A 202-kilometre human chain across the Basque Autonomous Community drew 175,000 participants demanding a self-determination vote with an independence option.
Key Facts
- Chain length
- 202 kilometres (125 miles)
- Estimated participants
- 175,000 protesters
- Volunteers
- 5,000 people
- Coaches used
- 1,000 coaches
- Cities connected
- Donostia, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Organizing movement
- Gure Esku Dago
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The movement Gure Esku Dago, backed by Basque political parties PNV, EH Bildu, and Elkarrekin Podemos, sought to pressure the Basque Parliament into enabling a self-determination referendum including an independence option, a path blocked by the 1978 Spanish Constitution's assertion that Spain is indivisible.
On 10 June 2018, a human chain stretching 202 kilometres connected Donostia, Bilbao, and Vitoria-Gasteiz across the Basque Autonomous Community. Approximately 175,000 people participated, supported by 5,000 volunteers and 1,000 coaches, with notable attendance from Bilbao's mayor and senior PNV officials.
Organizers delivered a formal document to the Basque Parliament in Vitoria-Gasteiz demanding it open legal avenues for a self-determination vote with an independence option, keeping the question of Basque sovereignty in the public and parliamentary sphere despite constitutional constraints.