Basque

Socialist Review Archive

New government won’t solve Spanish crises

With an authoritarian atmosphere and ongoing political questions Héctor Sierra argues that the change in leadership won’t deal with the problems ahead for capitalism in the Spanish state.
02 July 2018
Human chain is a show of Basque solidarity
International

Human chain is a show of Basque solidarity

Around 175,000 people joined hands in a human chain stretching 125 miles last Sunday across the Basque country in the Spanish state.
12 June 2018
Socialist Review Archive

New mood grips Basque struggle

A mass movement is back on the streets in support of Basque political prisoners’ rights. But arguments for independence have been abandoned by the radical left, writes Héctor Sierra.
02 March 2017
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International

International: In Brief

 Basque Country; South Africa; Central African Republic; Syria
14 January 2014
Basque Country: wounded by conflict
News

Basque Country: wounded by conflict

Few places in Europe combine tradition and modernity as vibrantly as the Basque Country. The region enjoys a distinctive culture based on what may be the oldest language in Europe. It is also the scene of a booming economy, exemplified by the reinvention of the capital Bilbao through the Guggenheim museum.
11 December 2007
The attack on Guernica revealed the horror of aerial warfare
Features

The attack on Guernica revealed the horror of aerial warfare

In April 1937, Pablo Picasso read an article in the French Communist daily, L’Humanité, reporting that "Guernica, the most ancient town of the Basques, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by insurgent air raiders.
24 April 2007
Basque activist detained in Belmarsh prison for four years
News

Basque activist detained in Belmarsh prison for four years

Iñigo Makazaga, who was on hunger strike this week, is one of Britain’s forgotten political prisoners. A Basque activist, he has been locked up in Belmarsh prison for four years because the Spanish government has applied to extradite him. His lawyer, Gareth Peirce, says evidence against him has simply been fabricated — and warns that Iñigo could face torture if he is returned to Spain.
26 March 2005
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Inside the System

Evidence grows of Aznar’s Spanish lie

THERE IS further proof that Spain's former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar lied when he announced the Basque separatist group ETA was behind the bombings in Madrid. Police officers and firefighters involved in the rescue told the Financial Times last week that they knew immediately ETA could not have carried out the bombing.
03 April 2004
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International

The roots of ETA

SPAIN'S TORY government tried to blame ETA for the Madrid explosions as part of its attempt to hang on to power using Spanish nationalism in a completely reactionary manner. Under the Spanish republic established in 1931 Catalonia and the Basque country had their own governments. Franco's fascists destroyed this independence when they overthrew the republic in the civil war of 1936-9.
20 March 2004
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International

Socialists and the struggle for Basque freedom

THE SPANISH government this week won a parliamentary vote to make the Basque nationalist political party Batasuna illegal. Batasuna is the political wing of the ETA armed group. We spoke to INAKI ORTIZ of Socialist Worker's sister paper in Spain, En Lucha.
31 August 2002