"A small sample of the everyday reality" of Basque speakers: 883 violations, 2025

Last year, a total of 984 incidents were reported through calls and telematic services from the Euskera Telephone provided by the Observatory, of which 883 were complaints, reporting violations of language rights, 69 were congratulations and 32 were consultations, suggestions or other observations.

These are the data collected in the report 'Situation of Linguistic Rights 2025', which was presented today in Vitoria-Gasteiz bythe director of the Gaubeka Observatory Agurne and the technician Garbiñe Petriati , who last year analysed the incidents and gaps in linguistic rights in the Basque Country.

He has broken down the data from Petria and recalled that the cases in the report "are only a small sample of reality", and that in everyday life citizens "are innumerable violations that remain unreported".

Gaubeka, who has stressed that the Basque language remains without legal protection, has pointed out that "the lack of legal obligations or diffuse legal obligations in regulations in recent years have led to oppressions in the use of the Basque language" and that "often the exercise of linguistic rights depends on wills".

"Proof of this is the lack of response to several violations recorded on the Euskera Telephone and the lack of significant progress in some areas over the past 25 years, with repeated situations reported by citizens," he added.

As far as the Public Administration is concerned, "in the cases of the College of Basque Urban Centres, the Basque Government and the Government of Navarre, citizens still have to express their express desire for information and procedures in Basque". Although "some superficial changes" have been made in the Spanish Administration, the recognition of the Basque Country is "in the background" and in France "the denial is complete".

According to Petriati, the lack of knowledge of the Basque language in certain public jobs hinders the ability of the entire system not only to operate in the Basque language, but also the lack of clauses on language obligations or mechanisms for monitoring non-compliance in subcontracted services.

"Radical regulatory changes" 

The main conclusion contained in the report is that the recognition of language rights continues without progress or backward steps. 'If radical regulatory changes are not proposed, sufficient investment in material and economic resources is made and guaranteed measures are not established as a basis, the same situations that have occurred in recent decades will continue to be repeated, 'said the Director of the Observatory.' The risk of backward steps is becoming increasingly apparent. '

In this regard, the Observatory calls on the citizens of all Euskal Herria to be aware of violations of linguistic rights, to be empowered and organised using the Euskera Telephone and to be active Euskaltzales.