Overview
- The Ertzaintza now includes broad geographic labels such as Maghreb, Latin America, Europe or Sub‑Saharan Africa in press notes and specifies nationality only if the person is Spanish.
- Security chief Bingen Zupiria defends the shift as a transparency measure to counter selective disclosures by PP and Vox and to avoid wider stigmatization by withholding context.
- EH Bildu and Sumar, along with migrant‑rights organizations, call for a reversal, warning the practice fuels racism and weakens the presumption of innocence.
- Official data to September show penal infractions up 1.36% in the Basque Country, with 53% of detainees or investigated in closed cases being Spanish and 47% of foreign origin, while about 10% of residents hold foreign nationality.
- The change followed an October 13 Bilbao case where both victim and suspect were described by regional origin, and La Razón reports death threats against security officials that PNV and PP publicly condemned.