End of Basque home rule in Spain

The end of Basque home rule or fueros in Spain was a process coming to a head in the period extending from the First Carlist War (1833-1840) to the aftermath of the Third Carlist War (1876-1878). It brought to an end the status of sovereignty coupled with allegiance to the Crown of Castile held by the different Basque territories for centuries. In the French Basque Country, home rule was abruptly suppressed during the French Revolution (starting 1790).

The loss of home rule (fueros) was followed by the Basque Economic Agreement (1878), a period of shaky peace with occasional popular uprisings, like the Gamazada centred in Navarre, and the emergence of Basque nationalism.

After the restoration of Basque institutions and laws with the comeback of King Ferdinand VII (1814), Spanish centralization did not cease. In 1829, the jurisdictional parliament of the kingdom (Cortes) reunited in Navarre, for the last time. In 1833, the accession of the liberals to the government saw the one-sided administrative homogenization of Spain by the new government in Madrid, as well as the outbreak of the First Carlist War. In 1837, the new liberal Constitution of Spain was passed, with the new Spanish legal text conspicuously overriding the Basque legal and institutional reality.

The Embrace of Bergara showed an intricate wording, whereby General Baldomero Espartero would strongly recommend the Spanish government to respect Basque laws and institutions, allowing ample leeway for further interpretation on its elaboration. The central government in Madrid was controlled by a progressive majority, who opposed Basque home rule, in turn pushing an additional phrase to its ratification, "with due regard to the constitutional unity of the Monarchy" (October 1839). It involved a modification of the agreement reached in Bergara months earlier.

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