SPAIN: The Basque leader, Mr Juan José Ibarretxe, yesterday called elections in the Basque country for April 17th following an emergency session of his cabinet after an overwhelming defeat in the Spanish Cortes (parliament) in the early hours of the morning.
For the first time since democracy was restored in 1978 a president of an autonomous region addressed the congress when Mr Ibarretxe laid down the terms of his controversial plan which aims to make the Basque country an "associated free state" separate from Spain.
The Lehendakari (president) is demanding the right to self-determination, the right to hold Basque nationality, to have their own judiciary and to negotiate separate treaties with other countries. He stops short of full independence since this would force them out of the European Union.
In the nine-hour debate members of congress argued their views. In the final vote 313 votes came from the governing Socialists, the opposition Popular Party (PP) and United Left as well as other smaller groups. The Basque Nationalist Party with support from Catalan and Galician nationalists gave them only 29 votes.
In his speech to parliament the Prime Minister, Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, offered a hand to the Basques to reach a solution to the problem, and yesterday his deputy in the party, Mr José Blanco, said the Basque people must find an answer within the bounds of the constitution.
At the same time Mr Inaki Anasagasti, the Basque senator, accused Mr Zapatero of "looking more at his electorate in the Basque country than in finding a solution to the problem".
Despite his resounding defeat Mr Ibarretxe is still determined to go ahead with his plan and says he will call a referendum to consult the Basque people - in spite of the fact that it is unconstitutional to hold a referendum without the Cortes's approval.
Mr Juan Maria Atutxa, the president of the Basque parliament, said yesterday that an important announcement would be made "in the next few hours or days." He warned: "The debate is not the end of anything. Things have only just begun."