The Spanish national anthem was loudly booed this weekend in Gernika, a small town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.

And it wasn’t a football match. It happened during the medal ceremony of a pelota vasca final, after Spain’s women’s team beat the Basque Country.

But the noise in the stands wasn’t just about sport. It reflected the deeper issue of political and cultural tug-of-war between Spain and the Basque Country over identity and autonomy.

Pelota vasca gets political

Pelota vasca is a traditional Basque sport, played with a ball hit against a wall, sometimes by hand, sometimes with a racket. Locally, it’s seen as more than a game: it’s like a cultural heritage, some regional pride.

In addition, pelota vasca was once an official Olympic sport, featured in the 1900 Paris Games, and later returned as a demonstration sport — most recently at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

So when the Basque Country was officially allowed to compete internationally under its own flag, it was a big deal. Politicians in the region celebrated, while the Spanish federation not so much.

Spain challenged the Basque team’s recognition

In fact, Spanish officials challenged the Basque team’s recognition at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, saying the move broke the rules. They claim they were sidelined in the process and pressured some Basque players not to leave the Spanish national team..

“It’s essential to emphasize that this is not an issue against the Basque Country, but rather a matter of legality,” the Spanish federation claimed in one of its statements.

The crowd in Gernika whistled the Spanish anthem

This weekend’s Nations League showdown made everything more intense.

The Basque men won their final. The Spanish women won theirs. But the loudest moment came not from a match, but from the crowd, as the Spanish anthem played and whistles echoed through the venue.

Spain says the event wasn’t even official, arguing that the Nations League wasn’t officially valid because it lacked proper approval from Spanish authorities. They said they only took part to support their athletes, fearing the event might count toward qualifying for the 2025 World Championships.

The Basque side says it was a breakthrough, while the CAS ruling is still pending. But if this weekend proved anything, it’s that this is much more than sport, it’s about who gets to be seen and heard.

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A MAN branded as the ‘Gay Killer’ who is suspected of killing five men in Bilbao following dating app hook-ups, has been jailed for 25-and-a-half years.

A Basque High Court jury last month found Nelson David Moreno Bolaños- aged 29 and originally from Columbia- guilty of murdering a music teacher called Jose in October 2021.

The court also ordered compensation of €156,740 be paid to Jose’s family.

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Moreno is also accused of four other murders involving gay men plus an attempted homicide.

Police found Jose’s body on the floor of the master bedroom after he had been strangled.

After the killing, Moreno called Jose’s bank to change the passwords so that he access his account to make transfers.

Jose’s brother raised the alarm to the police after money was syphoned out of the account.

Besides the new conviction and extra prison time, Moreno had already been jailed for 10 years for an attempted murder committed just two months after Jose’s death.

In addition he was given over two years behind bars for fraud after his latest victim had his bank account emptied.

Moreno arrived in Bilbao six years ago and applied for asylum in Spain twice but was refused.

Police said he had a gambling addiction via online sites which led him to scam men to fund his excess spending.