The (, en, Public Guard or ''People's Guard''), is the
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
police force
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
for the
Basque Country, largely replacing the Spanish
Policía Nacional (National Police) and
Guardia Civil
The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the au ...
(Civil Guard). An Ertzaintza member is called an ''ertzaina'' ().
History
Origins
The origins of the current Ertzaintza can be traced back to the old municipal
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
s, which were popular organizations at the service of local bodies, created to satisfy the need for public safety. But it was not until the 19th century when the almost permanent police corps of a professional nature were created.
It was a response to the
banditry
Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
caused by the continuous social and political upheaval occurring from the end of the 18th century and well into the 19th. The decisive argument for its configuration was the
First Carlist War
The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Spanish monarchy: the conservative and devolutionist ...
, when the ''Miqueletes'' of
Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. ...
and
Guipuzcoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
and the ''Miñones'' of
Alava commenced their activities.
Once the urgencies of the war were overcome, the
Spanish government
gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua
, image =
, caption = Logo of the Government of Spain
, headerstyle = background-color: #efefef
, label1 = Role
, data1 = Executive power
, label2 = Established
, d ...
attempted to recover the functions carried out by these regional forces and transfer them to the
Civil Guard
Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations:
Current
* Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie
* Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve
* Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil
Historic ...
, which was created in 1844. Nevertheless, due to difficulties encountered when recruiting forces for this corps in the Basque provinces, plus the pressure posed by the other regional Governments, the very same regional forces were able to more or less carry on with their task.
After Carlist Wars
After the end of the
Second Carlist War (1876), the Spanish government wished to curtail the regional autonomy. The Basque police forces had to adapt to this new centralist tendency, and these changes mostly manifested themselves in a reduction of personnel & operational capabilities.
When the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...
was proclaimed in 1931, political activity surged and so did the Basque claim to re-establish regional liberties that had been abolished in 1876. Thus, various projects for the Autonomy Statute were promoted.
On October 1, 1936, during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
, the
Basque Statute of Autonomy
{{Politics of Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko Estatutua; es, Estatuto de Autonomía del País Vasco), widely known as the Statute of Gernika ( eu, Gerni ...
come into force, leading to the establishment of an autonomous government with actual authority over the provinces of Biscay and Guipuzcoa.
One of the priorities of the new government was the re-establishment of public order.
The Basque Interior Minister
Telesforo Monzón
Telesforo de Monzón y Ortiz de Urruela (1 December 1904 in Bergara, Spain – 9 March 1981 in Bayonne, France) was a writer, politician and nationalist Basque leader.
Monzón was an important leader of the Basque Nationalist Party during the ...
set up several institutions, such as the International Police Force, the Maritime Police and the Public Order Body. Their main task was the creation of a police force named ''Ertzaña'' (a Basque neologism for "People care"), with 500
[Ertzaña](_blank)
in the Spanish-language Auñamendi Encyclopedia
The Auñamendi Encyclopedia is the largest encyclopedia of Basque culture and society, with 120,000 articles and more than 67,000 images.
History
Founded in 1958 by the Estornés Lasa brothers, Bernardo and Mariano. He began publishing in 196 ...
infantry and 400
motorised (''Ertzañ Igiletua'') men, totalling joint forces of around 1,200 agents.
Most of the British
Riley Motor
RileyInformation extracted from ''Notice issued in compliance with the Regulations of the Committee of The Stock Exchange, London'' (with regard to the issue of 150,000 Preference Shares of £1 each on 17 January 1934).
:The Company was incorpo ...
cars acquired for the motorised police did not arrive due to the
Non-Intervention Pact.
The majority of the Ertzaña were Basque speakers from the
Basque Nationalist Party
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 ...
Its headquarters were in Bilbao, at the
Ibaigane Palace (currently the headquarters of
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...
).
When the war on the Basque front concluded, the Ertzaña was dissolved, and
Franco's
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from ...
Nationalist regime pretended that this institution had never existed in the first place.
Having allied themselves with the losing
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
side, Biscay and Guipuzcoa were considered "traitor provinces" and most of their autonomy was annulled.
However, since at the outbreak of the civil war Alava and
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, ...
had thrown their lot in with the Nationalists, the ''Miñones'' and ''Miqueletes'' continued on duty, with assignments such as traffic patrols and custody of the regional institutions.
During transition
After the
Spanish transition to democracy
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, Ca ...
, the autonomous Basque Government was restored. Its government once again took up the spirit of the Ertzaña of 1936 to design, in 1980, the new autonomous police force of the Basque Country, the Ertzaintza (a more grammatical form). Previously, a Royal Decree re-established the "Forales" and the "Miqueletes" in Biscay and Guipuzcoa and gave a new configuration to the "Miñones" corps in Alava. These institutions were incorporated into the new Basque Police Force.
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, ...
, during the events surrounding
Spain's 1978 Constitution, ended up with the status of
Autonomous Community
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
, alt_name =
, map =
, category = Autonomous administra ...
and was not lumped in with the Basque autonomous community, and its police force (
Policía Foral
The Chartered Police of Navarre ( es, Policía Foral de Navarra, eu, Nafarroako Foruzaingoa) is the autonomous police force for the chartered autonomous community of Navarre in Spain, largely replacing the Spanish Policía Nacional (National P ...
) remains independent of the Ertzaintza.
Officers
The first officers were members of the
Basque Nationalist Party
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 ...
. Although the law required that Ertzaintza commissioned officers had to be previous members of the Spanish army or the State police forces, this was often ignored.
This new police force, made up of Basque citizens, developed in an organized manner from 1982, and was progressively deployed starting from the countryside towards the cities.
Like many other Spanish Military and Police agencies Ertzaintza issues the
H&K USP
The USP (''Universelle Selbstladepistole'' or "universal self-loading pistol") is a semi-automatic pistol developed in Germany by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) as a replacement for the P7 series of handguns.
History
Design work on a new family of ...
Compact chambered in
9mm.
Rank insignia
Problems with ETA and controversies
Ertzaintza is not accepted by the
Basque nationalist
Basque nationalism ( eu, eusko abertzaletasuna ; es, nacionalismo vasco; french: nationalisme basque) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the po ...
parties
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, ...
and
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 Union ...
, who deride it as ''zipaioak'', or
sepoy
''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its ot ...
s, an indigenous force serving the colonial power.
[page 121](_blank)
''Basque Politics and Nationalism on the Eve of the Millennium'', ''A Hall of Mirrors'', Begoña Aretxaga, edited by William A. Douglass
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, University of Nevada Press, 1999. As Ertzaintza took a more relevant role in the fight against ETA, it has become a target for them. It was soon infiltrated by ETA members, like
Iñaki de Juana Chaos
José Ignacio de Juana Chaos (born 1955 in Gipuzkoa, Spain), better known as Iñaki de Juana Chaos, is a member of the Basque separatist group ETA. He was convicted of killing 25 people in 1987 and was originally sentenced to 3,000 years in prison ...
.
La Ertzaintza contra ETA
', Florencio Domínguez, ''El Correo
''El Correo'' (; ) is a leading daily newspaper in Bilbao and the Basque Country of northern Spain. It is among best-selling general interest newspapers in Spain.
History and profile
The brothers Ybarra y de la Revilla – Fernando, Gabriel and ...
'', 27 June 2009. In the areas where support for ETA is higher, ''ertzainas'' are forced to reside elsewhere and commute to work.
Fourteen ertzainas
[Homenaje a los Ertzainas víctimas del terrorismo](_blank)
14 June 2009. ''Los defensores de la legalidad han sido los que de forma más brutal han sufrido estos ataques terroristas. Todos los cuerpos tienen asesinados entre los suyos: la Ertzaintza, la Guardia Civil y la Policía Nacional. Pero quiero también hoy hacer una referencia especial a los diferentes Policías Municipales de Euskadi; porque una treintena de asesinados vestían sus uniformes; la de la policía más humilde y, seguramente, la más desprotegida también. Pero me van a permitir que hoy tengamos un recuerdo especial con los ertzainas. Voy a citar de forma individual sus nombres para que la inquina del tiempo no convierta en inútil su sacrificio personal. En euskera hay un dicho conocido: "Izena duena da" Todo lo que tiene nombre existe. Yo los nombro uno a uno porque siguen existiendo en la memoria de los vascos y vascas que amamos la libertad: Ana Isabel Arostegi, Javier Mijangos, Mikel Uribe, Iñaki Totorika, José María Aguirre, Ramón Doral, Iñaki Mendiluce, José Luis González, Joseba Goicoechea, Alfonso Menchaca, Luís Hortelano, Juan José Pacheco, Carlos Díaz Arcocha, Genaro García de Andoain. Todos ellos, junto con otras victimas, forman el empedrado de nuestras plazas abiertas y libres que vamos recuperando poco a poco.'' have been killed or injured by ETA, sometimes being specifically targeted.
The Spanish government has had reservations about Ertzaintza. Spanish parties have often accused the Basque Home Office (in most terms held by the Basque Nationalist Party) of being soft on the fight against ETA and its supporting party
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 Union ...
. Two police officers of Ertzaintza said that the former nationalist government "gave them orders not to act against ETA members and its social environment".
Dos ertzainas denuncian que había 'órdenes para no actuar contra ETA y su entorno
', El Mundo (Spain)
''El Mundo'' (; ), before ''El Mundo del Siglo Veintiuno'', is the second largest printed daily newspaper in Spain. The paper is considered one of the country's newspapers of record along with ''El País and ABC.''
History and profile
''El M ...
, 12 June 2009 Because of infiltration, Ertzaintza is not allowed by the Spanish
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
to access the
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...
intelligence network.
On 1 March 2010, Ertzaintza joined the
Center for Police and Customs Cooperation in
Hendaye
Hendaye ( Basque: ''Hendaia'')[HENDAIA]
French police
Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD 570 when night watch systems were commonplace.Dammer, H. R. and Albanese, J. S. (2014). ''Comparative Criminal Justice Systems'' (5th ed.). Wadesworth Cengage learning: Belmont, C ...
.
The
Spanish Civil Guard, the
Spanish National Police Corps and the
Customs Watch Services of the
Spanish Tax Agency are also part of the center.
Lack of communication has occasionally led to shootings among police forces.
Some councillors of the Basque Country said that they have perceived a "decrease of the pro-ETA menace because of the current important role of the Ertzaintza against terrorism".
Etymology
was a Basque
neologism
A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...
from ("people") and ("guard") created by the Nationalist poet Esteban Urkiaga .
The generic Basque word for "police" is .
Following the
standardization of Basque in the 1960s, the name of the restored force became "" from the respelled and (compare with , "shepherd" from + ), with the suffix (compare , the Basque health service).
However to maintain a link to the past, the silent H was not included.
The Basque pop group ("The policemen") chose their name prior to the re-establishment of the corps and applied the modern spelling rules.
References
External links
Official web page
Policía / Ertzaintzain the Spanish-language
Auñamendi Encyclopedia
The Auñamendi Encyclopedia is the largest encyclopedia of Basque culture and society, with 120,000 articles and more than 67,000 images.
History
Founded in 1958 by the Estornés Lasa brothers, Bernardo and Mariano. He began publishing in 196 ...
.
{{Law enforcement agencies of Spain
Basque Government
Regional law enforcement agencies of Spain
1980 establishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community)