SSOMETIMES GOOD things come in strange packages. On April 21, the Spanish Basque Country voted for regional elections. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the conservative separatist movement that has ruled the region since 2012, won the smallest of victories, matching its rival in number of seats and winning a symbolic victory in number of votes cast. But this rival was eh Bildu, who achieved his best result ever. The left-wing separatist party is the descendant of the political wing of ETAa terrorist group that killed hundreds of people over four decades in Spain.
ETA officially ended its “armed struggle” in 2011. Bildu never apologized ETAof terrorism, stating only in 2021 that he felt the pain of his victims and that his violence “should never have happened.” It is now the second largest political force in the region and many Spaniards are horrified.
