han one conflict. Apart from the existence of multiple social conflicts; there are two characteristic conflicts in today’s Spanish society: a political nationalistic conflict and a violent, nationalistic conflict. The political conflict is about the political configuration of the Basque Country, and its relationships with the Spanish State. There is much more people who share a nationalistic view about the political conflict than the ones who support ETA. Consequently, the political conflict and the violent conflict are not necessarily related to each other. The only ones interested in considering this relationship as necessary are ETA’s members and supporters. The only institutions legitimate to represent the Basque People or the Spanish People for political purposes are the Basque and Spanish Parliaments, backed by a large majority of the population. Any group or party is entitled to try to resolve the Basque political conflict inside or outside of these Parliaments, but never against them. To sum up, the true reason of the violent situation is the lack of assumption by ETA’s supporters of the democratic principles. This does not mean that they should accept things as they are; it only means that they must use democratic and peaceful means to defend their claims.The belief in the necessity of freeing Basque politics from the trap of violence is essential to resolve the conflict. Most strategies for peace link violence and politics. In some cases, it is said that violence is legitimated by the political conditions. Some people maintain that political changes are not possible while violence persists, while other advocate totally the opposite. Such reasoning is perverse in both cases. Consequently, both problems should be addressed separately: the situation of violence regardless of political issues, and the political problem regardless of violence. The question of Basque independence cannot be solved without dialogue, ...
