Pais Vasco (Spain)

Pais Vasco

The Basque Country covers a surface of 20,664 square kilometres at the western end of the Pyrenees on the Bay of Biscay. Today it consists of seven herrialdes, or districts which, for political and administrative purposes, form part of two different European countries: Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Naffarroa are in Spain, and Lapurdi, Zuberoa and Benafarroa are in France. Three of the Basque Country's seven historic territories, Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, in the north of Spain, covering a total surface area of 7,234 square kilometres, are grouped together to form a political unit known as EUSKADI, or the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.

Facts about Pais Vasco

At present, more than 2 million people live in the Basque Country, giving a figure of around 300 inhabitants per square kilometre, higher than the EC average. Most people live in the larger urban areas in the northern zone. There are two official languages in the Basque Country: Spanish, the official language of the State, and Basque (Euskera or Euskara), the native language of the Country, also spoken in the Community of Navarre and in the French Basque County, situated in the French area of Aquitaine. Euskera is probably the oldest surviving language in Europe.

The Basque Country has four universities, which between them have 28 faculties, 3 higher technical colleges and 11 university colleges, where around 5,000 staff teach over 68,000 students. The mutation of Bilbao, the provincial capital began in 1996 with the construction of the Guggenheim Museum, a stunning work built on old industrial land to US architect Frank Gehry's revolutionary design. The opening of the Museum was in all senses the begininning of a new era: iron gave way to titanium.

Government

The Basque Country is a type of confederation in which each of the three Historical Territories has its own administration, known as the Diputacion Foral, or Provincial Council, and its legislative body, the Juntas Generales, or General Assembly. Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of Araba (Alava in Spanish), Bilbao the capital of Bizkaia (Vizcaya) and Donostia- San Sebastian the capital of Gipuzkoa (Guipuzcoa).

The Basques virtually govern themselves in sectors like education, health, culture and housing. Other sectors, including research, industrial policy, transport and communications hold a high degree of autonomy, and are financed by a Concierto Economico, which is an Economic Agreement between the Basque and the central Spanish government. The Agreement permits the Basque authorities to collect almost all the taxes levied in the Community and then, administrate the revenue collected according to their own budget and that of the Spanish central government.

The Basque Government has a complete health service structure and has far reaching powers in both health policy and health management. The main objective of the Basque Management Act is to provide the best health care possible for its population, thus consolidating one of the main elements that make up the welfare state and a united society. The Act stipulates that the Basque Government, through its Health Department, will provide the health services necessary to satisfy the population's health needs according to the criteria of universality (for everyone), equality (under equal conditions), solidarity, efficiency and quality.

Economy

The economy of the Basque Country has grown significantly over the past decade and has moved from having a GDP per capita of 89,6 % in 1990 to 120,6 % in 2004. The country is now among the six European countries with the highest income, in terms of purchasing power. One of the causes of this economic strength lies in the great importance of the industrial sector which is a hundred-year-old industrial tradition, enabling the Basque economy to be competitive and to win a share of foreign markets, especially the European one. The growing economy is having a positive effect on the unemployment rate, which has been showing a downward trend since 1999 to stand at 7,80 % the average figure for 2004, which is the lowest for the last decade and is within the average parameters recorded in the European Community.

Exports amounted to 13,521,7 million euros in 2004. The automotive industry, the machine tool and other machines, cast iron and steel products and their manufactured goods and rubber products account for more than 60 per cent of all exports, a figure that gives a good idea of the extent to which Basque industry is concentrated or specialised. Imports came to 12,474,7 million euros over the same annual period, 19,3 % higher than the data for 2003. Imports of non-energy products registered lower growth, 15,2 %, while energy products increased by an annual rate of 34,9 %.

Health System

The Basque public health system continually takes on board the latest technological breakthroughs in the field in order to adapt to local inhabitants' demands and to consolidate the principles of availability to all, equity, soldarity and healthcare quality. The Basque Government manages all public healthcare resources through the Basque public health service Osakidetza - Servicio Vasco de Salud, which comprises 51 hospitals, 442 outpatients' centres and upwards of twenty-four thousand healthcare professionals, a number that ensures 4,5 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants. Public institutions such as the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza) and the Basque Governement Health Department were responsible for 76 % of all expenditure on health in the region, with the private sector financing the remaining 24 %. Seventeen per cent of private sector expenditure involved direct financing of homes.

Life expectancy:                 men 76,4        women 83,7

Population growth rate:       0,3 %

Infant mortality rate:            3,1 %

University of Deusto and the  Basque Department of Health

These two institutions work jointly in several national and international programmes with the aim of studying the interface between health and social matters, so that it creates prosperity for the region and improves the quality of life of the Basques.

University of Deusto is one of the most distinguished and prestigious academic institutions in Spain, with campuses both in Bilbao and San Sebastian. Its tradition of academic excellence in teaching and research has already gone beyond borders due to the student exchange programmes, national and international research programmes and credit transfer system in which the university takes part. In conformity with its philosophy, the University of Deusto has always endeavoured to be open to both pluralistic and pragmatic change. It never ceases in its effort to find solutions to the problems entailed in the professional training of new students, and pays particular attention to fields of study in which technological innovation and change play an important role. The university offers courses in Law, Business, History, Philosophy, Computer Science, etc., through which it seeks to achieve the cultural aims originally set. It also serves the Basque community, fostering freedom and respect for human rights in an attempt to remain faithful to the motto on the university shield Sapientia melior auro (Wisdom is of greater value than gold).

The Basque Department of Health is comprised of two bodies or institutions, on the one hand there is the Health Department and on the other hand, Osakidetza-Servicio Vasco de Salud, which is a public body governed by private law.

• The Health Department is the health authority and publics guarantor, as well as the contractor and financial backer of health services. The Health Department contracts and finances the services with Osakidetza as a public provider. The procurement function is carried out through contracts with Osakidetza and through agreements with the private health sector.
• Osakidetza-Servicio Vasco de Salud is a public body governed by private law in the areas of economic taxation, internal organisation and operation as well as internal legal relations. Other areas regarding heritage and responsibility, or contracting and personnel remain under public law.