The City of Amurrio has withdrawn the grant of EUR 6,000 to Aiaraldea Komunikabideak. The agreement for the promotion of the Basque language between the City Council and the media, signed and in force since 2012, has been denounced "unilaterally" and "without communication" by Aiaraldea Komunikabideak. The disappearance of the subsidy "compromises even more" the habitability of the only media in Basque Ayala.

Warning that this is a "very serious" and "unacceptable" fact, they call for an end to the situation. For the time being the City Council has not responded to the request for a meeting, and since 15 April the appointment has been in Aiaraldea Komunikabideak. The Council of Euskalgintza has also expressed its concern: "The ecosystem of local media in Basque contributes fundamentally to the process of normalization of the Basque Country, to the promotion of the use and to the guarantee of the rights of citizens who want to live in Basque".

In highlighting the gravity of the situation, Aiaraldea Komunikabideak focuses his attention on the theme: "This attempt to stifle the only media in Basque in the region is the last milestone of the decisions taken by the City of Amurrio in recent years against the recovery of the Basque Country". The examples are not limited: the refusal to meet with the Council of Euskalgintza in May 2023 and to sign commitments; the decision to abolish in July the position of Basque technician from the list of municipal workers – then, if it regressed with social pressure – the refusal to have the Basque parties of Gora Aiaralde enter the dynamic in April, etc. In this sense, the media asks the City of Amurrio to suspend all the aggressions against the Basque Country and support through public resources of the dynamics and projects of revitalization of the Basque Country created and developed through citizen action.

"Viability is more compromised"

The Aiaraldea Komunikabideak, which began its fourteen years ago, can make progress thanks to the protection of citizens, receiving the support of all municipalities and political parties in the region. For years, however, they have had to respond to economic losses with their own contributions – with quotas of disinterested partners, with benefits from services, with voluntary contributions…. In particular, the Aiaraldea Cooperative Society has had to contribute EUR 486,329,97 in the last five years for the project to progress. In this context, the decision of the City of Amurrio would cause enormous damage to the media: "In the context of this difficult economic situation, the City of Amurrio has decided to break with the scarce contribution it made to the project, further compromising the viability of the project".

Aiaraldea calls for solidarity with the agents of Amurrio: "We call on associations, companies, hotels, traders and individuals not to recognize new setbacks in the process of Euskaldunization of the municipality" and "we build a health barrier that avoids attacks and barriers against the Basque people".