In the end, it was not so. The ghosts of the past crept into the final stretch of the Basque Country election campaign and the great elephant entered the room a matter of hours before the Basques go to the polls this Sunday. ETA, its status as a terrorist organization and the rejection of its murders have led to an intense hand-to-hand battle between Pello Otxandiano, the candidate of left-wing, pro-independence EH Bildu, and Imanol Pradales, the head of the centre-right Basque Nationalists (PNV). This is due, in part, to the resilience of Bildu, which throughout the campaign - at least until now - has maintained the status of favourite to be the most voted party in the April 21st election, which, given the enterprise and influence of the PNV, continues to be a surprise. While this was happening, the Socialists slipped into panic mode, since the scenario of Bildu as leading party in the Basque Country would complicate, even if it would not in the end prevent, the PNV-Socialist government that has been negotiated and agreed upon for many months and that no one disputes, except in a few moments that have a lot of posturing and little reality.
Of the dozens of polls that have been published in the weeks of this intense electoral campaign in the Basque Country, all tell a similar story: Bildu could, for the first time, win the Basque autonomous election. It would not be able to govern but could take first place and historically overtake the PNV. This possibility already led to the displacement of Iñigo Urkullu, lehendakari since 2012 and winner of three consecutive elections. His resume was considered insufficient to aspire to a fourth term, since the wear and tear seemed evident. But Bildu has held on despite this move and has widened its electoral base thanks to former left-wing voters of Podemos, Sumar and also the Basque Socialist Party, who were offered an electoral bridge to cross based much more on left-wing parameters than nationalist ones.
It would not be the first time that the Madrid spotlight is aimed somewhere far away from what is actually happening in the Basque Country or Catalonia
A mistake by Otxandiano, in which he left open whether he defined ETA as a terrorist group, opened a debate - and we'll see if it is only among media and politicians or also the public, about the Basque Country's past. Even the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, intervened in the controversy, trying to put Bildu on the ropes and persuade potential voters back to their original spaces after some may have already crossed the frontier. Hence the reproach to the abertzale left for failing to describe ETA as a terrorist group and his insistence on calling a spade a spade. Although it is a campaign move, in a tone that is more emotional than political, it has made everyone nervous, since it touched a note that the polls have so far not been able to evaluate. The fact is that the Bildu candidate has had to slightly tone down his initial statements and has stepped out of the calm and moderate political profile in which he was installed.
A lot of time has gone by since October 20th, 2011, when the terrorist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) announced the definitive cessation of its armed activity. It is possible that Basque society is much less eager to look at the past than some sectors of Spanish society and especially its main political parties sometimes seem to be. The fact that Pello Otxandiano did not go any further than classifying ETA as an armed group, in accordance with the guidelines established in the language of left-wing Basque nationalism, may end up filling many minutes of Spanish television with minimal impact in Euskadi. It would not be the first time that the Madrid spotlight is aimed somewhere far away from what is actually happening in the Basque Country or Catalonia: at the moment of truth, both these societies see things very differently.