Spain: Spanish legitimacy after the end of political violence in the Basque Country

The chapter analyses the crisis of legitimacy of Spanish institutions in the Basque Country. In particular, the chapter evaluates two elements that maintain Basque institutional relationships in a precarious equilibrium with central institutions. The first factor is the effect of an imprecise constitutional system of territorial governance. The second element is the legacy of a lengthy period of political violence as an element that defines Basque nationalism. Both factors have negative effects on the perception of the legitimacy of Spanish institutions in the Basque Country. The chapter explains that the conditions that supported decades of armed struggle are no longer present but the implications of a diverging perception of constitutional legitimacy still defines the process of the recognition of Basque identity.