Basque vote sees Socialists challenge Nationalists

BASQUE voters were choosing a new government yesterday in Spain’s most turbulent region, and for the first time the ruling Basque Nationalist Party is seeing a strong challenge from the socialists.

The Basque Nationalist Party, or PNV, has ruled the 75-seat parliament in this semi-autonomous northern region for most of the past 30 years, on a separatist platform.

This time, however, some analysts predict big gains for Spain’s Workers’ Socialist Party, which wants to retain strong links with central government.