“Look what has happened in the Basque Country in the past four months while in Madrid there has been nothing but talk: here we have approved the Municipal Affairs Act, we are set to sign a protocol of cooperation with Navarre, unemployment has dropped steadily and our economy has been growing faster than the Spanish average. It’s like the fable: in Madrid they have the grasshopper while in the Basque Country we have been working like the ant. We have had our minds on what was important: on governing, on reaching agreements, on dialogue, on solving people’s problems. And if there is one person who has personified that different way of doing things it is our premier, Iñigo Urkullu”. With these words Andoni Ortuzar, Chair of the Governing Council of the Basque National Party (EAJ-PNV), earned one of the biggest ovations heard at the event held by the Party at the Palacio Europa conference centre in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where the National Assembly confirmed Mr. Urkullu as its candidate for Basque Premier in this autumn’s election. Mr. Ortuzar invited Mr. Urkullu to come up on stage, where they embraced warmly.