Basque Government

The Basque Government (Basque: Eusko Jaurlaritza) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of this government is the lehendakari or Basque president that is appointed by the Basque Parliament every four years. Its headquarters are located in the Lakua district of Vitoria-Gasteiz in Álava.

The first Basque Government was created in 1936, upon the approval of its first Statute of Autonomy on October 1. It was headed by the lehendakari José Antonio Aguirre (EAJ-PNV) and was supported by a coalition of all the parties that fought the Francoist forces in the Civil War: Basque Nationalist Party and those comprising the Popular Front (PSOE, Communist Party, Republicans, Basque Nationalist Action). After the defeat of the Spanish Republic in the Civil War, the Basque Government remained in exile, chaired by Jesús María Leizaola since the death of Aguirre in 1960. It was not formally disbanded until the approval of the new Statute of Autonomy, after the death of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, and the recovery of Democracy, in 1979.

In Spain, in the interim, a preautonomic body was created in 1978, the Basque General Council. It was chaired first by the socialist Ramón Rubial and, since 1979, by Carlos Garaikoetxea, of the Basque Nationalist Party.

Upon approval of the new Statute, the new Basque Government was created (1980), superseding the Basque General Council. Garaikoetxea was the first lehendakari of the new Government.

See also

• List of Basque Presidents
• Basque Parliament
• Basque Republic

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Basque Government.

• Official website of the Basque Government (Basque) (Spanish)

Departments of the Basque Government Lehendakaritza (President's Office) Economic Development Justice and Public Administration Security Treasury and Finance Environment and Regional Policy Education, Language policy and Culture Health