The Basques elected their first post-ceasefire parliament yesterday, the day after ETA told the BBC that its decision to renounce violence was "firm and serious".
Peace brought big rewards to opposite ends of the Basque political spectrum. ETA's political wing, Euskal Herritarrok, took 14 seats, three more than it won in 1994 when it was called Herri Batasuna. The conservative Partido Popular, whose local councillors have been ruthlessly targeted by ETA until a few weeks ago, was an even bigger winner, rising from 11 seats to 16, and becoming the second largest force in the 75-seat Basque parliament.
The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), also conservative in social terms but an ally of Euskal Herritarrok in the Basque peace initiative, remains the biggest party, with 22 seats. The Socialist Party (PSOE), traditionally almost as anti-nationalist as the PP, won two extra seats, raising their number to 14.
The big losers were the smaller parties. Overall, the groups which supported the peace initiative actually lost four seats relative to the previous parliament. However, the sharp rise in support for Euskal Herritarrok will almost certainly sweeten that pill enough to keep ETA on ceasefire.
Indeed, ETA's BBC interview suggested that, even if no political solution to the Basque conflict emerges in the near future, the war is over "for this generation" of ETA members.
Democracy has been given a big breathing space, it seems, and the Basque electorate took full advantage of it yesterday. By midday, it was clear that the level of participation was going to be much higher than usual. But nobody was sure who this would benefit.
"There is a big hidden vote here, because of fear," a PP councillor, Mr Juan Carlos Sabian told me. He thought more people would vote for the PP in the current, more relaxed atmosphere. But he agreed that the main beneficiaries of the truce could be Euskal Herritarrok.
While EH did not do as well as expected, the biggest losers were the moderate nationalists, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), with six deputies, down from eight, and the procommunist coalition Izquierda Unida (IU), with two seats, down from six four years ago. The regional conservatives Unidad Alavesa also won two seats.The big question now is whether the PNV will attempt to form a minority government exclusively made up of nationalists, with conditional support from EH. The other option is a majority coalition with the Socialists, their reluctant partners since 1986, or even an alliance with the PP, something else that would have been inconceivable not long ago.