This year marks the 500th anniversary of the New Fuero of Bizkaia, emphasizing its historical significance and its impact on contemporary society. This document, updated in 1526, established social policies, women's rights, and procedural guarantees that were remarkably advanced for their time.

John Adams, the second president of the United States, cited Bizkaia as one of the few peoples in Europe that had managed to preserve its system of government and customs over a long period. This highlights the uniqueness and value of the Vizcayan foral system.

The origin of the Fuero is linked to the War of the Bands, following the conquest of Western Navarre by Castile. In 1526, the fuero was updated by a commission of thirteen expert individuals. This commission met in a house outside the walls of Bilbao and proposed the new regulations in less than 20 days.

The New Fuero of 1526 contained advanced social policies, although they did not reach the level of the welfare state that emerged after the Weimar Constitution. It regulated poverty and social assistance, such as aid to beggars and community responsibility for those in need. Regarding women's rights, the fuero was far more advanced than other regulations in Spain and most of Europe, including inheritance rights, capacity to contract, and protection against abuse.

The true social protection of the Fuero, however, lies in what was lost after its abolition, both in public and private law. The Fuero of 1526 created a comprehensive system of judicial guarantees, already outlined in the Old Fuero, which were defined with perfect order and clarity. This system ensured protection against arbitrary detention and the right to adequate defense, laying the foundations for the modern rule of law, a century and a half before the English Habeas Corpus.

Furthermore, there was the Foral Pass, a custom by which the Lord's provisions were examined by the General Assemblies before coming into force. If they were deemed contrary to the fuero, they were not complied with. This demonstrates the high level of self-government in Bizkaia, which served as a model for other provinces.