EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu ( en, link=yes, Basque Country Gather or Basque Country Unite) is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

, Basque nationalist, pro-independence political coalition active in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

autonomous communities eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of Basque Country,

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

and

Burgos Province The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. ...

. EHB's predecessor Bildu ("Gather") was launched on 3 April 2011 to participate in the May 2011 local elections It was formed as a reaction to the Supreme Court of Spain's ruling in March 2011 that barred the new left-wing Basque nationalist ''(

Abertzale left Abertzale left ( eu, Ezker abertzalea, es, Izquierda abertzale; ) is a term used to refer to the parties or organizations of the Basque nationalist/separatist left, stretching from democratic socialism to communism. This leftist character is hi ...

)''

Sortu Sortu ( en, Create) is a Basque socialist political party. Founded in February 2011, it is the first political party belonging to the Basque nationalist "abertzale left" that openly rejects any kind of political violence. Before Sortu, sections o ...

party from electoral participation. Bildu was an alliance of the centre-left

Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna (; en, Basque Solidarity; es, Solidaridad Vasca; french: Solidarité basque) is a Basque nationalist and social-democratic political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means ''Basque Solidarity'' an ...

, left-wing Alternatiba and independents of the left-wing nationalist spectrum, many of whom former members or supporters of the outlawed

Batasuna Batasuna (; en, Unity) was a Basque nationalist political party. Based mainly in Spain, it was banned in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. The party is included in the "European Unio ...

party. EHB was launched on 10 June 2012 in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

by five founding components: Eusko Alkartasuna, Aralar, Alternatiba, Sortu, and independents of the ''Abertzale left'' (groups and independent individuals from the Basque leftist-nationalist milieu, many of whom had been members of

), all of whom had been previously members of the

Amaiur Amaiur was a left-wing Basque nationalist and separatist political coalition from the Basque Country and Navarre. The name of the coalition comes from the fortress of Amaiur in Navarre, which was one of the last Basque strongholds during th ...

coalition. On 3 July 2012

Laura Mintegi Laura Mintegi Lakarra (born October 26, 1955) is a Basque author, politician and a professor at the University of the Basque Country. Although she was born in Navarre, she moved to Biscay at an early age and has lived there ever since; first in B ...

was chosen as candidate for ''

Lehendakari The President of the Basque Government ( eu, Eusko Jaurlaritzako lehendakaria, es, presidente del Gobierno Vasco), usually known in the Basque language as the Lehendakari ( eu, lehendakari, es, lendakari), is the head of government of the Basq ...

'' in the 2012 Basque parliamentary election. Mintegi, a professor at the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, ''EHU''; es, Universidad del País Vasco, ''UPV''; UPV/EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initiall ...

, formerly stood as a candidate for

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale, left-wing, socialist, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was r ...

History

Formation of Bildu

Bildu was formed as a response to the March 2011 ruling by the Supreme Court of Spain that banned a new Basque party called

from being registered. Bildu was a coalition of the social-democratic

, Alternatiba (a splinter group of Ezker Batua) and independent individuals from the Basque leftist-nationalist environment, originating from the outlawed Batasuna party. Bildu was banned by the Supreme Court as well, due to their ties to

, the political wing of the terrorist group

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

. The decision to ban Bildu resulted in street protests in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

and other cities. However, on 5 May 2011, exactly the day the election campaign started off, the Constitutional Court of Spain lifted the ban and Bildu was allowed to take part in elections. In the 2020 Basque regional election 3 former ETA members were elected: Arkaitz Rodríguez, Iker Casanova e Ikoitz Arrese.Tres expresos de ETA entre los 22 diputados de Bildu en el Parlamento Vasco
/ref>

2011 regional and local elections

At the 2011 local elections Bildu received 26% of the vote in the Basque region, coming second only to the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). The party won seats in most of the councils of the

Southern Basque Country The Southern Basque Country ( eu, Hegoalde, Hego Euskal Herria; es, Hegoalde, País Vasco y Navarra, País Vasco peninsular) is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole. Name In Basque language, natives h ...

, including San Sebastián (where it came up first),

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

2011 general election

For the 2011 general election Eusko Alkartasuna, Alternatiba and their allies formed a new alliance, under the name

, along with Aralar, previously part of

Nafarroa Bai ''Nafarroa Bai'' ( eu, Navarre Yes) was a Navarrese coalition in Spain of Basque nationalist and regional left-wing parties created in 2004 for the Spanish General election. History The coalition comprised Aralar, the Basque Nationalist Party, ...

, and other ''

abertzale ''Abertzale'' (; English: "patriot", literally "fond of the fatherland") is a Basque term usually referring to people or political groups who are associated with Basque nationalism. Although the term is synonym of "patriot", its common use in Ba ...

'' (i.e., Basque nationalist) groups.

2012 Basque Parliament Elections

In the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

for the

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament ( Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament ...

that took place on 21 October 2012, EH Bildu the second most seats after the more established

EAJ-PNV The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...

. The coalition party won 21 out of 75 seats with 25% of the popular vote. No single party won a majority in this election.

2014 European Parliament election

In the 2014 European Parliament election EH Bildu participated as part of the list

The Peoples Decide The Peoples Decide ( es, Los Pueblos Deciden, gl, Os Pobos Deciden, eu, Herriek Erabaki, an, Os Pueblos Deciden, ast, Los Pueblos Deciden; LPD) was a Spanish electoral list in the European Parliament election in 2014 made up from left-wing pro ...

(LPD), comprising left-wing nationalist and separatist parties from several autonomous regions of Spain. On the first position of that list was EHB member Josu Juaristi who was elected member of the European parliament. He joined the group of the

European United Left–Nordic Green Left European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

(GUE/NGL).

Electoral performance

Regional parliaments

Basque Parliament

Parliament of Navarre

Cortes Generales

Nationwide

Regional breakdown

European Parliament

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{commons category, Euskal Herria Bildu 2012 establishments in Spain Articles containing video clips Basque politics Nationalist parties in Spain Political parties established in 2012 Political parties in Navarre Political parties in Northern Basque Country Political party alliances in Spain Regionalist parties in Spain Socialist parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Organisations based in San Sebastián