In Spain, an autonomous community is the first sub-national level of political and administrative division, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy of the nationalities and regions that make up Spain.
The Spanish Constitution is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. It is a written constitution.
An associated state is the minor partner in a formal, free relationship between a political territory and a major party—usually a larger nation.
The Basque Nationalist Party, officially Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum.
The 51st state is a term in American political discourse that refers to areas considered to be candidates for U.S. statehood, joining the 50 United States existing since 1959. The phrase has been applied to external territories, as well as the country's capital for the District of Columbia and parts of already-existing states which would be admitted as separate states in their own right.
Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu is a former president of the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain. Also a leading member of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) during the period, he held office from 2 January 1999 to 7 May 2009. Ibarretxe is an advocate of Basque independence by peaceful means.
Jaime Mayor Oreja is a former Spanish conservative politician of the People's Party. He served as member of the Basque Parliament, of the Spanish Parliament, and of the European Parliament, as well as being Spanish Minister of the Interior between 1996 and 2000. He is known for his outspoken anti-ETA rhetoric and social ultracatholicism
The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979, widely known as the Statute of Gernika, is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The Statute was named "Statute of Gernika" after the city of Gernika, where its final form was approved on 29 December 1978. It was ratified by referendum on 25 October 1979, despite the abstention of more than 40% of the electorate. The statute was accepted by the lower house of the Spanish Parliament on November 29 and the Spanish Senate on December 12.
Francisco Javier "Patxi" López Álvarez is a Spanish politician serving as Member of the Congress of Deputies and chair of the Constitutional Committee.
The Basque Government is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the Lehendakari. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque Parliament every four years, after a regional election. Its headquarters are located in the Lakua district of Vitoria-Gasteiz in Álava.
The 2005 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 17 April 2005, to elect the 8th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The proposed 2008 referendum was a poll intended to occur in the Basque Country in that year, but prevented by the Supreme Court of Spain at the instigation of the Spanish Government.
The 2009 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 1 March 2009, to elect the 9th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in Galicia. It would be the first time that the elections for two of the Spanish "historical regions"—namely, those comprising Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country itself—were held simultaneously. This would evolve into an unwritten convention in subsequent years, with Basque and Galician elections being held concurrently in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
The Basque Country, also called Basque Autonomous Community, is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa.
The 1984 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 26 February 1984, to elect the 2nd Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The Puerto Rico Democracy Act is a bill to provide for a federally sanctioned self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rico statehood movement aims to make Puerto Rico a state of the United States. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territorial possession of the United States acquired in 1898 following the Spanish–American War, making it "the oldest colony in the modern world". As of 2019, the population of Puerto Rico is 3.2 million, around half the average state population and higher than that of 20 U.S. states. Statehood is one of several competing options for the future political status of Puerto Rico, including: maintaining its current status, becoming fully independent, or becoming a freely associated state. Puerto Rico has held six referendums on the topic. These are non-binding, as the power to grant statehood lies with the US Congress. The most recent referendum was in November 2020, with a majority (52.52%) of those who voted opting for statehood.
United Left–Greens was a left wing environmentalist political party in Spain. Javier Madrazo led the party as general coordinator from 1994 to 2009.
The free association movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the current political status of Puerto Rico to that of a sovereign freely associated state. Locally, the term soberanista refers to someone that seeks to redefine the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States to that of a compact with full sovereignty. The term is mostly used in reference to those that support a compact of free association or a variation of this formula, commonly known as Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) Soberano, between Puerto Rico and the United States. Members of the independence movement that are willing to pursue alliances with this ideology are occasionally referred to as such, but are mostly known as independentistas. Consequently, soberanismo then became the local name for the free association movement.
A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held in Puerto Rico on June 11, 2017. The referendum had three options: becoming a state of the United States, independence/free association, or maintaining the current territorial status. Those who voted overwhelmingly chose statehood by 97%. This figure is attributed to a boycott led by the pro-status quo PPD party, which resulted in a 22.93% turnout.
