European elections in the Basque Country and overall

Overview of the elections to the European Parliament follows.


In the Basque Country

As an exception, a list backed by the Basque Nationalist Left was allowed to run (not without difficulties) in the state of Spain. This list obtained very good results in the Southern Basque Country, well within the historical range of electoral support for this bloc. In the North, the independentists also kept their positions in comparison with the last EP polls five years ago. Overall the radical independentists got 14% of the vote in the Basque Country and are clearly the third force in Gipuzkoa and Navarre.

Above (click to enlarge): EP electoral results in the Basque Country in 2009 and 2004. From left to right:
- Green: Basque Nationalist Left (including votes declared null in 2004)
- Blue: Basque Nationalist Party (christian-democrats)
- Orange: other left-wing Basque Nationalists
- Light Brown: Spanish/French real Left (Ecologists, IU)
- Red: Spanish/French Social-Democrats (unionists)
- Light Blue: Spanish/French Right Wing (unionists; mostly neo-Gaullists and post-Francoists)
- Black: other/blank/null

In the North, the Europe Ecologie list, including a candidate of Abertzaleen Batasuna (Patriots' Union) and supported by another Basque social-democratic nationalist party (EA), totally displaced the PSF as second force. The Neo-Gaullist UMP remains as the first force though.


Spanish vote rigging

Alfonso Sastre did not get his EP seat but there have been many reports of irregularities, notably in Spain and Catalonia (EP polls have only one state-wide circunscription in Spain) but also in some towns of the Basque Country.

In these places (Villabona, Mungia, Usurbil, Elgoibar, Eibar, Legazpia, Mendaro, Orereta, Amezketa, etc.), the votes of II-SP were anotated in the acts under a different list, notably the Spanish fascist Democracia Nacional, list that has never gained any votes in these towns.

Out of the Basque Country the situation was much worse: there are reports of hidden ballots and other irregularities nearly in every polling station. Officially II-SP only got some 25,000 in the state (out of the Basque Country) in spite of having mobilized masses to campaign meetings in some cases.

As happened in the past in similar cases, it is more than likely that in most towns around Spain the votes for the Radical Left have been just dumped by agreement among the local election board members, wherever they did not have observers.

Hence it is almost sure that the actual support for II-SP, both in the southern Basque Country and in the rest of the state, was much higher in fact. It is very possible that a EP seat has been robbed by these means.


Europe: growth of New Left and Liberals

Overall the new EP shows few blocs clearly growing. These are: liberals (+15 seats, +23%), ecologists (+15 seats, +38%) and Europe of the Nations (+9, +35%). Socialdemocrats plummet (-40 seats, -20%) while conservatives and neo-communists keep their positions.

It is notable, I think, to see how the people is abandoning the classical "left" option of socialdemocracy, lately way too close to the right, in favor of new options like ecologists and ethnic nationalists but also in favor of the center-right.

Source: Gara (link 1, link 2 - PDF).
.