According to a survey published by Europa Press and reported by regional outlets including elDiario.es/Euskadi and El Diario Vasco, 94,2% of citizens in the Basque Country support maintaining or expanding their current level of regional self-government. The study, titled the Ituna Survey 2026 according to El Diario Vasco, reveals that two out of three citizens view the approval of a new regional statute as a priority for the region’s institutions.
Ituna Survey Findings on Regional Self-Government
Researchers carried out 1.200 telephone interviews with residents aged 18 and older in the Basque Country between January 26 and February 23.
According to the data, 38,8% of respondents are satisfied with the current level of self-government, 34,9% favor expanding it, and 20,5% support complete independence. Only 4,6% of those surveyed prefer to reduce the existing autonomous powers. Furthermore, 66,3% of respondents consider passing a new Statute very or quite a priority, contrasted with 30,1% who do not view it as urgent.
Public Support for the Concierto Económico
The survey indicates that citizens closely tie self-government to collective welfare. Specifically, 53,9% of respondents cite collective well-being as the main reason to defend the Concierto Económico (Economic Agreement), while 47,6% state the same for self-government as a whole. The Economic Agreement retains high structural social legitimacy, with 89,1% of participants attributing much or considerable importance to it regarding the decision-making capacity of the Basque Country, and 82,2% backing its continuity.
In a hypothetical scenario where the Spanish State were to unilaterally repeal the Economic Agreement, support for independence would rise to 51,1%, more than double the 20,5% baseline preference. Conversely, awareness of the Economic Agreement varies by age. Among adults under 30 years old, only 46,3% report knowing much or something about how the agreement works, compared to 58,8% of the total population. This lack of familiarity aligns with higher satisfaction among younger demographics, where 47,9% are content with the current level of self-government—the highest rate across all surveyed age groups.
Institutional Trust and Pending Competencies
Regarding pending jurisdictional transfers, such as social security management, 64,4% of citizens favor decentralized handling of contributions and benefits by the Basque Government, while 13,9% oppose the move.
Institutional evaluations show that the regional Basque Executive leads public trust ratings with an average score of 6.25 out of 10. The regional foral deputations follow closely with 6.21, and local municipalities score 6.16. In contrast, institutions outside the regional administration receive lower marks, with the European Union scoring 4.96 and the Government of Spain scoring 4.77.