The first law, enacted in 1990, distinguished three categories of cultural heritage:[1] The law offered two degrees of protection: qualified (Spanish: calificado, Basque: zermugatua, kalifikatua, sailkatua) and listed (Spanish: inventariado, Basque: zerrendatutakoa, inbentariatua).
[2] In August 2018, the Basque Government put forward a bill to update its regulations about cultural heritage.
It would increase the number of heritage categories from three to thirteen, as well as toughen penalties for violators.
It was the third regional law in Spain to contemplate the protection of intangible heritage, after the ones of Navarre and Andalusia.
[4] The enacted law distinguishes nineteen categories of cultural heritage, arranged in three broad groups:[5] The 2019 law offers three degrees of protection: basic, medium and special.