Basque Autonomy: Estella Statute to Guernica Statute (1931-1979)
Basque Autonomy: From Estella to Guernica (1931-1979)
The 1931 Estella Statute: A First Step Towards Autonomy
This primary, direct, and contemporaneous juridical fragment of a statute outlines the public character of Basque society. It highlights a collective and social commission directed by the courts, with Indalecio Prieto and Jose Antonio Aguirre as secretaries. This commission, aimed at Basque society, sought to establish autonomy. The text begins with a brief preamble in which the courts indicate that they have ordered some laws.
- Article 1: Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya will become an autonomous region within the Spanish state, referred to as the Basque Country. Basque and Castilian will be official languages.
- Article 5: Allows the government to have its own Basque police force solely to maintain public order, on the condition that its jurisdiction is limited to the autonomous territory.
- Article 10: The regional legislative body will be elected by universal suffrage.
The last paragraph reports that the Basque Country will have a provisional government. The Prime Minister will be elected by the Basque municipalities through a free vote. The President of the Provisional Government will appoint its five seats.
With the advent of the Republic, Basque nationalists saw an opportunity to reclaim the right to autonomy. Autonomy was dependent on the power of the state but with freedom of action in some areas. After the First World War, the Basque Country and Catalonia increased their demands for autonomy.
On April 14, 1931, the Basque autonomy movement was launched. On June 14, 1931, at the meeting of Estella, a draft statute (the Estella Statute) was passed. Jose Antonio Aguirre led the movement of municipal autonomy supporters who approved this project. The Nationalists and Carlists saw the statute as necessary to save the Basque Country from the anticlerical laws of the Republic.
The most controversial article of the Estella Statute was the possibility of negotiating covenants (agreements with the Vatican) with the Holy See. The Estella Statute was adopted by 427 mayors with support from nationalists, Carlists, and Catholic independents.
The Revised Statute and the Path to Approval
On December 8, 1931, a new draft statute was commissioned with a more straightforward and republican spirit. The Republican and Socialist Left, along with the Nationalists, accepted the new project. The Carlists and other Catalan forces rejected it for being Catholic and anti-foral. Navarre rejected the project.
On February 6, 1933, the Basque town councils accepted the new project, and Navarre was excluded from the statute. On November 5, a referendum was launched for the approval of the Statute, and it was approved in Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa, but not in Álava.
In the 1936 elections, the Popular Front reactivated the Statute, and despite the Civil War, it was adopted on October 1, 1936. It was in effect for nine months and was only effective in Vizcaya until 1937 when it was conquered by the Navarrese forces.
The statute only applied in Vizcaya and a small part of Guipúzcoa, as the rest of the Basque territory had been conquered by Franco’s troops. It only lasted for nine months and was eliminated by Franco, along with the economic agreement. This agreement would only be accepted in Álava.
The Transition and the 1979 Guernica Statute
The transition in the Basque Country culminated with the adoption of the Statute of Guernica on October 25, 1979. After the general election of 1977, an Assembly of Basque Parliamentarians was formed. Later, in 1978, the General Basque Council was established, composed of three representatives from each region, headed by the socialist Ramón Rubial.
The nationalists rejected the 1978 Constitution, leading to an abstention rate of 56% in Gipuzkoa, 55% in Bizkaia, and 40% in Álava. The draft Statute of Guernica was sent to Madrid.
The Statute of Guernica (1979)
A statute of autonomy is a basic special law that organizes the political power in a given territory and must be approved by the state in which it occurs. It establishes a parliamentary government where the Lehendakari (President) must receive the confidence of the legislature, which is elected by universal suffrage and incorporates 75 non-sexist deputies.
It recognizes Basque nationality, retrieving historical foral rights, general meetings, and deputations from each territory, including Guipúzcoa, Álava, and Vizcaya. The first responsibilities transferred were those of Education, Culture, Economics, Administration, and Police (Ertzaintza).