Out of a total population of 258,000 this breaks down to 70,000 speakers and 23,000 who only understand the language. Some local authorities and public services still use it very inefficiently when dealing with tourists and providing them with information. Local communities are slowly but surely erecting bilingual road signs. There are some monolingual road signs in Basque. Courses in Basque language and literature are taught in these universities and in the University of Toulouse.
State radio provides one hour of programming.
Three community radio stations broadcast in Basque all day. Since 1994 there has been a weekly newspaper in the language. However one daily and two weeklies regularly publish articles in Basque. In 1996 the Development Council for the Basque Country initiated a scheme for the language and culture approved by the State and by local groups who were asking specifically for the setting up of a Language Council. In 1982 the 'Act for the Normalization of the Use of Basque' was passed, laying down numerous provisions on the use of the language in administration, education and the media.