The President of the Basque Autonomous Community, Juan José Ibarretxe, is to appeal to the European courts after the Spanish Constitutional Court ruled against the referendum on self-determination that the Basque Government planned to hold on October 25. Speaking on behalf of the Government, Ibarretxe said that Basque citizens - prevented from "voicing their opinions" by the Spanish state - were the victims of "injustice".

Ibarretxe, who has made it clear that his Government will "comply with" the court ruling without accepting it, has called on the Basque population to "denounce the Kingdom of Spain" before the European Court of Human Rights. In addition to making its own appeal, the Basque Government is encouraging individuals to lodge formal complaints with the Strasbourg court.

The Basque Government wants to generate an entire "social movement" in the Basque Country to put pressure on the Spanish state to allow a consultation on self-determination. Ibarretxe raised questions about the quality of democracy in Spain, which he said had been "undermined by politics".

European support for Basque fiscal autonomy: has a precedent been set?
Ibarretxe also said that his Government believes that European support would help to endorse the legitimacy of the proposed referendum. The Basque Government previously looked to Europe to bolster support for the autonomous community's fiscal autonomy. The European Court of Justice has recently ruled in favour of the Basque Country setting tax rates at different levels to the rest of Spain, a situation which had been denounced by the autonomous communities of Castile and León, and Rioja. "We believe that the same can happen with the [Basque] society's right to a public consultation," Ibarretxe stated. "We must look to the future with confidence".

Further information:

• The news, in Basque media: EITB, Gara, Deia
• In Catalan media: VilaWeb, Avui, MónDivers
• In Spanish media: El País, El Mundo, ABC

See the Basque Country profile for further information.