History of the Basque diaspora

Today the bond between the diaspora and Euskal Herria does not depend only on families and centres: it also runs through the institutions, and it has a law, a register of centres and a day of its own in the calendar.

The law dates from 1994. Since then, relations between the Basque Government and the diaspora have been governed by Law 8/1994, on relations with Basque communities and centres abroad, and from it were born the Register of Basque Centres, the Advisory Council for Relations with Basque Communities and the World Congress of Basque Communities.⁵

That law already has its successor announced. In July 2025, at a symposium at Boise State University, the lehendakari (president of the Basque Government) Imanol Pradales announced that a new Diaspora Law would be sent to Parliament in 2026. He acknowledged that the current one “has produced excellent results”, but argued for going further: for the diaspora to take a leap forward as a diplomatic agent and for its talent to be put at the service of Euskadi.¹⁵

The Basque Government also looks after the memory of the centres. It supports the Colección Urazandi (“beyond the seas”), which gathers the history of the euskal etxeak, and its digital version, in which diaspora magazines have been digitised.

And since 2018 the diaspora has had its day, 8 September, Basque Diaspora Day. The date was chosen by the Advisory Council for Basque Communities, in fulfilment of a conclusion of the Sixth World Congress of Basque Communities in Vitoria-Gasteiz (2015).³⁹ According to euskalkultura.eus, it pays tribute to Juan Sebastián Elcano, who on that day in 1522 completed the first circumnavigation of the world.⁴⁰

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