The year 2020 has not been easy for the Basques either. The division into three areas and the subjugation of five administrations (CAV and Navarre governments, Castilla en Treviño, Spain and France) cannot bring benefits, especially when four of them are committed to taking measures to further marginalise the Basques, along with many municipalities, with the help of the main media.

The pandemic has also revealed the lack of capacity and respect that the high officials of the Basque Government have earned to the Euskaldunes, as demonstrated by the communication policies it has developed during these months.

Severe in CAV

The weaknesses of the CAV’s language policy have also been blatantly highlighted. In the absence of a sufficient/dignified offer in Basque by television, internet or mobile, many children from Castilian or Spanish families have had little contact with the Basque country. As recently pointed out by Amonarriz, president of Topagune, “the pandemic has shown that many students do not have a relationship with Euskera outside the school, that the weakness of the audiovisual offer and the precarious situation of the cultural sector are as worrying as that many institutions readily reject the linguistic rights of the Euskaldunes”.

How can a comprehensive and attractive offer of television and other audiovisual media not be available by 2020? Because that is not the weakness of the Basque Country, but of linguistic policy.

In education, red lights have also been turned on, starting with model D. We will leave for another day the ridiculous offer of Vocational Training in Euskera.

The people's initiative is essential

Euskaraldia, the Durango Fair, Errigora and the cultural offer that Basque creators have offered in one way or another have been the basis for maintaining the pulse of the Basque media. The popular initiative has once again given us a respite, with the inaction of Basque leaders and parties and the initiative against the Spaniards.

However, we Euskaltzales would have to show a much greater activation than the current one, so that the main CAV institutions respond more appropriately to their responsibilities (e.g. the worrying development of EiTB) and to deal with the institutions of Navarre, Spain or France that attack us.

Responsibility of political power

The activation of the Basque people is not enough. Support and political support are essential, adequate and sufficient instruments to maintain this activation over time. In other words, it is very good to encourage Euskaldunes to practice Euskera, but to maintain their activity in Euskera it is essential to have sufficient linguistic training, the appropriate tools to feed the language (radio, television, internet and mobile, books and comics…); the Euskaldun environment, the complicity of the non-Euskaldunes of the environment, the respect of labour and commercial agents… In other words, a much more effective linguistic policy. Mere worship, rather than increasing its use, can lead to discouragement in the medium or long term.

In the CAV we also do not have all the tools to do this (being under the supervision of the Spanish Government), but with the new municipal legislation and regulations adopted since 2016 new possibilities have been opened in municipalities to guarantee the linguistic rights of the Basque people. In local councils we will also have the opportunity to measure the political will of one party or another.

In Navarre and Iparralde we get bad news from government bodies in general, organized initiatives to continue to reject the aggressions and the Basques. More than in the CAV, common work, the accumulation of forces and the act of acting as a people will be essential to move forward. There is an urgent need to provide more support and support than hitherto for the Basques of Navarre and Iparralde, from all kinds of CAV institutions.

Playing field, Basque nation

The media and institutions at national level are of great importance in this initiative; that is, those who, being situated in Euskal Herria everywhere, address all the Basque citizens of the seven territories; we should therefore protect them and promote them much more than they are now.

A much more Euskaldun EiTB is urgently needed. We must greatly improve the programming of ETB1, create an attractive offer for children and young people, fiction in Basque and folded films… Well, what makes any chain attractive, but in Basque, replace preventive programs, prioritize the productions of Basque creators, develop collaboration with media and creators from other oppressed countries...

Vindication of Basque society

The organization of the Euskaltzales and the recovery of the courage to assert the rights of the Euskaldunes will continue to be essential; to undertake the work of raising awareness, to bring the Euskera to the axis of political activity… and without wasting time, because things are changing more and more quickly.

We need a renewed language policy, the same treatment that Spanish or French have in Spain and in France, the same rights and obligations for Euskera throughout the Basque Country, and for that it is essential to address Sovereignty.

Will we address the challenge?