SNP. After my brief study of the Basque country at uni I'm willing to place a large amount of blame on ETA's distorted view on the IRA's campaign in Northen Ireland: viewing Sinn Fein's acceptance into mainstream politics and the concessions it won as the direct result of the IRA's violent campaign, rather than as a result of their political defeat. A dangerous interpretation that needs to be rectified asap.
A really brilliant bit of documentary by Orson Welles, with his trademark deadpan humour and inventive direction on the Basque region is one of the best bits of TV I've seen in a long time:
Yes youtube...
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