Health Department Headquarters, Basque, Spain

In 2003, the governing Basque Nationalist Party proposed to alter this statute through the Ibarretxe Plan. The project, though approved by majority in the Basque chamber, was finally rejected by a large majority in the Madrid Cortes Generales on the grounds that it contradicts the Spanish Constitution.
In this regard, Basque nationalists cite the fact that in the 1978 Spanish Constitution referendum, which was passed with a majority votes in the Basque Country, the Basque Country had the highest abstention (the Basque Nationalist Party had endorsed abstention on the grounds that the Constitution was being forced upon them without any Basque input). To this, the "no" vote in this referendum was also higher in the Basque Country than in the rest the state. All in all, many Basques believe that they are not bound to a constitution that they never endorsed.
On May 5, 2009, after thirty years nationalist government, the Lehendakaritza (Basque presidency) was transferred to Patxi López, from the Basque Socialist Party, after an unprecedent agreement with the conservative Popular Party. after a very controversial election, with more than 100,000 votes coming from the illegalised Basque leftist nationalists considered void.