In the summer of 1977, thousands of people from the Freedom March entered the camps of Arazuri, in Pamplona, in columns and filled with ikurriñas, shouting that Navarre is the Basque Country. Twenty years later I had the opportunity to interview Juan Cruz Alli, and in remembering that passage he said to me severely: “You put your paw inside; it will take you 30 years to turn that around.” He was slightly wrong. The arrival of Uxue Barkos to the Presidency of the Government of Navarre was 27 years old and a great Chiripa.

I sincerely believe that 2015 was by chance. Navarre was not lehendakari abertzale because nationalism got the majority, but because of various movements that at that time coexisted in Spain: The rise of Podemos, the weakness of PP, the defeat of Citizens... It was enough for some of these factors to move so that the “government of change” would remain unchanged.

From the distance, it seems that the Basque leaders have done a lot of good things over the past four years. But that good work has not received enough prizes in the elections and yet Navarre is still far from the nationalist majority in the elections. This is something that we should be very clear about in the Basque Country, we cannot play as if it were done. The idea of Euskal Herria arouses the illusion of some, but also the opposition of many and the fear of many others. The category of “change” has not worked, as the votes that have been moved have not fallen into the quadripartite; and the spectrum of “regime” has not feared anyone either, as many of the votes that have been lost have been received by the SNP, which is believed to be part of the regime.

One part, and not a small part, of the mistakes made is outside Navarre. As in 1977, from other Basque territories we have often moved in Navarre to say what the Navarros had to do, to criticize the steps that were not enough for us, to replace the social majorities that still do not exist... We got back in the foot faster than it was then, but we put it in.

Navarre is Navarre, and it will be what the Navarros want. It is not to say, as I have also done, that all the Basques are Navarros; for this not. Among the inhabitants of the Upper Navarre there is a sovereign project, supported by the majority of them. This step is a precondition for Navarre to be integrated into any shared project. And, while I am writing this, the possibility of continuing along this path, with the constitution of the new Navarre government, is open.