The term Basque derbies refers to the various local derbies between the football teams based in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Spain. This can also include the province of Navarre outside of the autonomous community. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs and fans.
Background
As of the 2023–24 season, there are three clubs in La Liga that play in the Basque Country area. The major rivalry is between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad, representing their home provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa, known as 'the' Basque derby, which has been played over 140 times in the league alone. They also met in the 2020 Copa del Rey Final, won by Real Sociedad after being postponed for a year.
The third club, Deportivo Alavés, has not won any major honours, coming closest by finishing runners-up in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup and the 2016–17 Copa del Rey. The Babazorros, based in the regional capital Vitoria-Gasteiz, have spent 16 seasons in the top division across their history (they formed in 1921). Alavés were the highest-ranked Basque team for the first time in 1999–2000 when they finished 6th, and repeated the feat two years later with 7th place.
A dramatic match between Alavés and Real Sociedad took place in June 2008 at Mendizorrotza, with both clubs involved in battles at either end of the second division table going into the penultimate round. Real looked to have done enough to secure a win until the final minutes when two late goals turned the result (3–2) and gave Alavés all three points, which proved crucial as they escaped relegation by one point; Real Sociedad finished fourth and missed out on promotion. Nine years earlier, with both teams in the top tier, Alavés had again stayed clear of the drop zone with a 2–1 win at home to Real Sociedad on the last day.
A fourth club, SD Eibar, was also a fixture in the top division for much of the 2010s. A smaller organisation historically than Álaves reflected in fanbase and stadium, their home town of Eibar has a population of under 30,000 and is located midway between Bilbao and San Sebastián with many of the residents supporting either Athletic or Real Sociedad. The club's first ever campaign in the Primera was in 2014–15 (they clinched their promotion the previous year with a 1–0 win over Alavés which also seemed destined to relegate their opponent, though ultimately Alavés won their final two games and stayed up by one point). Despite finishing the first campaign in a relegation place after a dramatic final day, they were reprieved due to another club's administrative demotion. Their stadium is of a modest stature (Ipurua holds just over 7,000 even after improvements since the Armeros remained in the top division). Despite these limitations, Eibar's 9th place in the 2017–18 La Liga campaign made them the highest-ranking Basque club for the first time ever. Their top-division run eventually halted at the end of their seventh season in 2020–21.
Having never previously met in a competitive match during their 70-year coexistence, Eibar (then in the third tier, although they would gain promotion via the play-offs at the end of the season) achieved a shock victory in November 2012 when they eliminated Athletic Bilbao, the previous season's finalists, from the 2012–13 Copa del Rey on away goals; the Eibar scorer was Mikel Arruabarrena, an unsuccessful Athletic youth graduate. The second leg at the original San Mamés was also the last cup tie (of 268 in total) played at the stadium.
The relationship between Alavés and Eibar became more strained in 2017 when CD Vitoria, Eibar's recently incorporated farm team (based in Alavés' home town, previously an affiliate of that club and now competing directly with their reserve team) gained promotion and upgraded to municipally-owned facilities in the city. A short time beforehand, Alavés had acquired the services of Eibar's youth academy director. With Alavés having also been relegated a year after Eibar in 2022, the two clubs both finished in the 2023 Segunda División play-offs positions and faced off in the semi-finals: Alavés prevailed over two legs, and then defeated Levante (the only goal scored in the last minute of extra time by Asier Villalibre, a loan player from Athletic) to secure promotion.