They say that at the recent Council of Elects in Baiona on HELEP, not a single word was heard in Basque when many Basques were there. I wasn't there, but unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me at all.

In the light of the numbers, the Public College will be created. To begin with, you will respond to the historical claim, and from there you will be able to make possible some ways to manage the territory; the premises will be able to develop a policy of decision and speak on behalf of Iparralde.

Beyond that, then, nothing. Because HELEP is a blurred project, which must manage multiple competences, some of which are in great need (taxation, spatial planning, economic and social areas) and others of great need. It will take a long time to deal with the point that belongs to the Basque Country, and who knows how.

The future is unpredictable but it would be a lie to think that the Commonwealth is going to give a better place to the Basques, go to it, act as if they were not all the demons around us. It would be unconsciousness to think that peaceful cohabitation between languages occurs suddenly in a state of glotphagic dependency.

As he explained, the presentation session on HELEP did not speak in Basque. So many! Unfortunately, as far as our recent past and our experiences are concerned, there is no shortage of similar examples, even where there has been a willingness to prove that situations have not been proportionate to our hopes. Since Etxegarai, the mayor of Baiona, was elected, together with the votes of the Abertzales, as the defender of the HELEP, what has changed concretely and permanently in Baiona as far as the Basque country is concerned? By the diffusion of Basque culture? I haven't felt the change. In Biarritz? The steps for the revitalization of the Basque Country were taken in a more coherent and organized manner, but has there been a significant change in the situation of the Basque Country? When the meeting of minority languages was organized in Hendaye, in Hegoalde, the members of the Basque Country spoke in French. And what's more, the latter have fallen into the brow. Every day, when I enter the village house or any administrative office, I get terribly hurt by the headaches, not identifying where and to whom I can speak in Euskera, and when I have a bad day I do it in Spanish, I think so.

In other words, in recent years, the mobilisations and campaigns of Basque society, the decisions, the planning and the praise of the institutions have not been lacking and their consequences are not obvious, they often have a stain of hypocrisy and of laundering. In addition, often, the Basques, for wear and tear, for shame, for whom they know, let that happen. In the face of constant denial and contempt, in the face of hardships, our torches are weakened, our fires are heated, self-censorship and self-shame can appear to us.

Whether HELEP or not, the sentinel should always be awake. As in the past, since the structure will not imply linguistic recognition, since the vasquity is not the center of the structure, beyond it, as it can be an obstacle to its becoming an obstacle. Above all, because the future of the Basque Country must never be left over to a French administrative structure, to hopes. The future of language is in the hands of the people and each of the speakers. The defenders of the Basque Country will always have to remain vigilant and critical, working as a sentinel, encouraging, questioning and mobilising society, as well as activating the Basque community. As opposed to never before, personal commitment, influence on the environment and the point of activism are necessary.