Alex Salmond has courted Conservative home-rulers in the Basque Country as he continues his post-indyref international charm offensive.

The former first minister - who in office shunned what his aides thought were politically dangerous overseas complications - has accepted a prize from the Iberian nation's regionalist rulers.

And, as he did so, he declared himself to be a Basque and joked that he is going to speak the notoriously difficult language - but only after dark, according to local reports.

Mr Salmond, according to local Spanish-language reports, said: "Nations find different paths to achieve their ambitions; but what connects Scotland and the Basque Country is that both nations seek equal status in the world, but in different ways. The objective is the same. And if the Basque Country and Scotland achieve that objective, then I am sure that both nations can make a substantial contribution to the world."

Mr Salmond cautioned, however, against equating potential breakaway states in the British Isles or Iberia.

He said: "The Basque Country is not Scotland and Scotland is not the the Basque Country and the Basque Country is not Catalonia and Catalonia is not the Basque Country."

Those who support independence - the number is thought to be around a third in the Basque Country - frequently draw inspiration from Scotland's referendum. Spain's central government has made it clear that such a democratic outcome is not on the cards for either the Basque Country or Catalonia, where the current administration is pursuing a road map to independence.

The Basque Nationalist Party or PNV, which has been in government in the Basque Country almost continuously since democracy was re-established in Spain, takes a cautious, gradualist approach.

It is no loner a formal ally of the SNP and sits with conservatives in the European Parliament.

Mr Salmond's prize was awarded by the Sabino Arana Foundation, the cultural wing of the PNV, usually known by its joint Basque-Spanish acronym of EAJ-PNV.

Mr Salmond also used his trip to the Basque Country to promote a Basque translation of his memoires, The Dream Shall Never Die.

However, his decision to associate himself with the PNV will raise eyebrows given that the SNP is allied with other Basque parties, which are more explicitly pro-independence.

Mr Salmond's previous Iberian intervention saw him openly take sides in a tactical dispute among Catalan independentistes.

The former first minister speaks on foreign affairs for the SNP in the UK Parliament.