Both parties elected the same number of deputies (27 each), although the PNV had more votes than the EH Bildu (35.22% and 32.5%, respectively).

For an absolute majority, 38 deputies are needed in the regional parliament and only the PNV has an ally to form a government coalition: the socialist party (PSE-EE, regional structure of the Spanish socialist party, PSOE), which was again the third force in the Basque elections today, in which it obtained 12 deputies and 14.21% of the votes.

In the last legislature, the PSE-EE was already part of the coalition in the regional government, led by the PNV. During the electoral campaign, it guaranteed that it would only be available for new coalitions with the nationalists, although in Madrid the Spanish government of the socialist Pedro Sánchez has been made viable and continues to depend on the parliamentary support of both the PNV and the EH Bildu.

The socialist candidate in these elections, Eneko Andueza, argued that the leaders of EH Bildu never fully condemned ETA and guaranteed today, after the results were known, that the Basques can have "no doubt" that he will do what he announced.

The PNV candidate for 'lehendakari' (president of the Basque government), Imanol Pradales, and the party leader, Andoni Ortuzar, claimed victory in the elections and said that the party intends to take over the leadership of the autonomous executive again and will contact the other political forces.

Neither of them specifically mentioned the socialist party, but both the PNV and the PSE-EE expressed their willingness to renew the current coalition in the government during the campaign.

As for EH Bildu, the leader of the candidacy in these elections, Pello Otxandiano, guaranteed last week that the lack of understanding in the Basque Country with the socialists would not jeopardize the support for Sánchez in the central government, because the party does not "exchange favors" and is governed by "politics with purpose", and that the objective in Madrid "is to close the door to a possible far-right government", which remains.

Pello Otxandiano stressed today that the result of the EH Bildu was "spectacular, historic" and "a giant step" for the Basque independence left, which for the first time disputed the victory in regional elections with the PNV, threatening the hegemony of the nationalists in an unprecedented way.

"The political map is already absolutely new, we are already in a new political reality", said the leader of EH Bildu.

The PNV, center-right, has always been the most voted party in the Basque regional elections and, with the exception of a three-year period between 2009 and 2012, has also always led the autonomous government.

The EH Bildu is a platform of left-wing independence parties that includes formations inherited from the former political arms of ETA, with former members of the terrorist group among its militants and leaders.

The party, which has the condemnation of violence with political objectives enshrined in its statutes, was born in 2012, with the end of ETA's activity and in the context of the financial crisis, having assumed itself from the beginning, and consolidated over these 12 years, as a party with social concerns, relegating identity issues or the independence of the Basque Country to a secondary plane.

The PNV and EH Bildu together obtained nearly 70% of the votes today and the next regional parliament will be the most nationalist in the history of the Basque Country, after a campaign focused, in essence, on socioeconomic issues and coinciding with a moment when, according to all opinion polls, the desire for independence is at a historic low among the Basques.

On the other hand, there will be fewer deputies from parties of the Spanish left in the new Basque parliament, only one, from Somar (which is in the central government of Spain with the PSOE), the result of a movement of votes from these formations to the EH Bildu.

The Popular Party (PP, right) elected seven deputies and Vox (far right) kept the only one it already had.

Currently, there were 31 PNV deputies in the Basque parliament, 21 from EH Bildu, 10 from the socialists, six from the PP, six from Podemos (far left), one from VOX and one from Ciudadanos (liberal).

In Madrid, the national leadership of the PSOE congratulated itself for having improved its results in the Basque Country compared to four years ago and for continuing to be a "central and decisive party" in the region.

The PP considered the result of the EH Bildu "bad news" and blamed Pedro Sánchez for the "whitewashing" of a party that the PP believes has not yet condemned the violence of ETA.

Read Also: Basque Country. Elections dictate a tie between nationalists and independentists (Portuguese version)