The radio Villa de Bilbao has been hitting the Basque in the Basque capital for 22 years; from the attic of the Kafe Antzokia, it reaches the Basque community in the area of Bilbao. It is the only Basque radio in Bilbao and Bilbao. It is a medium belonging to the Zenbat Gara association that works in the city to achieve the Basque Country, claiming that in Bilbao the Basque country has its place and will continue to be so. But they're not the best times ever. The news, received in the last week of February, has not been received with gratitude. It was a terrible blow to know that they will be left without a licence. Although the radio continues in the air, Ane Zabala and Jabi Zabala have received us with a smile. They are clear that the project will continue to stand anyway, making contributions to the community, even if the public authorities turn their backs on them. For one simple reason: Because the Basque people in Bilbao deserve it.

This account dates back to 2012. The PSOE Government convened a public competition for the distribution of radio licences in the CAV. According to the decree that the Spanish State regulated the broadcasting of radios six years earlier, 34 frequencies were distributed. Of the modulated frequencies that would be distributed in Bilbao, Bilbao Hiria was presented to four, two of which, according to the contest's bases, would be destined to projects entirely in Basque. The score was based on allegations of injustice and irregularities, and the PSOE Government, at the end of the legislature, put it back to an end. By then, however, he had already made the 34 interim awards. Of these, 17 filed an appeal, denouncing that the competition had remained in nothing – some cases came to the Supreme Court. After a lengthy judicial process, the appellants gave the right to all the appellants and obtained the license with all guarantees. Now, in the decree that was made public last week of February, the award has been given to those who were provisionally awarded and did not submit an appeal. Therefore, the PNV Government has ratified what was rejected by the Patxi López Executive.

It is the only competition for the distribution of radio licences that has taken place in the last 26 years, and Ane and Jabi Zabala regret that they have been involved in controversial proceedings. From the moment the facts were known, the discrepancies that existed were explained. Both agree that the demands were unfair, that it was not tailored to the needs of small and community radios. Leaving the Basque country behind, the commercial aspect of the project was assessed according to Jabi Zabala: “In no case was the social and cultural aspect taken into account; the project should be the size of what they wanted.” By then, the use of waves was no longer taken into account, i.e. the project that had been emitting for years or was nothing more than an idea. However, the Villa de Bilbao, driven by the desire and the need to obtain the license, participated in the competition, presenting a project developed technically and commercially.

Faced with these irregularities, the incumbent Government decided to suspend the issue of radio licences. The radio workers thought that with the change of government a new competition could be made, hopefully, on just and legitimate grounds. So says Ane Zabala: “Given that the competition was suspended, we thought that this meant that a form of licensing sharing with other parameters and characteristics would be put in place.”

Where is the focus of the Basque Government?

It is not possible to predict when it can become a public competition for radio licences, as it has been 26 years between the last two. In the opinion of Jabi Zabala, this puts on the table the continuation of the radio Bilbao Hiria: “The signal we have now is not as good as we would like and without a license we cannot improve. To improve power and make innovations, it is advisable to have a license to avoid problems. Being within the law everything is an advantage.” The Bilbao Hiria radio has its feet in the Zenbat Gara association, which gives it a breath of survival for now. Nor is it possible to rely on subsidies, as one of the requirements for submitting to them is to be in possession of the licence. In particular, in order to have access to subsidies from the Basque Government, it is necessary to have a licence which can only be granted by the Basque Government.

However, the problem is even more general. How often can Euskera be heard, in addition to the media financed by public institutions? The basis of the radio licence contest established that the licence would be awarded to at least two projects entirely in Euskera, but only the licence has been granted to Naiz radio. Jabi and Ane Zabala ask who or what the second licence was intended for.

“To the extent that the public authorities authorize the other major means, we want ours also to be allowed,” says Jabi Zabala. The problem, according to Ane Zabala, is that the public authorities value the contributions of local media: “We contribute to the cultural and social community and approach the vasco-speaking community of Bilbao. We have multiple agreements with different agents, we have also published a book… Our contribution is to the Basque, and the community has to feel that it is injustice not to support the public authorities”.

Jabi Zabala says it should be accessible to all audiences: “Since Diala is a public space, it is unfair that it is not available to all citizens.” They consider that an opening should promote the diversity of the projects from the point of view of their content and that it is not, unless the projects have to comply with the provisions of the Basque Government in order to attend the competition.