Madrid - Separatist tendencies were Monday seen as having suffered a major setback in the Basque region, as a party defending Spain's unity appeared set to form a regional government for the first time.

Outgoing Basque Prime Minister Juan Jose Ibarretxe's Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which wants to loosen ties with Spain, won Sunday's regional elections, but did not get a sufficient majority to govern in a coalition with its traditional nationalist partners.

Madrid  - Spain's troubled Basque region faced an eventual new era after regional elections on Sunday made it possible for a party advocating national unity to form the regional government for the first time.

The Spanish socialists' good election result was a boost to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, but it was unclear what it might mean for the region beset by separatist pressures.

Basque socialist leader Patxi Lopez pledged to unite the Basques, who are divided over independence, if he becomes regional prime minister.

Vitoria/Santiago de Compostela, Spain  - A mainstream Spanish party defending the country's unity could oust Basque nationalists from power for the first time in 30 years, preliminary results showed after Sunday's regional elections.

Basque Prime Minister Juan Jose Ibarretxe's Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) won the elections, taking 30 seats in the 75-member regional parliament.

However, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialists increased their support from 18 to 24 seats.

Vitoria/Santiago de Compostela, Spain  - Spanish police detained a suspected member of the militant Basque separatist group ETA shortly before voting started Sunday in regional elections in the Basque region and nearby Galicia.

Officials said the 24-year-old may have been preparing an imminent attack.

Materials for making explosives were seized from the man, who was held overnight in the Basque locality of Billabona.

He was also suspected of preparing booby traps which failed to cause injuries to police officers who came to inspect them in January.

Vitoria/Santiago de Compostela, Spain  - Voting began Sunday in two suspense-filled Spanish regional elections which were to take the political pulse of a country sinking into a deepening recession.

Voters were electing 75-member regional parliaments for the northern Basque region, which has 2.1 million residents, and nearby Galicia, with 2.8 million.

In the Basque region, a party defending Spain's unity against separatist strivings was deemed to have chances to govern for the first time since the region was granted a wide measure of autonomy in 1979.

Vitoria/Santiago de Compostela, Spain  - Voting began Sunday in two suspense-filled Spanish regional elections which were to take the political pulse of a country sinking into a deepening recession.

Voters were electing 75-member regional parliaments for the northern Basque region, which has 2.1 million residents, and nearby Galicia, with 2.8 million.