Basque People and their Neighbors

The country of Spain is divided in 17 autonomous communities. Each Autonomous communities has its own Executive Power, its own Legislative Power and its own Judicial Power. Within these 17 Autonomous Communities Spain has fifty provinces. The 17 Autonomous Communities are listed below with their capital cities.

• Andalusia: its capital is Sevilla

• Aragon: its capital is Zaragoza

• Asturias: its capital is Oviedo

• Balearic Islands: its capital is Palma de Mallorca

• Basque Country: its capital is Vitoria

• Canary Islands: they have two capitals - Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife

• Cantabria: its capital is Santander

• Castile-La Mancha: its capital is Toledo

• Castile and León: its capital is Valladolid

• Catalonia: its capital is Barcelona

• Extremadura: its capital is Mérida

• Galicia: its capital is Santiago de Compostela

• La Rioja: its capital is Logroño

• Community of Madrid: its capital is Madrid

• Region of Murcia: its capital is Murcia

• Navarre: its capital is Pamplona

• Valencian Community: its capital is Valencia

The Spanish language is the official language in all of the Autonomous Communities, but 6 autonomous communities have their own languages that they speak as well as Spanish. 

In Catalonia they speak Catalan and Occitan.

In the Valencian Community they speak Catalan, also called Valencian.

In Balearic Islands they speak Catalan.

In Galicia they speak Galician.

In Basque Country they speak Basque.

In Navarre they speak Basque also but only in the north.

Spain also has two cities on the north coast of Africa, Ceuta and Melilla. They are called Autonomous Cities.

How the 17 Autonomous Communities are financed has been one of the most important aspects concerning their relationship with the central government. The constitution gave all of the Autonomous Communities control over spending, but the central government retained effective control of each Community’s revenue intake. This means the central government is still in charge of levying and collecting taxes, which it then redistributes to the autonomous communities. This applies to all Autonomous Communities except for the Basque Country and Navarre.

Many in the Basque country still view their communities as independent Nations, not just as Nationalities under Spain as a plurinational state or a Nation of Nations. In 2004 the Basque parliament approved the Ibarretxe Plan, where the Basque country would approve a new Statute of Autonomy containing key provisions such as shared sovereignty with Spain, full independence of the judiciary, and the right to self-determination. The plan was rejected by the Spanish Parliament in 2005.

The Spanish Government does not recognize the right of self-determination for any of the underlying nationalities or nations and will not respect the outcome of a regional referendum regarding the subject of self-determination. However, the Basque Parliament voted for recognizing this right in its region’s independence. The term nationality refers only to the Autonomous Community, and not to its citizens. An Autonomous Community can be a nationality, but that does not mean that their citizens have the nationality of that community, because there is only one Spanish nationality.

The Basque Country is Spain's fifth largest regional economy, with a gross domestic product of 66.1 billion euros, meaning it accounts for around 7 percent of national GDP. Basque has the highest per capita output in Spain at 31,288 euros compared to the national average of 23,271 euros and an European Union average of 25,134 euros, this is according to the national statistics office.

"Euskadi is in better shape to weather this situation because over 20 years ago it bet on industrial policies," said Inigo Urkullu, the leader of the Basque Nationalist Party.

Many of Spain's biggest corporate names are Basque.

1- BBVA, is Spain’s second-largest bank. BBVA is a major player in South America; it is the source of more than half its revenues.

2- Gamesa is the world's fourth largest manufacturer of wind turbines.

3- CAF, a producer of rolling stock, sells trains as far afield as the United States and China.

references:

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_communities_of_Spain

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/28/us-spain-economy-basque-idUSBRE85R0K120120628

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalisms_and_regionalisms_of_Spain