MADRID , Spain ( CNN ) -- The incumbent Basque nationalists won the most seats in Basque regional parliamentary elections on Sunday , but they could lose a 29-year hold on power because three non-nationalist parties won a combined majority for the first time , according to official election results . Socialist candidate Patxi Lopez speaks to reporters after voting Sunday in regional parliamentary elections . The vote for the powerful 75-seat regional parliament and Basque president are seen as a bellwether of the region 's sentiment on how to end decades of violence by the Basque separatist group ETA . The moderate Basque Nationalist Party won 30 seats , and its traditional smaller party allies won seven more . But the crucial 38-seat majority went to the Basque branches of Spain 's ruling Socialist Party , with 24 seats ; the conservative Popular Party , with 13 seats ; and the new Progressive Union and Democracy party , with one seat , according to official results . The Socialist candidate , Patxi Lopez , told supporters the vote `` legitimized '' his bid to `` lead the change . '' Negotiations with other parties to make Lopez the next Basque president were expected in the coming days . The non-nationalist parties have taken a forceful line on trying to end ETA 's violence , blamed for nearly 800 deaths . ETA stands for Euskadi ta Askatasuna , or `` Basque Homeland and Liberty '' in the Basque language . The group wants an independent Basque homeland , but is classified as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States , because of car bombings and fatal shootings . The Basque Nationalist Party seeks self-determination for the 2.1 million Basques but does not support ETA 's violence . Some 600 ETA suspects or convicts are in Spanish jails , and three alleged top leaders of the group were arrested last year . But ETA has continued to defy officials -- bomb attacks , including a major blast that damaged a construction company office in Madrid three weeks ago , continue to be attributed to the group . For the first time , political parties linked to ETA were banned from running in the Basque elections . Spanish courts in recent years outlawed a leftist party called Batasuna , and others , saying they secretly and actively aided ETA . One such party holds nine seats in the outgoing parliament . The incumbent Basque president and nationalist leader , Juan Jose Ibarretxe , scolded the Socialists and the conservatives during the campaign as being outsiders and puppets of their national offices in Madrid . But Lopez , the Basque Socialist leader , accused the Basque nationalists of trying to divide the Basques , between those who favor self-determination and those who prefer to remain firmly a part of Spain . The Basques want `` dialogue and a change of course , '' Lopez said . He has vowed to govern for all Basques , and Spain 's Socialist Prime Minister , Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero , campaigned in the Basque region to support Lopez . For years , Socialist and conservative politicians , even low-level town councilors , in the Basque region have been protected by police or private bodyguards due to ETA death threats . Several have been killed nonetheless . But this year , the Basque nationalist party also has come under ETA attack . ETA violence is a regular feature of Basque and Spanish elections . Earlier this week , a predawn bomb attributed to ETA heavily damaged a new Socialist party clubhouse in the Basque town of Lazkao . The next day , the son of a former Socialist councilman there allegedly swung a heavy mallet to smash the glass windows and damage a social club linked to leftist pro-independence supporters . That man reportedly has now fled the town . An ETA statement on Friday , issued to the Basque newspaper Gara , called Sunday 's elections `` anti-democratic '' and predicted they would result in a `` fascist parliament . '' Spain 's economic crisis was somewhat less an issue in the relatively prosperous Basque region -- heavy on industry and services -- which still has slim economic growth and an unemployment rate of 8 percent , compared with the national average of nearly 14 percent . The three-province Basque region , whose largest city is Bilbao , has extensive home-rule powers , including a regional police force that is involved in the fight against ETA , control of education and health care , and tax collection . Elsewhere on Sunday , in Spain 's northwest Galicia region , the opposition conservatives won a majority in the Galicia regional parliament . They will dislodge the leftist governing coalition , led by the Galicia branch of Spain 's Socialist Party . The defeat was seen as blow to Prime Minister Zapatero .
Elections held for the regional parliament in Spain 's Basque region . Basque Nationalist Party wins 55 seats , traditional allies win seven more . Socialist Party and others win a 38-seat majority . Basque Nationalist Party seeks self - determination for the 2.1 million Basques .