What do we always have? Every so often, Treviño makes the jump to the media…

It's not a lie. You say that every now and then you hear Treviño's noise. However, that does not mean that when Treviño does not appear in the media, we are still talking about nothing. No. We are always working to solve this problem. Sometimes with greater intensity, others with less intensity, but always there, at work. There's the problem, the problem, and explaining in the media, not explaining, it's always there.
It is therefore a problem.

And terrible. For Treviño and for whom we are from Treviño. This administrative framework creates difficulties and difficult situations of all kinds. Either in the field of health, education and the provision of services in general. We are as we are, in the hardest precariousness. Castilla-León does not give us the service we need and we are obliged to go to Álava and the Basque Country in search of help to meet our needs. To understand what the dependence of Castilla-León means, it is useful to see what is happening to us in teaching. In Treviño County, 65% of school-age students have to go to Vitoria-Gasteiz (from the age of three! ), if you want to study in Basque. In the educational centers here there is no Basque offer, and on the contrary, Treviño is linked to the Basque country, like all Álava. Therefore, if they are still studying here, they do not correspond to the linguistic reality of the country. The problem is distorted as from the years, when they reach sixteen or eighteen years, as these young people live in Vitoria.

Will the departure of students to study not increase the exodus in the future?

The risk is real: there is a risk that the public school will disappear from here. The demand of the people of Treviño is in the Basque model, which is the one that governs in Álava. If they are not offered, fewer and fewer children remain in school and artificially maintain school, as there are not enough students to maintain public school. As a demand and a different supply, young people leave. And education is just one example.

They have drafted a proposal for an Organic Law which, except for surprises, will be adopted by the Basque Parliament. Why?

It has been an alternative. The regulation of provincial limits is laid down in the Statutes of the CAPV and of the Castilla-León Community. In fact, only in the case of these two communities is the regulation of the limits in the statutes of the two communities. We therefore look at the path of status, and that is where we start. Whenever we wanted to open a gap, Castilla-León has set a blockade. Every time we have worked on the report, they have only answered “Report No”. Therefore, it has been decided to modify the borders, which it is up to the state institutions to do by means of an Organic Law. And that's how we've broken.

They have done so through the Basque Parliament…

Yes, because city councils do not have the capacity to attend the Spanish Congress. That is why we have turned to the political parties in Álava and Euskal Herria to make the way for our intention in the Basque Parliament. The initiative is legal and legitimate, and that is why we have come here. We have also drafted the text, we have made it available to the parties and we have asked them to take it to Madrid to resolve the situation definitively. And they have done so, and they are on their way to adopting it.

Do the institutions of Castilla-León have nothing to say?

The word is held by Madrid, the congress of its Members. If Castilla-León had responded positively to our request, however, it should have been approved in Madrid, that is, it should have been dealt with by the Congress of Madrid, which is the one with the last word. Without him there is nothing. The report was set up in Treviño, where we have produced it with the help of a group of lawyers who are experts in the field. As City Hall we do not have the capacity to deal with the proposal for a law in Madrid, the Basque Parliament will make us the bridge. After all, Madrid will decide, despite what the statutes of both communities say, because Madrid already has the power to change the provincial borders.

Even for what has been approved here, with an absolute majority of the People's Party in Madrid, do you think that you will also accept your proposal in Spain?

Of course, there's the state's PP. But here they were also in the "no" at first, and then they've had doubts. We would like us to accept it unanimously, needless to say… In Burgos, too, before they were against our thesis, everyone, and now other voices are beginning to be heard. Therefore, there is also a loophole there… We know that, despite the approval of the proposal in Vitoria, the PP of Castilla y León has the strength to influence… Anyway, the giant’s step is for Treviño to arrive at the Congress of Spain, either in favor or against, regardless of the processing. Because Castilla-León, Burgos, has not put forward any argument to perpetuate the current situation, which only say it loves the laws, nor will they have arguments in the Spanish Congress to maintain the situation of Treviño. So, let's say yes or no, we have a great victory.

They say they have no arguments...

No. You will tell me how they should justify this anachronism. So much money is being wasted and, on the other hand, the “rationality of administrations” is being claimed. Contradiction, obvious. It will be nice to see how they are united!... We are indeed trying to rationalise the issue, because it is not just about Treviño County. The people around Treviño are also suffering. The situation in Treviño also forces these peoples to live by looking at Vitoria-Gasteiz, without the possibility of harmonizing anything in Treviño himself. If you want to use some services, the people of Treviño have to go to Vitoria-Gasteiz and those of the surrounding villages. It often has to be registered there… PP will also have to explain what “rationalizing” is. I mean, if you're just going to rationalize what you want.

Why is that still the case?

Here there is no oil, there are no diamond mines… What is the interest? From Castilla-León we are told that they spend on average more than they spend in their autonomous community in Treviño. And it may be true, but keeping public school at 25 percent is expensive, it's a lot of money. Why do they maintain this situation? They behave as if it were a property case, they have tension, a struggle between autonomous communities or something, instead of responding to the services that Treviño demands and needs.

Do you think that, in general, Treviño has the support of the institutions and social agents of the Basque Country?

Yes and no. The proposal made by Treviño has been taken over by several parties, including the PNV and the PSE. In other words, they have not only dealt with it, but have taken it on board. Others, have considered us legal and legitimate, have seen us without legal capacity and have admitted us to the process… In general, the institutions and agents of Euskal Herria have not always assumed the problem of Treviño. Not always. And in that we are not going to distinguish political parties or institutions. Poor! We have to help!” And the question is not that. The case of Treviño has all the arguments he desires. Treviño has terrible impact and distortion, but not only for Treviño, but for the whole environment: from infrastructure to strategic development plans… the arguments are all you want, this is a patch, a patch put in the center, that prevents the whole plan from being carried out normally… But until now, Treviño is Araba!, We are much more with you!

“Treviño is Álava!”…

It is a very nice and attractive slogan, if you like, but when it comes to doing this, it has not been done properly. Otherwise, so many years with this problem on the table, they would have solved it, right? It is a political issue, says Castilla-León, “Treviño is ours, ours!”. It has been a long time since it had to be sorted out, but there has been no commitment to doing the work willingly. Let's see if we move forward this time. It is very important for us to reach the Basque Parliament and from there to the Madrid Congress.