Speak the Culture: Spain: Be Fluent in Spanish Life and Culture

14

1. Identity: the
   building blocks of
   2. Literature
   and philosophy
   3. Art and
   architecture
   4. Performing
   arts
   5. Cinema
   and fashion
   6. Media and
   communications
   7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
   the details of

iv. Basque Country

Aesthetically, Euskal Herria (País Vasco in Castilian),

land of the Basque speakers, may just be the jewel in the

north’s crown. Dense forests, jagged coasts and knee-

weakening villages still dominate despite the region’s

close relationship with heavy

industry. On the coast the

rejuvenated gem of Bilbao,

complete with beguiling

Museo Guggenheim,

and the beach-blessed

San Sebastian are as

cosmopolitan as anything

facing out onto the

Cantabrian Sea. But, as you’ve no doubt heard, there’s

more going on here than pedalos and pastoral bliss.

Over 800 dead in four decades – so reads the glum

statistic tied to the extreme Basque separatist group

EuskadiTa Azkatasuna (ETA).The regional Basque

government already boasts significant autonomy – more

than any other in Spain – but many still yearn to sever the

apron strings with Madrid entirely (although only a very

small minority via violent means). Various ceasefires

have been declared and broken in recent years: the latest,

called by ETA in March 2006, was punctured by the

bombing of Madrid Airport within a year.

The sum of its parts
While the current
autonomous region
of the Basque Country
comprises three
provinces, the Basque
people consider their
territory to stretch over
seven provinces in all.
Three of the additional
territories are in France,
while a fourth within
Spain comprises much
of the Navarre region.
The ultimate aim of
Basque nationalists is
to group all of these
lands within one self-
governed state.
A traditional piece of
Basque graffiti,4+3=1,
refers to the objective.

A region apart
The Basque Country
carries a very distinct
culture. The people look
a bit different to most
Spaniards (look out
for burly men with
thick eyebrows and
strong chins) and their
language, undoubtedly

one of the oldest in

Europe, doesn’t

resemble any other

tongue on the continent.

Tied to this particular

patch of land for

thousands of years,

some suggest the

Basques may be the

closest thing Europe has

to an aboriginal people.

Life here has a unique

flourish. Oral traditions

and upland isolation

have preserved mystical

folkish legends, still

relayed today by singing

poets calledbertsolaris.

The tambourine and

thetrikitixaaccordion

are the key players in

Basque folk music, while

heart-stopping high kicks

seem crucial to the

myriad forms of local

dance. In sport, the

masters of stone lifting

or log cutting are hailed

as heroes.