Bilbo Hiria irratia emerged in 1997 in Bilbao with the help of the Zenbat Gara association, in 96.0 FM, with the objective of contributing in Basque to a dial eminently in Spanish. Bilbao Hiria is the only Basque radio from Bilbao and Bilbao focused on social and cultural issues and, in addition to reflecting in Basque the social life of the neighborhoods of our city, it deals with themes such as music, literature, cinema, bertsolarism, teaching, the children's world, technology, economics, sexology, history, ecology and scientific dissemination through its many performances and the contribution of many collaborators.

Bilbao Hiria is a non-profit radio that represents an important economic effort in the collaborative ecosystem Zenbat Gara. For our business, having a license would be an aid for a number of reasons. For example, we could improve our FM radio signal by issuing it with more strength and quality, and we could receive subsidies in the form of radio, as the Basque Government itself requires the licence to be able to present it. Year after year, being unlicensed harms us, and we will soon turn 22.

In February 2012, the Government of Patxi López convened a contest for the granting of 34 licenses in the CAV, after 26 years without granting FM license by the Basque Government. We denounced then that this competition was not tailored to the needs of small radios and Euskaldunes, but was aimed at private and commercial radios. Many others denounced that competition was uneven, that it did not take into account the non-commercial radios of popular initiative in their valuation criteria, and that it had been done mainly to distribute licenses in Spanish, which excluded Euskera. On the other hand, this call took into account the empty projects to assess whether they deserved a license, did not take into account at all the radios that were already underway or the routes shown.

However, we presented ourselves to this cheat competition, making a great financial and personal effort, presenting a decent economic, technical and professional project… And they did not give us a license, they chose to award it to empty projects that we never know will materialize.

Among the allegations of injustices and irregularities, the same López government decided in December 2012 to suspend the provisional awards imposed by it.

It was then that we thought that the new Government of Urkullu was going to rectify in a short time irregularities in the appraisals of the frustrated competition or replace it with another order, which, unlike him, contemplated the non-profit community radio stations, which would take account of his trajectory and his social contribution… But it has already been five years and, instead, the Basque Government has given a good decision on all the licenses that were finally resolved.

Thus, in the short term, the follow up of the radio Villa de Bilbao is wobbling, without license, and with the increasing difficulties of spreading a sign of confidence in the 96.0 of FM, oppressed among the powerful licensed erratic radios.

The Basques of Bilbao know that Bilbo Hiria Irratia deserves and needs the license. We therefore have to ask a direct question to the Basque Government: When will you finally give him what Bilbao Hiria has to do?

Open the way to law! License now!

This letter was signed by the following members and collaborators of Bilbo Hiria. If you would like to add your membership, write a comment right here or send a message to lizentziaorain@bilbohiria.eus indicating your name and last names and your profession:

Ane Zabala, Txuma Murugarren, ula Iruretagoiena, Eleder Aurtenetxe, Ana I Morales, Erlantz Ibargurengoitia, Amaia Urrejola, Hektor Ortega, Rafa Rueda, Galder Perez, Pedro Elias Igartua, Davide Ortega

This article has been published in Bilbo Hiria Irratia and we have brought it to ARGIA thanks to the CC-By-SA license.