In December we learned of a tool for sociology in the Basque Country and, in general, for research in the field of social sciences: The National Metro. This survey, which will be published twice a year, covers the entire Basque Country and is the result of the collaboration between the Telescopic Laboratory Monzon eLab and the research group of the UPV/EHU Part Hartuz, as well as the Aztiker center. Like anyone who wants to analyse the Basque Country, the first problem is the lack of data at national level. Consequently, studies often have to be confined to smaller administrative areas and in many other cases are carried out in the Spanish and French frameworks. Therefore, keeping the data at the level of the Basque Country is good news.

In addition to collecting data from the entire territory at the same time, the main contribution of the Metro is the way to approach the issue. There are sociological studies on the political future of the Basque Country, limited mainly to Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. But I believe that the Nation makes an important contribution to the studies of sovereignty. Moreover, I would say that the Metro puts us on the material table to question the negative views on independence in Euskal Herria in recent years. Of course, the lines of opinion prevailing in society are not disseminated naturally, and not all sectors of society have the same powers to make their opinions hegemonic and dominant. In this sense, more than in cold data, in recent years there have been pessimistic and even catastrophistic visions of Euskal Herria's commitment to independence. Surely, in this atmosphere of pessimism, the activity of the media and of concrete political currents, the hangover effect generated by the political changes of the last decade in Euskal Herria must be added: I am referring to the process – and they are experiencing it – that, after years of crude conflict, have experienced the different lines of independence to adapt to the new situation.

Regarding the concrete data of the first National Metro survey, it is worth noting the difference between the position on the “independence” of Euskal Herria and the position to be adopted in the referendum on a Basque or Navarro state. This is one of the novelties of this survey and we have a theme to be attentive to the future. In fact, the majority (46%) were against the independence of Euskal Herria (expressed as an action and not as a political objective), but, on the contrary, in an agreed referendum we saw that the yes would win (43% in favour and 32% against). It seems to me that, at least in Hego Euskal Herria, the action of independence is linked to the Catalan process, and to the defeat it has suffered at the moment.

Another of the most striking issues that we find through the exploration of the Basque Country are the data of Navarra. In that country, while in an agreed referendum 26% (as opposed to 54% that would vote against) would vote in favour of the Basque State, compared to a Navarro State, the yes would be 35%. Detractors would still be more numerous (43%), but with a very significant reduction in differences. It should be pointed out that not everyone who is in favour of a Basque state, for example, is in favour of a Navarro state. In any case, it is a subject to follow in the following reports, since in the conflict in the Basque Country, unlike many other European cases, territoriality is a central knot.