ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was an armed Basque nationalist and far-left separatist organization in the Basque Country between 1959 and 2018, with its goal being independence for the region. The group was founded in 1959 during the era of Francoist Spain, and later evolved from a pacifist group promoting traditional Basque culture to a violent paramilitary group. It engaged in a campaign of bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings throughout Spain and especially the Southern Basque Country against the regime, which was highly centralised and hostile to the expression of non-Castilian minority identities. ETA was the main group within the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important Basque participant in the Basque conflict.
The Ertzaintza is the autonomous police force for the Basque Country, largely replacing the Spanish Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil. An Ertzaintza member is called an ertzaina.
Mikel Laboa Mancisidor was one of the Basque Country's most important singer-songwriters.
The Wolf is a 2004 Spanish drama biographical film directed by Miguel Courtois. It stars Eduardo Noriega as the title character and José Coronado alongside Mélanie Doutey, Silvia Abascal, Santiago Ramos, and Jorge Sanz.
The Beehive is a 1982 Spanish film directed by Mario Camus based on the novel The Hive by Camilo José Cela, it depicts the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and its impact on several characters. Cela has a small role as Matías Martí.
Kirmen Uribe is a Basque language writer. He won the National Prize for Literature in Spain in 2009 for his first novel Bilbao-New York-Bilbao, which has been translated into over 15 languages. His poetry collection Meanwhile Take My Hand, translated into English by Elizabeth Macklin, was a finalist for the 2008 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. His works have been published in The New Yorker, Open City and Little Star.
Imanol Uribe is a Spanish screenwriter and film director. He won the Goya Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay for the 1994 thriller Running Out of Time.
Goenkale was a Basque soap-opera, produced by Pausoka Entertainment and ETB, which was broadcast every Monday and Tuesday on Basque Radio-television's first channel, ETB 1. Set in an imaginary Basque seaside town, the title of the serial is the name of the main street in that town. First broadcast in 1994, it was one of the most successful programmes of ETB 1. It ended in 2015 after 22 seasons and 3.707 episodes.
Javier Aguirresarobe Zubía is a Basque Spanish cinematographer. After garnering several Goya Awards in his home country, he became widely known internationally for his work on The Others (2001), directed by Alejandro Amenábar. Among many others, he has worked on Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Twilight film series (2009–2010), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
Días contados is a 1994 Spanish thriller film directed and written by Imanol Uribe. It features Carmelo Gómez, Ruth Gabriel, Candela Peña, and Javier Bardem, among others. It is based on the novel of the same name by Juan Madrid.
Santiago Brouard or Santi Brouard was a doctor and Basque politician. He was one of the leaders of Herri Batasuna, and deputy mayor of Bilbao. He was killed by the Spanish government's death squad, the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), in one of its highest-profile acts. Broaurd was shot by GAL gunmen Luis Morcillo and Rafael López Ocaña as he left his paediatric clinic in Bilbao.
The Monbar Hotel attack was carried out by the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), a Spanish state-sponsored death squad, on 25 September 1985 in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. The targets were four members of the Basque separatist terrorist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), whom the Spanish government believed to be senior figures in the organization, itself proscribed as a terrorist group in Spain and France. All four people were killed, with a fifth person, apparently unconnected to ETA, injured in the shooting. This represented the deadliest attack carried out by the GAL. Although two of the participants were apprehended shortly after the shooting, controversy surrounded the possible involvement of senior figures in the Spanish police.
El Pico is a 1983 Spanish film written and directed by Eloy de la Iglesia. It stars José Luis Manzano. The films centers on drug addiction, urban juvenile delinquency, and Basque nationalism in Spain during the 1980s.
María Dolores González Katarain, also known as Yoyes, was an iconic female leader of armed Basque separatist group ETA, who became a symbol because of the tragic circumstances of her life.
Women in the Basque Nationalist Party in Francoist Spain were involved in leadership positions from an early period. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) was founded prior to the Second Spanish Republic in Bilbao, as a conservative Roman Catholic organization. They initially tried to be neutral during the Civil War, but later more openly opposed Nationalist forces. This led to repression and investigation after the war of women PNV members, and wives and daughters of male PNV members. Emakume Abertzale Batza, PNV's women political section, was operated in exile in this early period.
Mikel Zabalza Garate, also known as Mikel Zabaltza Garate, was a Basque bus driver, and employee of the San Sebastian Municipal Trolley Service. In 1985, he appeared dead in the river Bidasoa. After 35 years of inaction by the Spanish tribunals, it was concluded that Zabalza died as result of torture inflicted on him by Civil Guard operatives at the headquarters of Intxaurrondo in San Sebastián.
Mikel Azurmendi was a Spanish anthropologist, ETA dissident, and writer. He was the co-founder of the counter-ETA groups Foro Ermua and ¡Basta Ya!.
Imanol Larzabal Goñi, known as Imanol, was a Basque Spanish singer and composer, and a champion of Basque language and culture. He went into exile from the Spanish Basque Country twice: first during the Franco dictatorship, and again in the last years of his life due to conflict with Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), a violent Basque separatist organization.
Imanol Pradales Gil is a Basque politician and sociologist from Spain, member of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV). After leading his party in the 2024 regional election, he became the next Lehendakari.
