The Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country has closed the judicial process of appeal of the City Council of San Sebastián and will not even submit to the procedure. The judges have not examined the content of the appeal and have argued that there is no “objective interest” in making the appeal.

It all started in January 2024

The Administrative Court No. 3 of Donostia-San Sebastián ruled against the Basque language: The Chamber, presided over by José Ignacio Hierro, ruled that it was "discriminatory" to request a certain level of Basque to be a local police officer. The judge referred to the Spanish Constitution, Article 23, to argue that all citizens have equal access to public announcements.

The public call for the stabilization of two local police posts was made by the City Council of San Sebastián, among other conditions, by establishing the accreditation of the B2 level of the Basque language. The appeal was initiated by one who wanted to obtain the position, and the lawyer Francisco Ignacio López Hera was in charge of the defense.

According to the San Sebastian court, the City Council of Donostia-San Sebastián did not use strong arguments to explain why it was mandatory to apply for Basque in this job application, but argued that it was not essential for everyone to know Basque in order to provide citizens with the service of co-official languages. In other words, it was enough for one of two co-working agents to do it. In this sense, he considered it "discriminatory" to verify the knowledge of the Basque language.

In September 2024, the City Council of Donostia-San Sebastián announced the appeal and the decision of the Superior Court of the Basque Country has now arrived.

Council request: all local police officers in Basque

In fact, in September 2024, although not in relation to the case of the City Council of San Sebastián, the Basque Government Council demanded that all the local police know Basque. During this period, the Superior Court of the Basque Country rejected the language requirement, level B2, imposed in 2021 when they formed a joint work bag for the municipal auxiliary police of the Basque Country.

Also appeals to the municipalities of Astigarraga and Usurbil

The Autonomous Community of Basque Municipalities (UEMA) has announced that in recent weeks the municipalities of Astigarraga and Usurbil have received appeals for the implementation of the 3rd language requirement in Basque (level C1) in the selection processes of new local police officers. The Mayor of Astigarraga, Xabier Urdangarin, spoke at a press conference about the appeal and the response of the two municipalities: “According to those who have filed appeals, the language requirement 2 is sufficient. We don’t do that at all. Because it's not like that. In the Basque municipalities, in order to have a Basque relationship with the citizens, to understand what the citizens have said and to speak with them, the second language requirement is not enough, as has been shown by the cases and problems that have been going on in several municipalities for several years.”