The total amount of money that the Basque Government spent on institutional advertising in 2013 is higher than what we have just mentioned. The total jackpot amounts to EUR 5,702,311,87 and is divided into two parts. On the one hand, it pays the awarded companies the rights to create, produce, voice and image advertising, and on the other, it makes contracts to include advertising in the media and other media. The largest amount of money is found in the second: EUR 4.782.184.70. Of this media stock, the Spanish-language media received 97.04% and the Basque media received 2.96%. The Basque media that have received institutional advertising are as follows: Anboto, Argia, Berria, Gaztezulo, Hamaika TB, Hirinet, Bizkaia Irratia, Entzun! and Basque Country. If only the members of the Basque Media Association (Hekimen Elkartea) are taken into account, the percentage is 2.48%. If you compare what the Basque Government has spent on advertising with the subsidies that the Vice-Ministry of Linguistic Policy has given to non-public media in Basque, the figures are very similar: EUR 4,782,184,70 in advertising and EUR 4,875,000 in subsidies.

EUR 4,678,271,51 in the Spanish media and EUR 103,913,19 in the Basque media. The imbalance is more than evident, with 2.96% in the Basque media. On the one hand, the number of recipients in the Basque media market exceeds 2.96%, and on the other, this distribution of advertising excludes Euskaldunes, the citizen sector that consumes the media in Euskera. We asked Alberto Barandiaran, director of Hekimen about imbalance: “The imbalance is obvious. The Basque media has much more communicative meaning than that 3%. They are present in all the supports and they are the ones that ensure the connection with the community of Basque speakers. From the point of view of political and linguistic criteria, this percentage is by no means appropriate”.

If we analyze the percentages contracted by each department of the Basque Government in the media in Basque, the highest is that of the Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness: 5%. In the media in Basque he has contracted 28,951 euros. If absolute figures are taken into account, the Department of Education, Linguistic Policy and Culture has contracted the most media in Basque: EUR 32,456. It is noteworthy that the department in charge of promoting and supporting the normalization of Euskera devotes only 4.57% of the amount to the media in Euskera. The department that has least considered the media in Euskera is the Department of Security, which has made contracts worth 9,370 euros, 0.98% of the total. There are no big differences between the other departments.

According to Law 6/2010 on Advertising and Institutional Communication of the Basque Country, the Interdepartmental Advertising Commission of the Basque Government has to issue annually two reports: a report of the year ended and a plan for the year that begins. The data provided are those of the 2013 memory. Both documents are sent to Parliament at the first session of each year (1 February to 30 June).

Foreign Deputies

As the 2013 report of the Basque Government can be found on the Internet, we have not found any report from the members on the network. As reported to us by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the political group EH Bildu has asked about this issue in the General Boards, and they will deal with it, but in order to respect the institution and the successors, they will not disseminate the information until the data is given in the General Boards.

The Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa has been processing all the institutional advertising since the Communication Directorate for two years and, although they started last year, they are finalising the preamble of the document that will collect the detailed information of the advertising distribution, so they will soon present the one of 2014. Asked about the criteria for advertising distribution, Xabier Lekuona has explained to us that the 1994 Foral Standard, which he considers obsolete, among other issues, takes no account other than the written press. This standard is based on four axes: equality, proportionality, effectiveness and Euskera. The Diputación prioritizes public and Basque media, as well as local media. Across the media, more than 70 media outlets were publicised in 2014. The foral rule states that 8% of advertising should be included in the Basque media. According to Lekuona, the 2014 report states that more publicity has been introduced in the Basque media than in the Spanish media.