The Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left ( eu, Euskadiko Alderdi Sozialista – Euskadiko Ezkerra, es, Partido Socialista de Euskadi – Euskadiko Ezkerra, PSE-EE) is a

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

that acts as the regional affiliate of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(PSOE).

History

Although local Socialist groups had been active since 1886, and many affiliated with the PSOE (being

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. B ...

one of the strongholds of Spanish social democracy, along with

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and Asturias), the PSE was actually established as a branch of the main party only in 1977, during 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, Cana ...

, initiated by King Juan Carlos I of Spain. During the violent years of the 1980s in the

, mid- and high-ranking party officials held government positions in Spain and the region, as civil governors. The Basque nationalist left— Herri Batasuna and related groups—denounced during that period the collusion of the party with police abuses—especially pointing to the Guardia Civil—and in early 1984 blamed directly the Socialists for the state terrorism of the GAL death squads (1984-1987). In early 1990s some of them were convicted for their participation in it. Ricardo Damborenea, head of the party in Biscay, even confessed in a press release to his involvement in the criminal pursuit in the early 1990s. All of them have been released from prison much earlier than their due term without apologising for their illegal actions; Damborenea currently gets a substantial monthly allowance from the Spanish state. It has local associations in

Gipuzkoa 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

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

. Before June 1982, it also included a

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, ...

branch - which formed the Socialist Party of Navarre, PSN (PSOE). Initially in a close alliance with the Basque Country Left (EE), a party connected with Basque nationalism, begun in 1991 with a move promoted by the respective secretaries -

Ramón Jáuregui Ramón Jáuregui Atondo (born 1948) is a Spanish politician. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served as Minister of the Presidency (2010–2011) during the Second Zapatero Government. He also was member of the European ...

for the PSE and

Mario Onaindia is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

for the EE. It aimed to become the major Basque force in the 1993 election. The fusion of the two groups was made possible by the split of

Basque Left Euskal Ezkerra (EuE) (in English: Basque Left) was a political party in Euskadi, Spain. EuE was formed as break-away from Euskadiko Ezkerra in 1993 when EuE merged with Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. History Soon after themselves merged with E ...

from EE: prepared by the leadership of

Nicolás Redondo Terreros Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

(1998–2002), it was confirmed with the mandate of Patxi López in 2002. During the 2012 elections to the parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community, the PSE-EE came up third in number of MPs (16), lagging behind 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 ...

and EH Bildu. Throughout its recent history, it fluctuated between second and third, depending on the success of the People's Party or the ''Abertzale'' Left).

Electoral performance

Basque Parliament

Cortes Generales

European Parliament

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Party Of The Basque Country - Basque Country Left 1977 establishments in Spain

Political parties established in 1977 Socialist parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Organisations based in Bilbao