We Basques have recently complained about the aggression we are suffering from in the courts. The new year thus begins, with the recent well-known judgments of San Sebastian and Llodio. There have previously been numerous judgments by the CAV and Navarre courts against the Basque and Basque people. There have also been few in Iparralde. Not only the courts, but the children and families of the ikastola and the ikastola. On November 4, 2023, we were at the massive demonstration in Bilbao to face this aggression.

We are already aware that all attacks from the South occur under the Spanish Constitution (plaza). The Basques of the South do not accept the Constitution because, among many other reasons, it establishes Spanish as an official language of general knowledge, and the Basque, co-official, that is, secondary and optional, and must be used with care without disturbing the Spanish monolinguals. That is why there are judges, to enforce their linguistic rights, not ours.

Educational models A and B are also aggressive, and they're not current, they're a few years old. Objective? Create non-vasco-speakers through education and hinder the use of Euskera. Subsequently, it will be the function of the Spanish judges of justice (in)to protect the rights of these non-Basques. In addition to education, in all areas of life, we Basques have suffered in the last 45 years, on behalf of the Constitution, numerous violations of language rights.

And in the last 45 years, in Donostia and in the media, the Plaza de la Constitución is on everyone's lips. This square was never called Plaza de la Constitución, but the Plaza de la Constitución (1812) in Spanish, but the town used the Plaza Nueva until 1936. That year, Francoists called him July 18. It is clear that Franco was a constant offensive against the Basque and Basque people. In 1979 the name of July 18 was removed and it was called Plaza de la Constitución, this time also in Basque, Plaza de la Constitución. Due to the Franco regime and the 1978 Constitution, the name of Plaza Nueva was deleted from our memory, a name that the Donostiarras have given and used since the construction of the first plaza in 1772 until it was banned and removed by Franco.

On June 18 we presented a declaration with the intention of recovering the original name, the Plaza Nueva, signed by many individuals and social agents. You can find the full declaration in Blogak.eus/PLAZA-BERRIA and additional information about the plaza and its name.

After the introduction of the declaration we finalised the proposal as follows:

“Therefore, the signatories, both individual and institutional and actors, propose:

1. Official registration of the Plaza Nueva (in Spanish Plaza Nueva). We will use this name in all our activities to definitely recover the name that the Donostiarras gave to the plaza.
2. We call upon all Donostians to adhere to this to act in the same way.
3. That is what we ask the other agents, and especially the media, to take our use with respect.”

Gradually we see that more and more individuals and agents are using the name Plaza Nueva. Our intention is to speed up this process and to this end we believe it is essential that the media should join this citizen’s will. Some will not use the name until it is official, but we believe others can take into account the will of citizens and of readers or viewers. In Bilbao, Plaza Nueva remains Barria and the Plaza Circular recovered its name in 1995, declared by the Franco Plaza España. In the case of Vitoria-Gasteiz, it is common to use the name Plaza Nueva in the media; the ETB itself welcomed the year 2024 in the Plaza Nueva, whose official name remains Plaza de España, modified under Franco.

Therefore, we ask the media of Euskal Herria to reflect and, if they consider it appropriate, start using the name Plaza Nueva when talking about San Sebastián. It can be an unbeatable opportunity to name, in the next Sansebastianes, who had a place of origin and never had to lose: Plaza Nueva.

Come on, we too, we always joyfully, always joyful!

We recover Plaza Nueva

Signatories: Dani Goñi, Marije Manterola, Jexux Arrizabalaga, Mikel Legorburu, Kepa Sarasola, Josu Tellebide, Marko Sierra