Basque secessionists on the Left and Right prevailed in this weekend’s election in the Basque Country of northern Spain, winning two-thirds of the votes. The centre-Right, moderate secessionists of the Basque Nationalist Party came away with the most votes, winning 27 seats of the 75 seats in the regional parliament. The newly formed Left-wing secessionist coalition Basque Country Gather came in second, winning 21 seats. Meanwhile, the two major Spanish parties, the Socialists and the Popular Party, both lost significant ground. The Socialists dropped 9 seats and the Popular Party lost 3 seats.
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Belloc warned against, “Looking backwards with modern eyes” (paraphrase). When we see modern “Nations” like Germany and Italy we are really seeing new creations. Germany and Italy are 19th century democratic/”Nation-al” creations. Spain however is a much older monarchical institution. As such, regional identification was always stronger than a national “Spanish” identity. Monarchy/Empires are almost always more tolerant than “Nations.” They have to be being as they consist of various ethnic groups with divergent interests, while “Nations” consist of a “people.”
Should make one think…what allows a nation like Spain to exist? The answer must be something along the lines of, “The application of and adherence to self evident moral principles which allows divergent peoples to co-exist.” Remove those principles and great people like the Basques will take exception.