The Basque Parliament (

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the

Basque Autonomous Community Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous com ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament meets in the Basque capital,

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

, although the first session of the modern assembly, as constituted by the

Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 (; ), widely known as the Statute of Gernika (; {{langx, es, Estatuto de Guernica), is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' ( ...

, was held in Guernica – the symbolic centre of Basque freedoms – on 31 March 1980.Parlamento Vasco - Servicios > Conócenos > La sede
Later in 1980 it started meeting at the premises of the Council of

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

. In 1982, it got its own site in a former high school. The symbol of the Parliament is an

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

en sculpture by Nestor Basterretxea representing a stylized tree, an allusion to the tradition of Basque political assemblies meeting under a tree, as in Guernica. It is composed of seventy-five deputies representing citizens from the three provinces of the Basque autonomous community. Each province (

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) 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 department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

and

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

) elects the same number of deputies, despite their having very different levels of population. This was chosen to earn support from Álava and

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, less populated territories. Still, Navarre did not join the autonomous community. The elections are held using

closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

with seats allocated on a Provincial basis using the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...

of allocation. To qualify for seats in a particular province, electoral lists must receive at least 3% of the votes cast in that province, including votes "en blanco" for "none of the above." From 1984 to 2001, the

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

was 5% in each province. Sessions of the Basque Parliament are conducted in both Basque and Spanish, with translation services. The Parliament consists of 75 deputies elected by universal adult suffrage under a system of

Membership

Results of the elections to the Basque Parliament

Notes

References

External links

Official website of the Basque Parliament
(in Basque and Spanish) {{coord, 42.8452, N, 2.6753, W, type:landmark_region:ES, display=title

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Legislatures of the Spanish Autonomous Communities

Membership

Results of the elections to the Basque Parliament

See also

Notes

References

External links