Peace in the Basque Country?: Zero Tolerance in the Fight against ETA

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The bell rings in the lehendakari's parliamentary office in Vitoria, prompting the regional president to take his place on the government bench. Parliament is voting on an austerity bill to combat the effects of the economic crisis. Antonio Basagoiti, the 41-year-old leader of the Basque PP, votes in favor. Only a few weeks earlier, opposition leader Mariano Rajoy had flatly rejected the austerity measures proposed by Zapatero in Madrid.

López greets Basagoiti with a slap on the back. "We're on the same wavelength," he says. Political expediency has brought the two non-nationalist politicians close. Basagoiti, who is 10 years younger than the lehendakari and the scion of a wealthy industrialist family, jokes about their awkward liaison: "Our relationship is more sex than love."

Relaxed talk like this is frowned upon in Madrid. In fact, because the Spanish prime minister lacks an absolute majority in the national parliament, he depends on the nationalist PNV -- the very party López sidelined with the help of the PP -- to pass his budget.

In November, Zapatero's political survival will depend on the nationalists from the Basque country. "People at party headquarters will try to destroy López's coalition government," says José Luis Zubizarreta, the journalist.

However Eduardo Madina, the deputy head of the Socialist parliamentary group, who will be responsible for negotiating with the nationalists, isn't worried. "The Basque country is extremely important for us Socialists from a strategic point of view," he says. "It's not up for grabs."

Bright Future

In purely strategic terms, such cross-party cooperation could serve as a model for all of Spain, especially since the country is in its worst ever economic crisis. Only one man appears to be the natural candidate to lead such an alliance between socialists and conservatives: Patxi López. Political bloggers are speculating that he could be chosen to replace Zapatero if the protracted crisis forced the prime minister to call early elections or the prime minister decided not to run again in 2012.

But López himself rejects the very notion. "No way!" he says. "I've already got to where I wanted to be."

But in the Espejo café in Madrid, which is not far from the parliament, the customers don't want to rule out such a future for Patxi López. His youthful party colleague Eduardo Madina, speaking in his office in the parliament, agrees: "It's not impossible that a Basque might govern Spain one day."

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• Part 1: Zero Tolerance in the Fight against ETA
• Part 2: Erasing ETA Symbols from the Public Space
• Part 3: 'Our Relationship Is More Sex than Love'