On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Public Institution of the Basque Country in 2024, the cultural agents of the Basque Country showed themselves in the manifesto read on 16 December in the Basque Confederation: “The creation of the PSE was an important milestone in the implementation of public language policy, together with the work carried out by the Basque industry for decades. Twenty years later much more has been done and there are many to do.” For example, in recent years, the decline in vasco-speakers has been halted. However, to the extent that we are proportionally more and more minority Basques – in 2006 we were 26.4%, in 2022 we will be 19% and 16% by 2050 – the manifesto shows that the situation is worrying and that challenge has taken place: “As the number of Basque speakers has been maintained, we now have the challenge of developing the proportion of Euskaldunes, which will depend on the place of the language in society and the possibilities of Basque use by the speakers”.

To achieve this, the manifesto calls for “real planning”, a “bold” language policy and a roadmap so that the number of Basques reaches from 19% to 30%. A fourth demand is that Ipar Euskal Herria declare itself a territory of experimentation for linguistic recovery. The manifesto recalls the PSE’s obligation: “The PSE has an obligation to develop, define and implement a shared public language policy. At the level of the Northern Basque Country and within each institution. What is the current language planning of the Basque College? What's the apartment? Regional and state?”

The Basque Confederation says that if there is will and courage, the challenge can be overcome: “We can no longer cheer. The language is also in an emergency situation, but there is no fatality. With agreed objectives, adequate resources and solid collaboration, we will be able to give the Basque future. We need a real fixed house. Taking care of the roots of the Basque Country, opening the garden of the Basque Country to the outbreaks and to the new plants we will save the language.”

The weight of linguistic policies on Basque

The Basque Confederation calls on the institutions to intervene: “They cannot impose as before 2004 the full weight of language policy on Basque society.” They criticize the priorities of public institutions in relation to the resources of one hundred thousand more inhabitants foreseen for the Northern Basque Country by 2050. “The development of reception infrastructures for new people, housing, electricity, water and waste will take place through dozens of plans and millions of euros. However, no planning is planned to help the monolingual French and the newcomers who live here today.”

They call for priority and resources to be given to Basque: “Education in Basque, both in children and adults, does not develop or hinder with sufficient speed. Leisure, childhood, the media, the associations working around the Basque country in general do not have the necessary resources”.

In the next issue of ARGIA, Jenofa Berhokoirigoin has worked in depth on the linguistic policies of the Northern Basque Country and that Basque cultural activity requires.