The economy of the North is resident, not productive. In other words, it is supported by residents, including the tertiary sector, than by producers in the primary and secondary sectors. The coast of Lapurdi has a population of 160,000, and in the interior of 80,000. 40,000 in Baja Navarra and 40,000 in Zuberoa. In total, some 280,000 people have been mobilized. In summer there are 600,000 inhabitants, which is why we have stressed that the economy is especially resident. The North is not, therefore, the territory most affected by the crisis. However, it has no economy of its own.
Being a territory without political recognition, it is still more difficult for it to develop the local economy. As you know, the economy is based on tourism, not on agriculture or on industry. In fact, globalization and relocation have increased the number of foreigners in recent decades. The fact that people from outside are more qualified than local people has partly led to the production sector being within reach of those from outside. In case of discharge, cultivation is important, cultivated by the native population, with 6% of the active population and 10% in the interior. It produces 20% of Gross Domestic Product. It is, on average, higher than in France.
Industry is, however, the reason for this study. We have begun to ask about the Territorial Commonwealth that the Council of Elects has proposed to the Government of France. The answer is complex, as the Debabarrena Single Commonwealth is not implemented. In the meantime, the following basic questions have been taken into account: Saying “no tourism” is no use. But how does it take? What strategy is needed to combine tourism with industry and cultivation? Should it be articulated with the South?
In Iparralde there has never been deindustrialization. On the contrary, the culture of industry has never developed. The exception is aircraft utica.Pero this area is not characteristic of the indigenous industry. In addition, this industry is moving north of the state. Moreover, the assumptions rot: France is not an industrial power today. In the Basque Country, Maule is the plaza and model of the small local industry. In the past there have also been Hazparne and Uztaritze. New industrial forms are being developed in Amikuze, Garazi and Baigorri thanks to the agricultural profit processing industry.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MIG) is the main reference of the industry, with Herrikoa and Hemen being a significant agent of local companies. The main educational centre is the ESTIA in Biarritz (School of Engineering). The Baiona ITU, for its part, will also be present. In the absence of local political institutions, the Cluster programme has never been effectively worked out. In other words, training is basic, but there is no solid structure. Technical structures are needed to support small businesses. The concept of territory is fundamental in the development strategy of the industry. The question is: What does it take to drive industry efficiently?
In Uztaritze we are in the Olaberria cooperative. 15 workers work in the automotive molding sector. The manager is Beñat Castorene. The Territorial Collectivity brings it to evil: “The industry has never been so big on our territory, and the industry that existed in the last 40 years has been destroyed. The footwear industry, the manufacture of boneters, the nets have disappeared. The pre-industrial structures that existed 200 years ago have been decreasing. But above all, the passion for industry has been exhausted in people’s spirits.” According to Olaberria's manager, the shift from agriculture to industry was a mistake for people. It does not want to compare it with developments in the South industry, but it believes that there was the possibility of building companies to produce the current technological constituents: “If we do not direct this culture, which is very difficult, our economy will sink.” Suppose the Territorial Commonwealth is created... “First of all, the authorities should bring about an ideological revolution in society.” The most serious thing is the lack of desire to work in the industry: “Politicians have to raise public awareness that industry can develop in our country. If they have whims, it’s possible.” You don't have to go too far, there's a lot to do. “The State has never created special infrastructures for our economy. That is why we must use the structures of the South as far as we can. We have worked with cooperatives and Gernika companies, holding meetings in Basque. In addition to the economy, we were also in the culture. Then comes the crisis. The non-existence of the cultural industry of the North has broken the relations between us.” One more border between us, according to your own words.
He says that Basque identity is inside: Maule, Atharratze, Garazi, Hazparne, Kanbo, Uztaritze.. “But young people don’t see life in Euskal Herria. Maximum by BAB on the coast. Young people have urbanized a lot.” They say they get bored inside. Castorene has no hope for politicians, the main thrust of politics is the economy and economic policy in the North. For Euskal Herria to live, the local economy must be promoted: “80% of the BAD are French. The problem is ideological. It's also not right to say that everything is economics, but if the strategy of the Abertzales is to get the majority in the AB, there's nothing to do. By betting on the HABs, for example, we let the valley of Baigorri die. The French have long been able to transform the Basque worker. The children of labourers moved to the coast to engage in the administrative, tourism and service sectors. We became a Bohemian people.” Iparralde is a subsidized territory. It has lost its taste for work linked to land and local production, without the local economy it is not possible to create a nation. Patriotism is not enough: “In that sense we are not able to build our being,” he says. It underlines the character of a colonized people. Politicians use the wrong optimism. For him it is not serious to have a Chipi people and people: “If we have clear goals, a lot can be achieved. We have to believe in our field. As it has joined agriculture, industry can also develop. A number of industrial initiatives have been launched in Garazi and Baigorri on the benefits of agriculture. Here too you can develop the culture of the South. An example of this is the Olaberria company, which weaves and distributes small businesses into networks throughout the valleys. Urola, Leintz, as in the Goierri valleys. Otherwise, Beñat Castoren sees no future in Iparralde.
We've gone to Baxenabarrena. We're at Garazi. In the 1960s, there was a revolution in agriculture. In the last two decades there has been a second revolution. Farmers transform production. The benefits are directly available to consumers at the hands of producers. Francis Carricart is in charge of this. He is responsible for the department of Indar-Developpement that works for the Commonwealth of Municipalities. He has highlighted three axes of work. One: helping to create projects, analyze the viability of companies and offer technical needs through MIGs. Two: set up business centres and draw up administrative reports. Three: because companies are astonished, try to combine the work with each other.
In addition to the farmer, in the valley there are boat builders, pargatas and furniture. Cultivation accounts for 50% of the economy. The agri-food sector gains strength: Oteiza, Elizaldia, Ageria and Aznabar are some of the producers' own names and the museum's benefits. They're small businesses. Work organisation and training in the production of quality work: “These producers do not want to grow. If it occurs excessively, large intermediaries are needed to sell and profits are altered in large markets. This market is dangerous.” Carricart tells us about the problem of land: “If land is enough to build companies, but speculation is great. Land is bought cheaper for the construction of houses than for the construction of business centers. People sell land more easily to build houses than to develop the industry. There's land. In what and how the problem has been organized.” It explains how it's not organized: “A foundry was established in Amikuze. It is a company of 70 workers dedicated to the production of railway badges of the road. Beautiful opening and politically ‘sold’. However, a worker is not local. They've come from the garden to work, and they've come home every day. The plant’s technicians come from Baiona.” I mean, there's no one. Not even the endorsements they have studied in the schools of Donapaleu, Hazparne, Maule or Garazi. In lyceums, you don't learn the job of a welder or similar. And when they need to be brought out. That's what you don't have to do, but above all, that's the model. “Inside there is no smell to be dedicated to production. Young people want to be computer scientists, teachers or doctors.” How can we speed up the industry? Carricarte does not disregard the work carried out between the House of Gipuzkoa and the MIG of Baiona. In his view, the Cross-Border Structure has arrived at the pricey money, but what is done is little, the terrain is also small. Most relations are institutional. Carricarte, who prefers the road of Beñat Castoren, has maintained contacts with the Navarre business fabric Cederna-Garalur over the past few years.
We have now talked about the Territorial Commonwealth: “Some see the structure of relations with the South. Let the North be admitted once and for all. There is another group that says that ‘we will build them, but in the end we will not give institutions’. We depend on the policy of Bordeaux. We should work more with the South. What decisions will you take to promote relations with the South? I don’t have much confidence either.” If there is an economy and a differentiated common policy, as in Iparralde, it will always occur where it becomes cheaper: “We must therefore make policy. We need our productive sovereignty and we do not have it in Iparralde. The powers of Bordeaux will not give us, they do not need us, and they also want to promote tourism.” Labour relations, in terms of distance, are more logical with the South. Bordeaux is far away. About a hundred kilometers is an amazing market. The natural market of our economy is located in the surroundings of San Sebastian and in the Mountain of Navarra. We can give and recibir.Hacia the north of Europe should have a door for the companies of the south.
We ask him whether he is afraid of that in Paris. Paris doesn't seem to see it so natural. He explains his experience: “A furniture company in Paris wanted to do some work with the company Denok de la Rosa. For technical reasons, as was not possible here, I proposed to go from Arrosa to a company near San Sebastian. In Gipuzkoa there was work, but in his words ‘it is not possible’. It's a terrible border. He decided to do so with another person from France. The Territorial College will not have special competences, but it can help to widen this door. Or at least help to promote relations between our parts.”
We are with Michel Etxebeste, head of the company Artzainak, in Maule. It brings together eight workplaces on the network. Besides Maule, they are in Atharratze, Gotain and Ahurti. They work in the field of machining, shipbuilding and aeronautics. The workforce is 250 employees: “In France there is no industrial culture, however amazing it may be. The culture of officials has been imposed. The most noble economy is the industry, founded on it, the small, the services included. Unfortunately, people do not know what the basis of the economy is. Poor training, lack of culture for industry. Social laws are not known. That hurts me,” says Etxebeste, also mayor of Maule.
Although in Zuberoa there seems to be all kinds of land, it is not. The problem is not for industry to land agriculture, but for people coming from outside to build housing. Farmers have long since disappeared on the coast, which could also happen in Zuberoa. That is why the EPL law has been applied. Currently, the soil problem is regulated. The law has forced the electorate to better manage the matter. The first year, they went on to become elected, because the pressure of rich people coming from the outside is enormous. “They want a clean, colorful Basque Country. The law has been seven years old and domestic developers cannot build it without complying with the LPL’s standards,” says the interlocutor. The price of land is terrible. It says that compliance with the PPE law is not about making politics, but building according to the power that the people have given us. In Iparralde, for example, Maule, they have been the first to implement PPE in the state. In Biarno, in the department, PPE has not yet been used.
With regard to tourism, Etxebeste says that a Basque Agency is needed. We must combine tourism, cultivation and industrial development. That should be taken into account by the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde. As far as industry is concerned, your wish is as follows: “One: to establish fiscal stabilisation, as the law is amended every six months. Two: the lack of relocation so that the cost of the staff salary is lower. In Portugal, for example, the social costs of the monthly prize are 22%. In France, the company must take over 50% of the charges. It’s a big problem.” The Single Commonwealth of Iparralde would not change the framework. Aquitaine will manage what Paris has promised France and its European partners. It explains its relationship with the South as follows: “For ten years I have done everything I have been able to connect with the South. Seen from the south, the North industry is negligible. The global market is basically the same for everyone. It's about creating a partnership between the two, but it's also a dream. Dreams are materialized in the scholarship. For example, Gamesa was our dream. But the situation has changed altogether. Everything has become globalised. The entrepreneurs of Vitoria-Gasteiz are not looking at Maule, but at Berlin or Beijing. It's normal. Our challenge is, in our species, to retain ourselves in our environment.”
Zein izan litezke enpresarien abantailak Lurralde Elkargoa onartuz gero?
Departamenduak darabilen aurrekontua hobekiago erabiliko luke Lurralde Elkargoak. Ekonomiaren eskumena orokorra da, eta erakunde askoren (Erregioaren, Departamenduaren eta Herri Elkargoen) esku denez, errate baterako, tokiko enpresa batek baimenak ukateko hala nola horien araberako dirua lortzeko, ez luke horrenbeste energia eta denbora galduko.
Lurraldetasuna ere hobeto kudea liteke, naski.
Bai. Kostaldean bi herri elkargo dira nagusi: Baiona-Angelu-Biarritz eta Hendaia-Donibane Lohizune-Urruña. Herri elkargo bi horiek indartsuegiak dira barnealdeko herri elkargoen aldean. Beren politikak ez du bermatzen gure lurraldearen garapen orekatua, ez baitira horretarako eginak. Lurralde elkargo berri batek egiazko estrategia zutik ezarri beharko luke, adibidez, kostaldearen eta barnealdearen lokarria –eta garapena– lurraren funtzioen arabera orekatuz, hots, laborantzaren, lantegien, etxebizitzen beharrak arbitratuz.
Iparraldeko industriak zer behar du bereziki?
Iparraldeko ekonomian –Frantziakoan bezala funtsean– industria sektoreak arrakasta guti dauka eliteetan. Hemen ero egon behar da gazte bati industriaren aldeko aholkua emateko. Hirugarren sektoreak eta administrazioak biltzen ditu goi-mailakoen indar guziak. Louis Galloisen txostenak dioenez, industriako lan-enpleguaren tasa %12 da Frantzian. Legedia gero eta zorrotzagoa da: lan baldintzak ezartzean kutsadura zorrozki begiratua da. Iparraldeak ere ildo bera segitu behar du. Adibidez, bere tradizioa segituz, nortasun handiko industriari anitz baitaude, Zuberoak kinka txarretik ateratzeko beste aukerarik ez duenez, industria enpleguetan %20ko tasa lortu du! Maulen maila ertaineko eskola tekniko izateak laguntzen du. Gazteak eskola horretatik formazio egoki eta eraginkorrarekin ateratzen baitira enplegatuak izateko.
MIGek zein arlori eman behar dio lehentasuna?
Baionako portuaren gainegitura hobetu behar du, zonaldeak industriarako eta lantegietarako erreserbatuz, Iparralde txukun, eder eta geldi honetan erresistentziak gogorrak daudela jakinik ere. Auzapezek eta politikariek oro har, egiazko ardurak dituzte zeregin horretan.
Abertzale gisa, zazpi ahalak egin behar ditugu kanpotik sartzen den dirua hemen egon dadin: tokiko erosketak eginez, partikularki agro-elikadurak. Halaber, enpresak hemendik kudeatuak izan daitezen, kapitala hemengoa izateko iniziatiba autonomoak suspertu behar dira, Herrikoa eta Hemen eragileak lagunduz, gure lurraldean dinamika ekonomikoa sortzeko. Iparraldeko marka azkartu behar dugu tokiko enpresek lurraldearekin lokarri iraunkorra ukan dezaten alor guzietan, bertako jatorria ezagutua izan dadin merkatuan.
Uztaritzeko Olaberria kooperatibako buruaren hitzetan, “Iparraldeko ekonomiaz mintzo den jendea gutti da, eta enpresen kopuru eskasaz axolatzen denaz are gutxiago. Gizartearen egungo portaera ikusita, egoera ez da laster eta erraz aldatuko. Hona adibide bi frogatzat: Etxepare Lizeoko ikasketetarik landa oso gutti dira enpresen karreretara zuzentzen direnak. ESTIA ingeniari ikastetxean euskaldunak bakar batzuk baizik ez dira. Mauleko edo Hazparneko Lizeo teknikoetan deabrua ikusten dute beren klaseak betetzeko, tokiko gazteak ezin erakarriz. Hortik datoz guk sortutako enpresetan usu ikusten ditugun bitxikeriak: doi bat tarrotzen hasi orduko, ezinbestean kanpotik jinarazitako teknikaria kontratatu behar. Enpresa sortzaile euskaldunak lekukoa pasatzeko orduan, ezinbestean ondokoa kanpoan aurkitu behar. Alta, horrelako egoeraren ondorioak aspalditik ezagun dira, gure aberrian beste edozein herritan bezala: euskaldunen desterratzea eta kanpokoen etortzea guk utzitako hutsunea betetzera. Alabaina, gure laborariek, nahirikan ere, ezin dute berek bakarrik eremu guztia zaindu eta betetzen ahal! Nola, hola portatuz, euskal identitatearen biziraupenak jarraikitzea espero? Noiz konprenituko ote, batez ere beren burua abertzaletzat daukaten gazteek, identitatea galtzear duen populu batean, lehenbiziko urratsa dela herrian bertan lan egitea eta horretarako gure burua gaztetik preparatzea?”
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