The official document was approved by the Navarro Council of the Basque Country in September last year. How did the campaign go?

In fact, the campaign was launched by the Euskaltegi IKA and the declaration was approved by the Navarro Council of the Basque Country. This is an institutional body whose composition is a picture of Navarra. It is therefore important to note that the document that was produced on the informal sector was adopted without a vote against. In the letter, the Government of Navarre is requested to amend the current Basque Law so that the Basque Country is official throughout Navarre and the rights of the Euskaldunes, such as those of the Castellanoparlantes, are respected for the benefit of all citizens.

Subsequently, in September, we started the official campaign and in December the Basque Council joined the document. A total of 220 associations from Navarra have already joined the document. We have led to some 300 associations and they have also been negative, but we have managed to put the issue on the table. The demonstration on Saturday in Euskal Herria has been convened by Euskaraz and IKA sponsors, among other things.

Why now this campaign?

It's a dynamic for us rather than a campaign. We will continue to collect accessions, during the election campaign the secretariat of the council will meet with the political parties to know their views on this. Because the matter of officialdom must be put on the table. In the last eight years, the limit of the Basque Law has become apparent when making decisions. For example, in the foral decree that regulates the use of Euskera in the administration.

On the other hand, we have the right to receive in our country all services in our language. With the passage of the law in 1986, the legislator intended, as the socio-linguistic situation changed, to adapt the law to this reality. Officialdom is essential to overcome the exclusion suffered by the Basques. Moreover, this would facilitate the learning of Euskera.

It is a subject that comes out on several occasions: if the Basque was official throughout Navarre, should the administration act the same in Elizondo or in Tudela?

The Administration should ensure that its services are provided in Basque throughout the territory. But we know that this is a process that is gradually taking place. With the officialdom, we would have the opportunity to do that. In the Basque Country we have a mirror of this situation. In 1982, the sociolinguistic situation of the Basque Country in the Rioja Alavesa was much worse than the current one in the Ribera, and that path was made.

What is your hope? So far there has been no parliamentary majority to push it forward. And it's also not short-term.

Well, some changes are taking place, and, for example, the Navarre With You coalition has defended the officiality. There is talk of the need for a parliamentary majority to carry out the official work, but on the basis of the consultations we have carried out, the Basque Law, the government itself can resort by decree to the official Basque in the whole area of Navarra. That would have no legal guarantee of law, but, well, it is a road. Until 2015-2019 there was no parliamentary need for UPN or PSN to be a majority, but the Basque language was not formalized throughout Navarre.

It is observed that some sectors of Basque cultural activity in Navarre are tired of the subject. The waste of force on a wall does not deserve it until at least there is another correlation of forces. How do you see it?

It seems to me a curious argument, if we had used it in other struggles, how we were now. Is it painful? Of course, but it has been really disappointing to see the policy of the Government of Navarre in relation to the Basque country in the last eight years, or where the Basque country is in the priorities of the political parties.

Furthermore, there are discouraging speeches, also in the area of Basque culture. For example, this discourse of consensus ... Do we have to agree with those who would be happy if the Basque country were to disappear? I believe that kindness towards the dominant has never led to a change of attitude, and we have often seen that some parties have not moved a millimetre of their positions. The example of PSN is illustrative. When you want to get something, the wall is always there, and what it's all about is trying to crack that wall and strive for it as much as in other respects.

From opposing positions, such as UPN and PSN, argue that the informal sector is afraid of non-Basque citizens, especially as regards access to work.

They relate it to the possible right to official status. They say that if the profile of Euskera is assigned to any post in the administration, the equality of citizens is violated. These fears have also been irresponsibly channelled. It comes to me in the lead when it says, “immigrants have come here to take away our jobs.” It's similar. Of course, it's a lie. The Administration is awaiting adequate service, determines the characteristics of the jobs, among which the language is another. In response to a Catalan appeal, the Constitutional Court also made this clear: among the requirements for access to a public post, language cannot be considered as a special feature, it is one more, and that is why no one is excluded.

They also cite as the opposite argument that of the socio-linguistic situation, that is, that in some places there is no demand for Basque, but obviously the socio-linguistic situations change, otherwise we would not be in the situation in which we find ourselves. And at least in the left-wing aspects, one of the goals is to change reality.

Finally, there is a discourse that imposes the Basque, offensive, shameful and irresponsible. It is very clear what language is required and how, for example, there is a desire to make the IAP a model of the English Learning Programme.

What about post-election?

The pot is tested on fire. We will see how important the official parties attach to the issue in supporting any government.