Last year there were 466 public acts in support of ETA. That is the balance of 2023 made by the Collective of Victims of Terrorism (Covite) through its Radicalisation Observatory, which documents all acts related to violent radicalisation in the field of ETA terrorism.

The figures come in the midst of the debate on the disappearance of the crime of glorifying terrorism, proposed by Sumar in Congress. Coinciding with the presentation of the data, the group chaired by Consuelo Ordóñez has shown its "concern" that the initiative can go ahead. "Despite the fact that we have verified, through the facts, that this article does not serve to put an end to the glorification of ETA terrorism in the Basque Country and Navarre, we are concerned that the false idea could be installed in society that this is a scourge for which the institutions have no responsibility. when they do," says Ordóñez.

The number of acts in 2023 represents a reduction of 21% compared to the previous year, when a total of 589 acts of support for the terrorist group were recorded. Qualitatively, Covite highlights that 2023 has been the first year in which, according to his estimates, there has been "a total disappearance" of the ongi etorris - acts of welcome - to ETA prisoners upon their release from prison.

"This is very good news for the victims, as these are the most humiliating acts we could witness," says Covite president Consuelo Ordóñez. "We have come to denounce ongi etorris that took place under the house of one of the victims of a bloodthirsty ETA murderer, such as that of Javier Balerdi in San Sebastian on December 21, 2016. I can't think of a greater infamy than that. The fact that these aberrant acts have disappeared is positive both for the victims and for society in general," he added on the occasion of the presentation of the report.

Covite has attributed the disappearance of the ongi etorris to their "constant work of documenting and publicly denouncing this type of humiliating and undignified acts", which has resulted in "the rejection of the majority of Basque, Navarrese and Spanish society to the ongi etorris, as well as the condemnation of the majority of institutions and political forces to them, with the exception of EH Bildu."

Despite the positive aspect of the ongi etorris, Covite points out that "the public legitimisation of ETA through other types of acts is still very present in the streets of the Basque Country and Navarre", as reflected in the almost half a thousand documented acts. The group warns that "the cult of ETA and its terrorists is far from disappearing" and has called for "greater involvement of institutions, especially those of the Basque Country and Navarre, to put an end to this scourge".

Categories

Of the total number of events held, 173 took place in Guipúzcoa, 162 in Vizcaya, 67 in Navarre, 40 in Álava, 14 in other provinces and a dozen abroad, mainly in the French Basque Country. Regarding the typology of acts of support for ETA, they have been these:

- 178 demonstrations calling for the release of imprisoned ETA members;

- 166 have been the appearance of graffiti and banners explicitly praising ETA and its prisoners;

- 48 public tributes to dead ETA members;

- 27 popular festivals held specifically to glorify ETA, such as the gudari eguna

;

- 5 have been tributes on public roads to ETA members who are still in prison, in which a photo of the ETA member in question is placed and an aurresku is danced, a novel act that COVITE has observed this year;

- 42 acts that Covite placed in the category of "other" because they did not fall into any of the above.