The Basque Country's parliament has set the stage for a showdown with Madrid bygiving Spain's government two months to transfer powers that the Basque leaders say are long overdue.
Today's resolution claims jurisdiction in some 37 areas from social security to prisons, energy policy, road and rail transport, airports, labour legislation and scientific research.
If Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's government fails to transfer the powers by September, the ruling Basque nationalist coalition has said it will seize them for itself.
Madrid has warned Basque leaders it believes the demand contravenes Spain's 1978 constitution and it will take legal action.
But Basque nationalists insist the measure implements the 1979 Statute of Guernika, which guaranteed the region's autonomous status during the democratic transition after the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975.
The unilateral action could set a precedent for Spain's other autonomous regions, such as Galicia and Catalonia.
The vote was passed with 36 votes from the nationalist parliamentary block, against 31 from Aznar's ruling Popular Party (PP) and the main opposition Socialist Party (PSOE). Radical nationalist group Batasuna abstained.