Ibilaldia 2009

This article was published at EiTB:

Ibilaldia 2009 kicks off in the Basque town of Galdakao

Nora García

Eguzkibegi ikastola in Galdakao organized the 31st edition of Ibilaldia. This year, people will be able to enjoy along seven different areas children workshops, bertsolaris, Basque dances, a hot-hair balloon and concerts.

Ibilaldia is a festival in favour of the Basque language organized each year by a different ikastola (Basque school). It is Bizkaia's version of the pro-Ikastola, pro-Basque language events that take place annually in the Basque Country, normally on a Sunday, in order to raise money for ikastolas.

Ibilaldia was celebrated in 1978 for the first time and it was organized by a Basque school in Getxo. It is similar to Gipuzkoa's "Kilometroak", Araba's "Araba Euskaraz", Nafarroa's "Nafarroa Oinez" and Iparralde's "Herri Urrats".

Ibilaldia 2009 kicks off today at 09:00 and will finish at 19:00, under the slogan "Gerizpetik Eguzkibegi". Eguzkibegi Ikastola was in charge to organize it this year. After having paid a non-compulsory admission at the entrance of any price you deem fit for the event, you walk around a carefully planned circuit of the village or town while enjoying typical Basque traditions. People will be able to enjoy along seven different areas several activities like children workshops, bertsolaritza (Basque Country's "spontaneous poetry"), Basque dances, a hot-hair balloon and concerts (Biok, Sagarroi…), among others.

Eguzkibegi Ikastola was created in 1966 by some parents. It has more than 600 pupils nowadays and they expect to raise enough money to enlarge the school and improve some of the infrastructures.

There will be bus service available from 09:00 to 19:00 from Bilbao to Galdakao round trip.

One issue that we would like to point out is that the head of the Ministry of Education in the Basque Autonomous Community, Isabel Celaá, refused to assist to the Ibilaldia celebration. This ministry is in charge of the Basque language education and her decision is part of the punitive strategy designed in Madrid against the Basque language, an strategy that is being implemented by the Spaniard that was appointed by the central government to rule the province, an individual by the name of Francisco Javier López.

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Lopez Starts Campaign Against Euskara

The Spanish government assigned to rule the Basque Autonomous Community is using an ill intentioned euphemism ("harmonious coexistence") to kick start its violent campaign against the Basque language.

Francisco Javier Lopez's Government looks likely to suspend measures previously taken to establish Euskera (the Basque language) as the primary language of education in the Basque Country.

The new Spanish government allegedly supports bilingual education as opposed to giving greater importance to Basque in the classroom. For this reason, Lopez's administration will look to repeal the laws adopted by previous governments that established Euskera as the primary language of learning, explained Oskar Perez at the Basque Superior Court of Justice.

The Education Department went on the stress its desire to impose Castillian (known as Spanish around the world) just like in Franco's times, with total disregard towards Basque, an official language, setting the conditions for the dominance of the language imposed to the Basques over the one they have spoken for thousands of years. Is strange that a so called "democratic state" takes measures to remove spaces for the development of a language spoken by a few in order to impose a language spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

We need to remember now that Spain conducted genocidal campaigns during its colonial period which is the reason why so many individuals have Castillian as their mother tongue today, and that is exactly what took place when Castille invaded Nabarra (Navarre), the Basque kingdom.

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No Manifesto Against English Requirement?

In this blog we have been reporting about the all out campaign in the Spanish state against the so called "minority languages": Euskara (Basque), Catalan (Catalonian) and Galego (Galizan). Strangely enough, we do not see that extreme right philosopher Fernado Savater leading a campaign against the English language that according to this note published at Finanzas should be the main source of concern for the ultra-nationalists in Spain and therefore the primary target:

27% of jobs require languages

English is required in 75% of job vacancies that require languages, followed by French, with 6.84%, and German, with 6.55%, according to Infoempleo.

Language skills are a requirement in 26.64% of skilled employment vacancies, with English being the most demanded language by companies in our country, according to Infoempleo.

Increased worker mobility, globalization of companies and high migration are the factors that have contributed to the gradual increase in demand for language in job vacancies, according to the Infoempleo report.

In relation to this trend, the president of Infoempleo.com, María Benjumea, appreciates that language skill is "an essential part of any professional profile, it is a key differentiator, adds value to the worker and can be key when a company decides to choose between one candidate or another. "

The study also points out that English is present in a total of 74.57% of job vacancies that require their candidates to have language skills, well ahead of French, with 6.84%, and German with 6.55%. For their part, Italian and Portuguese continue being less valued than the previous languages. They show a decline that leaves them each with a stronghold of less than 0.5% in job vacancies that require languages.

Regional languages

In relation to the requirement for regional languages in job vacancies, the Infoempleo report points out the Basque Country and Catalonia as the regions that value local languages skills the most, with 28.8% and 13.2% respectively.

Furthermore, the report shows that Galicia and Valencia have very similar requirements for their regional languages. Galician and Valencian language requirements are present in approximately 10% of job vacancies for each language.

But for cowards like Savater is way easier to go against anything that may affect the Basque Country.

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The Rise of Txakoli

We present you a fragment of an article called "Basque-ing in Wine" published at the Sonoma Valley Sun:

I generally stick with less potent starters. In an effort to broaden my stubbornly limited horizons, W.S. introduced me to Txakolina, a lower-alcohol, perfect hot-weather aperitif wine with unique characteristics, as well as a fascinating back-story.

Txakolina, pronounced CHAW-koh-LEE-nah, hails from the Basque country, an autonomous region of northern Spain. Txakolina wines include red, white and rose, although the white is by far the most abundant.

Txakolina has proud origins, and a history so obscure that there’s not much easily accessible information. W.S. suggested I contact Andre Tamers, owner of De Maison Selections, the largest U.S. importer of Txakolina. In fact, Andre and his wife Cindy Cuomo are writing a book on the subject, due for release later this year.

First I enquire about the name, variously referred to as Txakoli or Txakolina. “Well, that’s a mystery,” Andre says. “One theory is that Txakoli was the house where the wine was made, and Txakolina was the wine.” What is definite, according to Andre, is that Txakolina “has always been a part of the Basque people.” The word itself is in Euskara, an ancient language. About one million people speak Euskara. The language can differ in villages as little as 10 miles apart – the result of interaction with other languages, although Euskara predates modern dialects. In fact, Euskara is the only language that survived the Roman conquest of Hispania in 218 BC. Although attempts have been made to link it to many different languages, Euskara’s origins still remain unclear.

Over the centuries, Spanish supplanted Euskara. The Spanish dictator Franco, ruler from 1939 to 1975, outlawed Euskara, provoking Basque nationalism. Spain revoked this law at the end of the 20th century, and today, a standardized form called Euskara batua (unified Euskara) is taught in schools. Spaniards say “Chacoli,” but you will rarely see that inscribed on any Basque bottle.

Like Euskara, Basque wines nearly disappeared. Vineyards once covered more than 2500 acres. The 19th century European Phylloxera epidemic wiped out Basque vineyards, too. According to Tamers, sheer isolation helped pockets survive. With the advent of new nationalism, the wine industry revived as the Basque government subsidized winemaking. This attracted new people and technology. Wine expert Jancis Robinson writes that since the 1990s Txakolina has improved “noticeably.” For the first-time, Txakolina, once a little wine made in homes, exploded internationally. Basque country is only about the size of Rhode Island. A little more than 400 acres produce wine. That’s expected to expand exponentially. “They don’t have enough for demand,” says Andre. “This year they’re totally sold out.”

What makes this wine exciting is the fresh acidity, minerality and vibrant fruit, the result of Basque’s cooler climate, sandy soils with clay subsoils, and proximity to the Atlantic. It’s best within the first year of its release because the youthful characteristics diminish over time.

In the last decades, winemakers from the Getaria appellation also added a slight effervescence, and a Txakolina ritual evolved based on Spanish cider-drinking customs. Inserting a pourer called “escanciador” the bottle is held high over a pint glass and poured two to three fingers deep. Drinkers take “shots” of Txakolina. Like most Basques, I’ll take mine in a wine glass, thank you very much.

So, whenever you have a chance, enjoy a refreshing glass of txakoli.

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Language Issues in Euskal Herria I

I've got to tell you, ever since that infamous article about the Basque language by Basque-phobe Keith Johnson I cringe each time I find an article about this issue in an US media outlet. Here I present you one published at Examiner:

Tyler Sprecker

Language, identity and education policy in Spain’s Basque country: Part 1

Governing has never been so complicated. Political scientists the world over have been scratching their heads over the simultaneous integration and devolution of governments. The European Union has expanded to include 27 member countries and Asia has discussed development of a European Union-like structure while separatist movements from Quebec, Canada to the Tibet, China fight on for sovereignty. All the while, political and economic commentators from Benjamin Barber to Thomas Friedman have reflected on the effects of globalization and what it means for people around the world.

For many, it has meant having to balance economic and cultural survival. That struggle is evident in the Basque Country of Spain, where the regional government is feudally trying to weave a trilingual web of Basque, Spanish and English among its citizens, making education policy a hotly debated issue. This two part series will explore language in Spain’s Basque Country, education policy and the current debate.

Spain’s Basque Country is a semi-autonomous region on the northern coast of Spain near the French border and longtime home to the indigenous Basque people. In fact, Basque is believed to be the last remaining pre-Indo European language in Europe. Communities in the Basque region had enjoyed a great degree of autonomy until the late 18th-19th centuries. Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975) even went so far as to outlaw the Basque language, nullifying all legal documents recorded in the language and punishing those that dared speak it in public. Since the ratification of Spain’s 1978 Constitution, the Basque Country has been named a “historical region” and has been afforded a great degree of autonomy.

Unfortunately for many non-Basque speakers, the Basque government seems to have concluded that the best way to protect the Basque language is to force it onto others, and that may not be such a bad assessment. Language displacement has occurred in many parts of the world as dominant languages such as English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Arabic have spread. As a necessity for survival, speakers of the marginal languages are often forced to learn the dominant language of their respective regions, creating a generation (or several) of bilingual speakers that function as a bridge between their cultural past and the future of their children. Faced with economic marginalization, parents will often times raise their children in the dominant language but will not teach them their mother language, or if they do, the marginal utility of that language will not be sufficient so as to warrant its use by the younger generation who often times will abandon it completely. Left to evolutionary forces alone, many marginal languages will simply disappear as they are replaced by dominant ones. Simply permitting a given population to speak their native tongue does not guarantee that language’s survival. But is this a matter of survival for Basque speakers?

Perhaps not; there are an estimated 632,000 native Basque speakers (roughly double the number of Icelandic speakers). Aggregate numbers alone, however, do not tell the whole story. While the Basque people are largely confined to one geographic location, only an estimated one quarter of Basque region inhabitants speak Basque as a native language, and the region’s main center of commerce, Bilbao, is largely populated by native Spanish speakers, with native Basque speakers largely confined to the outskirts and surrounding areas.

But to frame the debate exclusively in terms of culture versus economy is to distort it. In Part 2, I will explore in further detail Basque Country politics and the identity debate.

Just one little detail, Euskara is not forced "onto others", the government of the Basque Autonomous Community can do nothing about having someone in Andalucia or the Canary Islands learning the language. The language policy is implemented only in the three Basque provinces it rules and all the inhabitants minus the inmigrants of these three provinces are supposed to be Basques.

If they don't feel Basque and they refuse to speak Basque they can always go to Spain and live their happy lives in a Spanish speaking environment, in the end, Spain is not awefully far from the Basque Country.

We'll wait and see what Tyler tells us in the second installment of the series.

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The "Decline" of Basque Nationalism

The article you're about to read was published at The Politonomist, it is a fine example of the way the international media is reading the outcome of the recent electoral process in the Basque Autonomous Community:

The Decline of Basque Nationalism

by Lindsay Amantea

March 9th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

In an interesting change during the regional elections in Spain on March 1st, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) lost it’s 29 year hold on the parliament in the Basque Autonomous Community. Approximately 1.7 million Basques of the 2.1 million living in the region are eligible to vote. The new government is expected to be made up of a coalition between the Basque Socialist Party, a non-nationalist group led by Patxi López, and the People’s Party (PP), which has a right-wing conservative platform. This also marks the first election without Batasuna, one of the parties that was banned by the federal government for its connection with the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), which is a militant Basque group fighting for an independent nation state. There are calls for a re-election, as the votes that were cast for the banned parties were not counted, and theoretically could have gone to giving one of the other parties (namely the PNV) a majority. While ETA related groups were not allowed at the polls, there were no attacks from the militants during the campaign.

Actually, the Basque Socialist Party led by Patxi Lopez is a rabidly nationalist party, only that it is a Spanish nationalist party, their only goal is to erode the Basque identity of the province in favor of the Spanish identity.

Now, a couple of important facts:

a) The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV for its initials in Spanish) did not lose any of its electoral power, they actually managed to retain their votes and even attract some voters from a former political partner, the Eusko Alkartasuna party.

b) More important, pro independence party D3M (Democracy Three Million) obtained a total of 100,000 votes and seven seats in the parliament. These votes were voided later during the electoral process which consitutes a clear violation of the political rights of the Basque people. The decision to declare these votes void amounts to Apartheid and Spain should be taken to court for this.

c) Aralar, the other openly pro-independence party increased its presence in the parliament from one seat to a total of four seats.

But let us continue with the article:

Basque nationalism has been alive for more than two hundred years, with justifiable right. The Basque region, which spans the Pyrenees between France and Spain, is home to possibly the least assimilated group of the Palaeolithic inhabitants of Western Europe. According to the most believed theory, while the rest of Europe was being assimilated into the Roman Empire, Basque society developed outside of its influence. They created their own language, Batua, which is still spoken by about 650,000 people, almost all of whom live in what is considered Basque country. The Basque people were largely autonomous until the French Revolution in France and the Carlist Wars in Spain at which point the governments of both countries took an interest in their rule.

There is a minor mistake in this paragraph, the language spoken by the Basque people is called Euskara which is divided in seven different dialects. Batua is the unified language that was created to bridge the gap between dialects and provide the language with a common grammar and lexicon to use at government insitutions and even written literature.

Since the early 1800s there has been a significant movement towards an autonomous Basque region or for complete independence from Spain and France. As it currently stands, about 60% of those living in the Spanish Basque Autonomous Community want some sort of an autonomous state for the Basques, while only 25% want to see an independent country spanning the Spanish-French border. There has also been a movement away from living in the Autonomous Community in recent years. While there are about 2.1 million people living there now, over the last 25 years approximately 380,000 people have left the area, many of which have settled in other regions in Spain. One of the most cited reasons for this exodus has been the violent tactics used by ETA.

ETA was founded in August 1959 as a group that advocated for cultural traditions of the Basque people. It has since evolved into a paramilitary operation which has been responsible for an estimated eight hundred twenty five deaths, thousands of injuries and dozens of kidnappings since it first took a violent stance in 1968. Hundreds of members of ETA are currently imprisoned in France and Spain, and most countries, including all of the EU, Canada, and the United States consider them a terrorist organization. Between 1983 and 1987 a sort of war raged between ETA and Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberacion (GAL). GAL kidnapped, tortured and killed members of ETA, as well as their family members and even some people who had no connection to ETA. This war is what prompted thousands to flee the area. In 2006 ETA announced a ceasefire, which was subsequently broken in 2007.

After hundreds of years of repression and forty years of violence, the people of the Basque country are ready to try to come to a peaceful agreement. While a majority would like some sort of autonomy and recognition as a distinct people, they do not want this at the expense of the lives of their brothers and sisters. The history of the Basque people has been hard, but it is no longer the time to fight for things that they will never get. As a people they are free, they are prosperous and they are happy. Their children can learn in their native tongue, and no one tells them that they cannot have their culture. The Basques no longer have a cause to fight for. They are content with what they have as a people, and do not need anything more.

Well, actually, the Basque right to self determination is protected by the UN Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Basques really have no need to "fight" to regain their sovereignty, if France and Spain were to respect the rights of the Basque people then all of them could seat down and negotiate a diplomatic way out of the 5oo years of colonialist rule over the Basque Country.

No one can claim that just because you live a good life you should give up your right to the independence of your people. The Colonials were enjoying excellent lives and yet they fought against the English crown because they did not want to share their profits. Same goes for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, all of them were wealthy societies that decided to part from England. Right now Scotland and Wales have strong pro-independence movements and they are not poor and uneducated.

Now, regarding language and culture the author should double check Patxi's political agenda, he has not been annointed as the president of the Basque Autonomous Community yet and he's already launching attacks against the Basque language which happens to be the corner stone of Basque culture.

Basque may be wealthy and happy, but the stark truth is, they are divided in three different political entities and at any time Madrid or Paris (or both) can decide if they want to put limits to the development of Basque culture. Let us remember that Spain has already launched direct attacks against the freedom of speech by shutting down Basque newspapers, magazines and radio stations.

We Basque are missing one thing, it is called self-determination, we want to be what we are, nothing more, nothing less.

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Basque Language Revival

The article that you're about to read was posted at McClatchy's page:

As the world's languages disappear, Basque revives

By Julie Sell | McClatchy Newspapers

ST. JEAN DE LUZ, France — The world is losing languages at an alarming rate, a United Nations agency reported Thursday, with thousands of tongues expected to disappear by the end of this century.

Yet amid the losses, one community — the Basque people, who live in the mountainous region of southern France and northern Spain — is reviving a language that many once feared would die out.

In St. Jean de Luz, a seaside town near the Spanish border at the western edge of the Pyrenees, efforts are under way to revitalize the Basque language, which 30 years ago was rarely heard outside mountain villages. Among a population of about 3 million in the Basque region, which comprises seven provinces in Spain and France, an estimated 700,000 people speak Basque today.

Bilingual signs dot the roads and mark storefronts, and an annual festival celebrates the Basque language, music and culture. Public and private schools full of children and adults learn Basque.

Every Sunday, a mass is celebrated entirely in Basque — complete with Basque music — at the local church, Eglise Saint Jean Baptiste.

At the week's major food market here, Bixente, a 32-year-old man in jeans, tennis shoes and a tight wool cap, was selling such regional specialties as ewe's milk cheese, black cherry jam and spicy pimento powder from his stand to a steady stream of customers in the early morning chill.

"I grew up speaking Basque, and did all my baccalaureate exams, even biology and philosophy, in Basque," said Bixente, who hails from Bayonne and declined to identify himself further. "My parents' generation built private Basque schools in the 1980s. They gave their money, their energy, their efforts to make it happen."

In contrast, he said, when his mother was young, she "was punished at school for speaking Basque."

Fabienne Perrin, a 37-year-old woman employed by the local tourism office, grew up speaking Basque in a small mountain town a half-hour's drive from St. Jean de Luz. She recalled that her grandfather spoke only Basque, never French. Now, though, "the generation that spoke only Basque is gone," she said. "To work, you have to speak French."

France recognizes Basque as a distinct regional language — the departmental government has an office dedicated to the Basque language — but Basque doesn't have official status in France, meaning that it can't be used in a court of law, for instance. On the Spanish side of the border, Basque has been one of two official languages in the Basque autonomous region since 1979.

Many locals acknowledge that foreigners mistakenly associate all Basques with the extremist group ETA, whose members are known to slip back and forth across the rugged mountain border.

"There are lots of cliches," Perrin said. "But when people get here, they find we're really interested in something authentic. This isn't just folklore."

As successful as this region has been in preserving its unique language, however, others aren't as lucky.

The language report, released by UNESCO, the U.N. agency based in Paris, provides vivid detail of the linguistic diversity that still exists in the world — more than 6,000 languages are spoken on the planet — and the threats that it faces.

India, the United States, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico have the greatest linguistic diversity, it says, but also the greatest number of languages at risk.

Among 2,500 endangered languages in the agency's online atlas, 538 are classified as "critically endangered." Seventy-five of these are in the United States, many of them obscure American Indian tongues found in the Western states. They include Tubatulabal, spoken by just three elders in California's Kern River Valley in the southern Sierra Nevada, and Lushootseed, spoken by fewer than five people on reservations in Washington state.

Beyond Basque, which UNESCO labeled "unsafe," the agency notes that some endangered languages can be saved through a combination of government intervention and community will.

Welsh, for instance, has made a comeback in the past few decades after nearly dying out when Wales was exclusively under English rule.

UNESCO's most recent estimate of Welsh speakers: 750,000.

(Sell is a McClatchy special correspondent.)

ON THE WEB
UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

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Bilingual Education in Navarre

This essay was published at Basque Research:

Study on attitudes of students at the Public University of Navarre to bilingual education

The Public University of Navarre (UPNA) has presented the book, “Attitudes and beliefs of students of the UPNA to bilingualism and bilingual education”, a report on the research work undertaken by the University teachers Mr Pablo Sotés, Ms Nekane Oroz and Mr Carlos Vilches. The work, 1,000 copies of which have been published at a selling price of 12 euros, was financed by the Government of Navarre.

In order to gather information, the authors carried out interviews with 2,048 students - out of a total of 7,410 – over the 2005-2006 academic year and, moreover, used the technique of group discussion. The level of reliability of the study is 95.5%.

The principal aim of the work was to find out the linguistic skills of the student body at the Public University of Navarre and analyse the attitudes to bilingualism and bilingual education in the educational system of the Autonomous Community of Navarre. The results provide a linguistic map of the student body which should contribute to the task of linguistic planning within the various strategic plans of the University.

Linguistic profile of student body

According to the research results, 84% of students interviewed have Castilian (Spanish) as their mother tongue while 14% have Euskara (the Basque language) or both simultaneously, and the remaining 2% have a mother tongue other than Basque or Spanish. As regards linguistic skills, nearly 40% state that they have knowledge of Basque to a greater or lesser extent, comprehension skills being rated higher than those of oral and written expression. A similar percentage of students (40%) have knowledge of French, although here the percentage of those stating they have difficulties is greater than with Basque.

Linguistic skills in English present special characteristics, according to the study. In general, it can be said that the immense majority of students at the UPNA has a high or intermediate knowledge of the English language, scoring over 90% in each of the four linguistic skills (aural comprehension, reading writing and speaking). The highest scoring, nevertheless, is in written and oral comprehension and the lowest in oral expression. Of the five modern European languages, German is, on the other hand, the language with the least presence amongst the students (less than 10%).

About 20% of students have an elementary or higher qualification in Basque and more than 40% have a certificate in English. About 15% of students have qualifications in French and less than 2% in German.

Taking different languages into account

English is the language deemed by most students as the most appropriate for scientific and educational communication, followed by Spanish, German, French and Basque in that order of importance. This order changes when sociocultural transmission is involved (Spanish, English, Basque, French and German) or which are considered socially the best (Spanish, English, Basque, German and French).

Also, more than 90% of those surveyed consider that the knowledge of a second language facilitates the learning of a third. And to the question as to what linguistic model (in the Basque-Spanish bilingual educational system) they would choose for their primary/secondary school studies if they were making the choice now, women opt primarily for model D (Basque), followed by A (Spanish with Basque as a subject) and G (Spanish) and models in English or in French, in that order. In the case of men, however, the order varies, being model G the most popular choice, followed by D, A and then models in English or in French.

As regards legal aspects there exists a great lacuna in knowledge about linguistic zoning, established by the Navarre Autonomous Community Law on the Basque language. Nevertheless, 43% consider that Basque should have a new deal for the future regulated by Law, which would enable greater rights in the use and the teaching of this language. 14%, however, defend the validity of zoning.

Languages in the educational system

The study also reveals the opinions of students about the treatment of languages in the educational system. 60% of those surveyed consider that Basque is still not normalised nor has it been spread throughout the educational system as it should. More than 35% believe, however, that this language does not need any treatment differentiated from the other languages, given that they believe it to be fully normalised.

With respect to the linguistic models (see above) in the educational system, the majority of those surveyed who come from model A believe this model does not guarantee the achievement of obtaining the linguistic skills sufficient for undertaking university studies in Basque. In the case of model D, the majority who have been through this educational linguistic model hold that this immersion model in Basque enables them to carry out their university studies in either Spanish or Basque. However, ex-model G students believe this model does not guarantee a sufficient level in Spanish.

Regarding the EC languages, students justify the predominance of English as a majority foreign language in the non-university educational system of Navarre, linking fluency in this language with access to high socio-economic status.

As regards French, almost 50% of those surveyed believe it will continue to be taught as up to now, although 25% do not augur a good future for the tongue and consider that its teaching will gradually disappear. On the other hand, most students state that German will grow in the educational system of Navarre.

Languages in the University

The research revealed that students consider knowledge of English fundamental to starting their university studies (88%), followed at a distance by Basque (36%). French and German score significantly low in this respect.

At the time of undertaking the survey, the professional teaching qualifications in Basque included the Teaching Certificate in Infant Education and the Teaching Certificate in Primary Education and certain subjects in other qualifications. Students enrolled in subjects in the Basque language came to 10% of the total, most of which are women who study at the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, have Basque as their mother tongue and have been through model D schooling and this, to a great extent, in the Basque Autonomous Community (Euskadi).

Students not enrolled for subjects through this language state the reasons as being the lack of opportunity to learn the language or lack of linguistic skills therein, incompatibility with timetables, misleading information, preference for Spanish, etcetera. The percentage of ex-model A students opting for subjects through Basque does not come to 4%.

The study indicates that the provision of subjects/courses in Basque is classified as “insufficient” by more than half of the students. In this sense, 76.5% are in favour of including some subjects in Basque within a degree course; 30% prefer the provision of a complete degree course in Basque, together with the existing provision in Spanish and 15.7% would not offer any subject in Basque on a degree course.

Regarding EC languages, the University prioritises the linguistic training of the students - in the academic year in which the survey was undertaken, subjects were offered in English and in French, above all in the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences.

Given this situation, the survey indicates that English is the foreign language most required by students as a language of instruction. 79.2% of those surveyed believe it a good thing to provide subjects in this language, compared to 13.8% who opt for French and 12% for German. Nevertheless, only 19.40% would offer a whole degree course through English. The majority prefer this language to be offered in the following: a selection of subjects; optional subjects; certain core and obligatory subjects, free choice subjects - in that order. The demand for French and German in this respect is much less significant.

Finally, the research measured the level of satisfaction expressed by students at UPNA with how the University treats languages: poorly in the case of Basque and very poorly in the cases of French and German; and medium-high with respect to English.

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Journalism Prize Discriminates Against Nationless Languages

Oh poor Europe, always trying to portray itself as the flagship of democracy, liberty and progress only to find itself making the same all mistakes again and again and again. The main problem being that the Europe of the nations has a bad case of stunted development do to the meddling of a few former colonialist powers, name it Spain, France, Great Britain and Italy.

Those countries impose their borders, their flags, their anthems, their homogenized culture, their law, all what they are upon the nations trapped in an out of context concept of statehood, including of course, imposing their language.

This is why time and again we learn about issues like the one published at EurActiv:

Parliament journalism prize 'illegal', say MEPs

Six MEPs have accused the EU assembly of "illegally" discriminating against particular journalists by only admitting submissions for a prestigious EU prize if they are produced in one of the bloc's 23 official languages.

'The European Parliament Prize for Journalism' is awarded to journalists "who have displayed excellence in covering major European issues and/or promoted better understanding of the EU institutions and/or policies," according to a statement on the institution's website.

"We're fully supportive of this prize, but as things stand it excludes the first-rate journalism produced in many languages that don't have official status in the EU," said a spokesman for the group of European Free Alliance (EFA) MEPs.

Prizes are awarded across four categories - print media, radio, television and the Internet – and are open to either individuals or teams of up to five. The winner in each category receives €5,000. But the eligibility criteria clearly state that "contributions eligible for the award of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall be in one of the official languages of the European Union".

This prevents works from "major publications in the many languages that do not have official status at EU level" from entering, lament the EFA members, citing Catalan, Russian, Welsh and Basque among others.

In a letter, MEPs from Scotland (Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith), Wales (Jill Evans), Latvia (Tatjana Ždanoka), Romania (László Tőkés) and the Basque country (Mikel Irujo) call on the Parliament's president, Hans-Gert Pöttering, to amend the rules because "they may in breach of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights".

"If we are to encourage honest and open reporting of the EU and its work then it makes no sense at all to discriminate against certain journalists or publications based on language," the EFA spokesman added, highlighting the "important contribution" of works in unofficial languages to furthering European debate.

The letter to Pöttering is not the first time EFA members have sought to draw attention to minority languages at EU level. Last September (EurActiv 25/09/08), Irujo, Evans and Tőkés complained that the European Commission was not "courageous" enough to set out concrete initiatives to promote minority languages in its new multilingualism strategy, launched earlier that month (EurActiv 19/09/08).

The Parliament has been accepting submissions for the 2009 journalism competition, now in its second year, since 15 January. The deadline for applications is 31 March. To be eligible, works must have been published or broadcast between 1 May 2008 and the closing date.

Now, let us remember that not too long ago Hans-Gert Pöttering earned the title of Basque-phobe of the week for denying the Basques their political right to self determination, so something tells me that the initiative put forwards by the MEPs will crash against a wall of intolerance.

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A Thief Among Thieves

This note comes to us via the New Haven Advocate, it tells us about a wine label you can find at a wine store in town, as it happens, the new wine has a Basque name.

Here you have it:

The Wine Thief's Lapartu

By Kathleen Cei

Following the popular Viña Ladrón (in both red and white varieties), a new private label red has just been released at The Wine Thief (378 Whitney Ave., New Haven; 203-865-4845 and 181 Crown St., New Haven; 203-772-1944, thewinethief.com).

Lapartu ($10) is a blend of 2007 carménère (80 percent) and syrah (20 percent) from Curicó Valley, Chile. Thief chief Karl Ronne met with winemakers at the Korta family vineyard a year ago to come up with the signature blend among tank and barrel samples.

Ronne describes carménère as similar to a cabernet/merlot blend, while syrah's known for its spicy fruit character. The result is fuller in body, texture and structure than you might expect from a wine in this price range. Since the Korta family hails from the Basque region of Spain, the wine is named Lapartu, the Basque word for "thief."

But I bet you may be wondering why such a strange name for a wine store, well, the provide the answer at the FAQ's section of their web page:

Q: What is a Wine Thief?

A: A long glass or metal tube used for drawing samples of wine from barrels during the aging process.

Wikipedia's version:

A wine thief is a glass or food-grade plastic pipette used in the process of wine making. It may be anywhere from 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 centimetres) in length and may have a bend near one end. The wine thief is used to remove a small amount of wine from a cask, carboy, or other fermentation device for testing.

Home winemakers may also use a wine thief in connection with a length of tubing to syphon wine from one container to the other (a process called racking) or to transfer the wine to bottles.

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Spain's New Attack on Language Diversity

Spain is plotting against the Basque, Catalan and Galician languages at the European Parliament, this is why they sent an envoy (a Portuguese by the name of Vasco!) to present the overtly racist "language manifest" put forward by Fernando Savater and a few other Spanish extreme right supporters.

This issue has been reported at Eurolang:

New European Parliament Report on Multilingualism

Brussel - Bruxelles, Thursday, 22 January 2009 by Davyth Hicks

The Culture Committee met on Tuesday, 20th January, to discuss the Commission's Communication on Multilingualism with Mr Graca Moura's (EPP) report.

While the Communication has already been voted on at the EU Council rendering the 'own initiative' report somewhat redundant, some MEPs suggested in the Committee’s December meeting that non-official languages be excluded from Commission multilingualism policies. The report “insists on the need for recognition of parity between the EU's official languages”, thereby excluding all European unofficial languages.

Mr Graca Moura also backs the arguments of the pro-Spanish language lobby 'Manifiesto en Defensa de la Lengua Común', which sees Spanish as being “endangered” by Basque, Catalan, and Galician. To this end, Mr Moura has inserted the clause stressing the “vital importance of preserving the possibility for parents and guardians of choosing the official language in which their children are to be educated in countries with more than one official or regional language”. However, it fails to consider that, in the Basque Country for example, it is the lack of parental demand for the Spanish-medium only model which has led to it almost disappearing from schools.

Mr Csaba Sogor MEP (EPP) has drafted the Employment Committee’s contribution to the Report. It strongly counters Graca Moura’s proposals in favour of constitutional and regional languages and calls on all member states to ratify the ECRML.

EBLUL will be tabling amendments with Culture Committee MEPs, the deadline is Tuesday 27th January. (Eurolang 2009)

EBLUL is the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages and it is a democratically governed NGO promoting languages and linguistic diversity. It is based on a network of Member State Committees (MSCs) in all the ‘old' 15 EU Member States and many of the new Member States that joined the EU in May 2004. In several occasions EBLUL has issued documents in which it reports Spain's lack of commitment towards the implementation on policies that will strenghten the use of Euskara, Catalan and Galician.

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Football and Politics

In this article published at Goal the author takes the act of courage and solidarity towards the Palestinians by Frederic Kanouté to go deeper into the (awkward) relationship between politics and sports in Francoist minded Spain:

Spanish Debate: The Politics Of Football In Spain

Cyrus C. Malek looks at the interplay between politics and sport in Spain - something that has seemingly always been the case and forever will be...

Celebrating a well-taken goal against Deportivo La Coruña in a Copa del Rey match, Sevilla's Frederic Kanouté lifted his club's shirt to reveal a second shirt with the Spanish 'Palestina' and the Arabic, 'Phillistine' (فلسطين) emblazoned across the chest in a public cry of protest against the atrocities being committed in Gaza. While the Spanish Football Federation fined the player a hefty 3,000 euros, Kanouté, a native of Mali and a follower of Islam, has won much praise from many quarters for using his position on the pitch as a stage for socio-political commentary. The Palestinian Embassy released a statement thanking the striker for providing an inspiration for Palestinian children, Barcelona's Pep Guardiola has publicly condemned the fine as excessive and voiced his own condemnation of the massacre, and Iranian first division club Zob Ahan Isfahan has even offered to pay the player's fine as a tribute to the cause.

Politics is no stranger to Spanish football. Throughout its lifetime on the Iberian Peninsula, football has been inexorably linked to the political events of the era. No saga more infamous, of course, than the politically-charged rift between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The Spanish Civil War, Generalissimo Francisco Franco's rise to power, and Spain's eventual transition to democracy (or more precisely, a constitutional monarchy) are marked by the blood rivalry -in the very real sense of the expression- between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona. During the first month of the Spanish Civil war, Barça's politically left-leaning president, Josep Sunyol, was murdered by the Falangistas (the Nationalist military movement) and Spanish football became a symbolic forum for the political ideologies of the day.

Barcelona, which was already the ensign for the progressive movements of fashion, food, architecture, and art, became the symbol for progressive politics—the resistance against the oppression of dictatorial government. With the banning of the Catalán, Gallego (Galician), and Euskera (Basque) languages under the fascist regime, one of the few places that Catalán could be spoken freely (and safely) was in the Barça stadium. Adopting the Catalán motto, 'Més que un club', FC Barcelona became 'more than a club' in its encounters against Real Madrid, the club associated with the oppressive rule of the capitol government.

How close the ties between the Madrid club and Franco's fascist government were in actuality remains ambiguous to say the very least, but the arrival of Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano at the Bernabéu remains a near-undisputed instance of political influence. Wholly left out of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, a war-torn and impoverished Spain was under Franco's all but total control. Had Di Stéfano signed for Barcelona, the public attention would have shifted toward Spain's gateway to free-thinking democratic ideals and thus the necessary strings were pulled to have Di Stéfano, a player of unmatched talent, call the Spanish capital home.

While some (perhaps not completely unwarranted) claims are made that the government played a more direct role in footballing affairs by influencing referees to favour Madrid in domestic matches, one cannot deny the unsurpassed superiority of Di Stéfano's Madrid that won 5 consecutive titles on the European stage—beyond the scope of Franco's "influence". Nonetheless, the stigma remained throughout the latter half of the 20th century and footballing great Johan Cruyff chose Barça over Real Madrid stating that he could not play for a club associated with Franco.

Since the years of fascism, the historical rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona has assumed a less dual role with respect to political implications. But the sphere of politics still envelops Spain's football clubs in regional disputes. The issues of political/social autonomy from the central government and distribution of resources (e.g. high speed trains) across the Spanish country remain contentious talking points, especially for the Galician, Basque, and Catalunyan provinces. Where Catalán, Gallego, and Euskera were once banned under Franco, now the first language taught in schools are those of their respective provinces. As a result, Spanish is taught for only a few hours a week and the children of Spanish-speakers in these provinces have limited options of studying Castilian Spanish. These tensions lend a distinctly political flavour to matches featuring Barça, the Galician Deportivo La Coruña, or the Basque Athletic Bilbao.

Of course the famous Athletic Bilbao have taken the devotion to their unique situation a step further by only employing Basque players (it is worth noting that the ethno-political ties run so deep, that Athletic captain, Joseba Etxeberria has pledged to forego his wages and play next season, his last as a professional, for free). While the all-Basque roster has seen a few exceptions to the rule (now players of any origin can play for Athletic, just as long as they acquired their skills in the Basque Country), one can imagine the sort of tension that might have surrounded a match during the 90s when the Basque militant group ETA was at at its height. As an aside, there is something to be said for Athletic Bilbao's impressive feat of having remained contentious in La Primera for so long despite such a limited talent pool from which to fish.

Back in Madrid, the country's two main political parties, the conservative Partido Popular (PP) and the socialist Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), have footballing connections as well. PSOE leader and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero is an ardent Barcelona supporter and makes public predictions for El Clásico while his predecessor, José María Aznar of the PP, has even been linked to the Real Madrid presidency in the upcoming summer elections. On the northern edge of Madrid, the regional disputes between the central government and the semi-autonomous provinces make their home at the royal governing body of football, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) where debates are periodically held on whether Catalunya and the other provinces should be able to compete in international competitions as separate entities from La Roja, the Spanish national team. And not so far away from the Bernabéu, Spanish sports daily Marca, a publication first printed as an iconic form of propaganda for Franco's Falange, now exposes the obstruction of democratic principles as Ramón Calderón was forced to resign in a scandal involving the rigging of votes at Real Madrid's general Assembly.

One of the greatest beauties of Spanish football lies in the fact that its purview is not solely limited to a vessel of entertainment. In a country with a tumultuous history, where language itself was oppressed and women could not open a bank account until 1975, the sport transcends sport, serving as both an implicit and explicit conduit for political and cultural expression. As more foreign players bring their diversity of backgrounds and political views to La Liga, it seems fitting that the political debate would take the next step to the global stage. In the case of Freddy Kanouté's gesture, one can only speculate how the act contributed in raising awareness and mobilizing over 250,000 Spaniards at the midweek, from Madrid to Málaga, to take part in the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration in Europe. The beautiful game, indeed.

Something to point out; the children of Spanish speaking families have absolutely no problem getting their education in Spanish (Castillian), for public education in the part of the Basque Country occupied by Spain is in Spanish. That misconception has been making the rounds in the mean stream media ever since a "journalist" by the name of Keith Johnson who happens to be in the payroll of José María Aznar published an extensive article against the teaching of Euskara (Basque language) in Euskal Herria. The truth is, there is plenty of public schools where education is in Spanish, even more, most of the ikastolak (Basque schools) are private so Basque parents have to pay an extra amount to get their kids to receive their education in Euskara, as opposed to the public schools which are free of charge.

One more thing, in 1998, Aitor Zabaleta, a Basque follower of Donostia's Real Sociedad football team was murdered after an Spanish police officer tricked him into entering a bar full of Atletico de Madrid followers.

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"Gu Gira"

This information comes to us via EITb:

'Gu Gira' compilation sells more than 20,000 copies

The album offers an overview of the Basque folk music evolution since the first singer-songwriters appeared in the 60's until the year 1983. Mikel Laboa, Benito Lertxundi, Xabier Lete, Lurdes Iriondo, Antton Valverde, Estitxu, Itoiz, Errobi, Ruper Ordorika, Niko Etxart and Oskorri are among the artists featured in 'Gu Gira'

The album offers an overview of the Basque folk music evolution since first singer-songwriters appeared in the 60's until the year 1983. Those participating are Mikel Laboa, Benito Lertxundi, Xabier Lete, Lurdes Iriondo, Antton Valverde, Estitxu, Imanol Larzabal, Txomin Artola, Gorka Knörr, Gontzal Mendibil eta Xeberri, Urko, Itoiz, Errobi, Ruper Ordorika, Niko Etxart, Pantxoa eta Peio, Oskorri or Iñaki Eizmendi.

'Gu gira' , -released by Basque music label Elkar- features 15 tracks that have never been previously released in CD format - at least, in a legal way. The most emblematic songs by Estitxu, Iñaki Eizmendi, Gorka Knörr and Niko Etxart have been recovered from the Columbia and Kardantxa-Movieplay (nowadays Sony/BMG and DRO/Warner) catalogs.

Several artists participating in the album will be taking part in a concert that will be celebrated at Donostia-San Sebastian's Kursaal on April 5th.

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One Basque Word At a Time

Thanks to The Atlantic we had the chance to learn about an outsider's experience about learning Euskara (the Basque language) in Euskal Herria, in Navarre to be more specific.

Here you have it:

The Basques reclaim their cultural identity, one word at a time

by Lisa Abend

Found in Translation

By the time I pull up to the farmhouse in the Spanish region of Navarre, the other students have already arrived. Waiting for lunch, we nervously pretend that we understand what’s going on. A blond woman whose name I can’t pronounce points to a bottle as she pours each student a glass and says, with exaggerated clarity, “Ardoa” (“wine”).

It’s the first word I learn at this barne­tegi, or Basque-language immersion school, and its ordinariness comes as a relief. Until now, as an American living in Spain, the only Basque words I’d managed to glean have to do with violence and power: ertzaintza (“police”), kale borroka (“street violence”), etarra (“terrorist” or “freedom fighter,” depending on your point of view). The media use the words every time an arrest, a demonstration, or an assassination—there was one in September—takes place. Indeed, most of what anyone in or outside Spain hears about Basques has to do with ETA, the radical group that has killed more than 800 people in the past 40 years in its quest for an independent Basque homeland.

“In the rest of Spain, they only talk about us as a problem—the Basque problem,” says Amaia Marin, who is attending an intermediate course at the barnetegi. She is Basque but doesn’t know Euskera, the Basque language, because it was not taught in schools when she was growing up. She doesn’t see herself as particularly political and thinks of independence as little more than “a pretty dream.” But she was driven to learn Euskera, she says, because “being Basque is the thing I’m most proud of in my life.”

Thousands of years old, Euskera has no links to any other known tongue, living or dead. That alone makes it the clearest sign of Basque identity. Franco sought to suppress the language during his dictatorship. In Spain today, when Basques enjoy greater autonomy than at any time since the 19th century, and when Spanish conservatives see that autonomy as a threat to national unity, the language remains a political issue. In some parts of Basque country, a town meeting held in Spanish is reason for protest, even vandalism; meanwhile, new laws that require 2,000 large businesses to offer their services in both Euskera and Spanish have triggered strong opposition outside Basque country. But for people like Amaia, Euskera is a way out of the Basque problem, a way to be Basque regardless of politics.

The number of Euskera speakers has risen in recent years, from 657,000 in 2001 to 775,000 (out of a total Basque population of about 3 million) in 2006. This growth can be attributed largely to schools—parents can choose how much Euskera training their children get, and the majority favor some education in their ancestral tongue. Yet 100,000 of those speakers have learned the language as adults. In my group, Celia and Maite are here because their employer—Microsoft—is expanding into Basque country, while Italian-born Nicoletta, Chilean Paula, and Spanish Dani are married to Basques and have signed up because their children are learning Euskera in school.

In class, we struggle through intro­ductions and learn to count to 10. (Actually, we learn to count to 100, but I’m so flustered by the compound words that I falter at the double digits.) We learn directions and body parts, including zakila (“penis”) and alua (“vagina”)—the Basques are nothing if not frank. In between lessons, we go for coffee in Bakaiku, a pretty mountain village west of Pamplona, where the stone houses are adorned with fat geraniums. It’s an idyllic place if you ignore the pro-independence graffiti and posters that spring up every night—one of which gives me my first thrill of comprehension: Euskal Herria Aurrera, “Forward With the Basque Country.”

No one teaches politics at the barne­tegi, but subtle messages slip in among the vocabulary words heavy with x’s and z’s. A geography lesson shows the Basque provinces without any boundary delineating the three in France from the four in Spain. And we get an explanation of the ancient fueros, laws that granted the Basques certain rights and privileges in exchange for loyalty to the kingdom of Castile.

But the rise in Euskera has not necessarily fed secessionist impulses. “The fact that you learn the language doesn’t mean that you’ll vote for a nationalist party,” says Xabier Monasterio, the director of pedagogy at the Gabriel Aresti school, which runs this barnetegi. Support for the conservative Basque Nationalist Party has stayed relatively constant over the past 10 years. So has the percentage of Basques who want independence from Spain (35 percent) over the past two decades.

“I love teaching Euskera, because it is the language of our people,” Monasterio says. “It’s who we are. It’s not better or worse than any other language—it’s just ours.” I think about his words during the last class, which we spend singing Basque songs. There are hymns to innocent love and odes to sailors, but the most moving song consists of just the words gueria da—“it’s ours”—repeated over and over. To the tune of “Hava Nagila.”

Lisa Abend is a writer living in Spain.

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William Petersen Sings "Goiko Mendean"

Not everyday you wake up to find out that an US actor sings a Basque song, and is not only that it is a Basque song, he sings it in Euskera.

Here you have the note courtesy of EITb:

William Petersen, as Gil Grissom in CSI, sings a Basque song

William Petersen, as Gill Grissom in CSI, sends a greeting to the people of the Basque Country. Fragment in which he sings the Basque song "Goiko mendia". The complete version will be diffused during the reception to be offered by the Basque president Friday evening in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Note: By accessing the page you will be able to watch the video in which he sings the song.

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Mikel Laboa

As you may know by now, Basque songwriter Mike Laboa passed away last week. This is The Guardian's obituary dedicated to his memory:

Mikel Laboa

Basque singer central to his culture's revival

* Michael Eaude
* The Guardian, Tuesday 9 December 2008

The Basque singer Mikel Laboa, who has died aged 74, was a legend in the Basque country, the region spanning part of northern Spain and south-west France. Always singing in Euskara, the Basque language, he was central to the region's cultural revival.

His father was a Basque Nationalist party councillor on the San Sebastián (Donostia) city council, who left for exile on the arrival of General Franco's troops in 1937. His mother and her seven children took refuge in the fishing village of Lekeitio, but the family was reunited in San Sebastián in 1939. The old quarter of that beautiful seaside city remained Laboa's haunt until the end of his life.

The post civil war years were tough: not only did hunger and fear rule, but speaking Euskara was forbidden. His family were musical and Laboa learned the guitar. In 1955 a friend gave him a record by the Argentinean Atahualpa Yupanqui that suggested a way of singing about suffering and politics.

At the same time, Laboa was studying medicine in Pamplona. He took his finals in Zaragoza, where, in 1962, at a student concert, he first sang in public in Euskara. In 1964 he married Marisol Bastida and went on to study child psychiatry for three years in Barcelona, where he made contact with the Catalan protest song movement.

From 1967 till its closure 18 years later, Laboa worked at the San Miguel hospital in San Sebastián as a psychiatrist, caring for children with Down's syndrome and autism. With his well-worn clothes and beret, he looked more like a farm labourer than a consultant physician, but combined the two careers with great success.

Laboa had found a Basque popular songbook in the early 1960s and his particular contribution was beginning to fall into place: Basque traditional songs, 1960s protest music, but always with a personal interpretation, including an album of translations from Bertolt Brecht (1969), and Lekeitioak (1988), an album of experimental pieces involving screams and onomatopoeic sounds that were closer to John Cage than Joan Baez. His curiously pitched, clear, nasal voice, the minimalism of his poem-songs and his commitment to Basque culture struck chords with his audience.

His first records were EPs only published in the French Basque country, but, in 1974, a double album was issued in Spain, Bat-Hiru (One-Three), his best-known record. It includes his hymn to freedom Txoria Txori (The Bird Which Is a Bird), inspired by his work with autistic children: in all, he made 16 records.

In later years Laboa experimented with other styles such as jazz and rock. A younger generation, mainly Basque post-punk rockers, paid him homage in the album Txerokee (1990). In 2003, he wrote the music for Julio Medem's documentary La Pelota Vasca (The Basque Ball). Medem wanted to interview him for the film, but Laboa refused: "I have nothing to say apart from my songs."

The writer Bernardo Atxaga described Laboa as a tall Viking warrior with piercing blue eyes, trapped inside the nervous nature of the singer. For his last performance, on July 11 2006, Laboa overcame his stage fright to perform in front of tens of thousands of people on San Sebastián beach, when he opened for Bob Dylan in a concert for peace.

He is survived by Marisol and their two children.

• Mikel Laboa Mancisidor, singer-songwriter, born June 15 1934; died December 1 2008

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Welsh and Basque

This article published by Welsh OnLine tells us about how the Basque initiatives to rescue and strengthen Euskara (the Basque language) are an inspiration to other peoples defending their own languages, in this case, Welsh.

Here you have it:

Spanish example holds the key to the future of Welsh

Nov 19 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

Wales must learn lessons from the Basque country when it comes to ensuring the survival of Welsh, argues Catrin Dafydd of language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg

THERE is no doubt that the next few months will have a far-reaching effect on the future of the Welsh language. Of course, there is no use discussing the Welsh language as a stand-alone figure in the corner of the pub. When we talk about languages, we talk about people and communities.

The One Wales Assembly Government is about to publish a draft Legislative Competency Order (LCO) that will show us possible legislative scenarios Welsh could face over the coming years.

And while legislation alone cannot change the situation, it can help ensure the future of a minority language in a globalised world.

A delegation from Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg recently visited the Basque country to see what people there are doing to keep their language alive.

Of all minority languages, the Basque language – or Euskara – has most in common with Welsh. There are about 600,000 Euskara-speakers in a country with a population of about three million.

From the moment you land in Bilbao, you notice a stark linguistic contrast to our own situation, with visual examples of stronger language legislation – bilingual signs are the norm and the co-operative supermarket chain Eroski provides own-brand packaging with instructions in up to five languages.

You are quickly made aware of the fact that in Euskadi – the autonomous community of the Basque country – citizens have a legal right to use the language in the public and (more recently) private and voluntary sectors. Because of this, companies such as EMUN have been set up to assist all kinds of private companies as they develop effective responses to language rights.

Companies are awarded certificates to show customers that staff are able to provide services in Euskara.

Moreover, the Observatory of Linguistic Rights provides a free phone service allowing people to log complaints when these rights are infringed. The complaints are then catalogued and presented to the government.

Lawyers working on behalf of Euskara Kultur Eskargoa are also responsible for representing Basque-speakers in courts of law. A system of defending peoples’ linguistic rights is an alien concept for us in Wales – currently we can only use Welsh in the courts under fairly limited circumstances.

Kontseilua is an umbrella group of 45 societies and institutions which campaign on linguistic matters. Most of these groups are indirectly funded by public money, yet they are happy to challenge and criticise government policy where necessary in order to promote the normalisation of the Basque language.

The government acts as a champion, not only passing legislation, but also taking responsibility to ensure it is implemented. There is a dialogue between institutions and government, in a country where the fact that independent bodies are ready to offer a critique of the linguistic legislative system is welcomed.

Back in Wales, we seem to be lagging behind other European nations in terms of language legislation. It is high time we redressed the balance between voluntary efforts to promote Welsh and the need for statutory guidance. The length and breadth of the LCO will show us just what the One Wales Government has in store. Will it create the necessary legislative conditions for Welsh language to thrive or will its growth be stunted once more?

The people of Wales should scrutinise the LCO for three things: that the Order allows Welsh to be recognised as an official language; that a commissioner is established to defend linguistic rights; and, most importantly, that it grants specific rights for anyone who chooses to use Welsh on a daily basis at work, at home, at school, at the shops or wherever.

Legislation isn’t a quick fix but positive changes can result. All eyes are on the One Wales Government as it unveils its vision for the Welsh language. Of course, we all have a role to play in ensuring Welsh is used in our communities. But for now, we should examine the exact details of the One Wales Government’s vision for a truly bilingual Wales.

Catrin Dafydd heads Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg’s campaign for a new Welsh Language Act

Now, it seems like the Western mail correspondent misses the whole point of the article by entitling his/her article "Spanish example".... is like if I would write an article about the defense of Welsh culture to go on and title it "English culture". This tells you just how deep the disinformation campaign set in place by Madrid against the Basques runs.

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The Economist : A Basque-Phobe Media Outlet

There is not author to an article published by The Economist entitled "How Much is Enough?" so my guess that it is the editor is the one in the pay-roll of Madrid's Ministry of Propaganda.

There is so many lies and misconceptions in the article that it was simply impossible to avoid it, lets check it out. It starts out with some basic facts about Spain's political panorama but then it says this:

But this panoply of decentralisation has not placated the politicians in Catalonia, the Basque country and Galicia. That is because they never wanted café para todos: they wanted it just for themselves, as a recognition that they were different. They still want that, no matter that Spain is now an extraordinarily decentralised country in which the Basques, for example, enjoy a greater degree of home rule than any other region in Europe. Their demands make it difficult to draw up a stable and permanent set of rules.

The home rule enjoyed by the Basques is not equal to having its own statehood, with the right to issue its own passports, have its own national anthem, flag, army and police force, like any other independent state. And to long for all of these elements of a nation-state is protected by the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. There is an "stable and permanent sent of rules" for the Check Republic and Slovakia, or for Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, so why couldn't there be one for Euskal Herria (Basque Country), Catalonia and Galicia?

Catalan and Basque “nationalists” argue that unlike, say, La Rioja or Murcía, their territories are nations, not regions (nor “nationalities”, in the tortuous formulation of the constitution), and invoke history to support their claim. “Here the conflict dates from 1836,” insists Joseba Aurrekoetxea, a leader of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), referring to the Carlist war after which the central government revoked the Basques’ fiscal privileges (restored in 1979). “Catalonia was always distinct,” says Artur Mas, who replaced Mr Pujol as leader of CiU. It descends from the medieval kingdom of Aragón, and rebelled against Madrid in 1640 and in 1701.

Uh oh, shaky ground here, as it happens, Errioxa (called La Rioja by the Spaniards) was part of Navarre, known today as the Basque Country, so, as you can see, the author was a bit sloppy about the historic facts.

But maybe he got his facts from the one guy by the last name of Aurrekoetxea who despite belonging to a Basque political party knows little or nothing about Basque history. The conflict does not date to 1936, it dates to 1522 when as a result of a long war Castile was able to conquer the Basque kingdom of Navarre in its southern portion. The northern portion, today occupied by France, was able to remain a sovereign state until the 1800's, which debunks the misconception that the Basque Country was never an independent political entity and that the current conflict is of an internal nature involving only Madrid.

But Catalan and Basque nationalism are creations of the late 19th century. They stem from industrialisation, which made these the richest regions in the country, taking in migrants from elsewhere in Spain. At the time the Spanish state, unlike its French counterpart, lacked the resources to integrate the country, says Antonio Elorza, a Basque political scientist at Madrid’s Complutense University. Otherwise Catalonia and the Basque country would have been as content within Spain as Languedoc and Brittany are within France.

Oops! Again, Navarre (the Basque kingdom) was conquered after a long war (which means that the Basques strongly opposed the idea of losing their sovereignty) back in 1522, how can it be a creation of the late 19th century? Seems like the author has its centuries all mixed up.

Brittany and Languedoc are happy to be within France?!

Well, sounds like the anonymous author is in for a surprise, check this out:

Breton nationalism is the nationalism of the traditional province of Brittany in France. Brittany is considered to be one of the six Celtic nations (along with Cornwall, Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man and Scotland). Like the nationalism of many neighbouring regions, Breton nationalism combines political as well as cultural aspects.

The political aspirations of Breton nationalists include the desire to obtain the right to self-rule, whether within France or independently of it, and to acquire more power in the European Union, United Nations and other international bodies.

Breton cultural nationalism includes an important linguistic component, with Breton and Gallo speakers seeking equality with French language in the region. Cultural nationalists also seek a reinvigoration of Breton music, traditions and symbols, and the forging of strong links with other Celtic nations. It should be noted that many Bretons who identify with cultural nationalism and Breton identity do not share the political aspirations of Breton political nationalism.

The French government's official position is to consider Brittany as a part of France, a position claimed to date from the time when the March of Neustria was controlled by Roland, but dating officially from the dynastic marriage in 1491 of Anne, Duchess of Brittany with the king of France. This could include a range of views, from allowing Brittany a devolved government to curbing wishes for independence through to the extremes of banning Breton nationalist parties entirely and the Breton and Gallo languages.

The information you just read is readily available at Wikipedia, and information source that the author of the article seems to ignore. Same goes for Languedoc and its Occitan nationalism. But let us get back to Euskal Herria and Catalunya:

Perhaps because the historic claim to nationhood is shaky, language has become an obsession for the nationalists. Franco banned the public use of Catalan, Euskera (Basque) and Gallego. The constitution made these languages official ones alongside Spanish in their respective territories. In Catalonia the official policy of the Generalitat (the regional government), under both the nationalists (some of whom are really localists) and now the Socialists, is one of “bilingualism”. In practice this means that all primary and secondary schooling is conducted in Catalan, with Spanish taught as a foreign language. Catalan is also the language of regional government. A Spaniard who speaks no Catalan has almost no chance of teaching at a university in Barcelona. A play or film in Spanish will not be subsidised from public funds. “If we don’t make a big effort to preserve our own language, it risks disappearing,” says Mr Mas.

Only backward minded people can see bilingualism as something negative. But what I really want to point out is just how cynical and hypocritical the author and his chorus of enablers are. Spain has the dubious record of being one of the countries that has oblitarated more cultures and language in the entire world. Because they had the military might, the Spaniards erased entire civilizations from the face of the earth. How dare they complain now because some of the nations still being held captive by their rancid colonialism are doing anything they can to preserve their culture and their language? Even the author mentions it, during the Francoist genocidal reign of terrror people were abducted, tortured and in many occasions executed for their work in behalf of Catalonian and Euskara, so please, next time an Spaniard complain that he can not get a job in Catalunya or Euskal Herria remind him about the millions of people that were murdered during the process of expansion of the Spanish language in America.

Catalan and Spanish are more or less mutually comprehensible. Not so Euskera, which does not belong to the Indo-European family of languages. The Basque government allows schools to choose between three alternative curriculums, one in Euskera, another in Spanish and the third half and half. But in practice only schools in poor immigrant areas now offer the Spanish curriculum. Despite these efforts, Basque and Catalan are far from universally spoken in their respective territories: only around half of Catalans habitually use Catalan and about 25% of Basques speak Euskera.

The Basque government allows parents to decide to which educational model they want to send their kids to, and as it happens, the public schools are the ones with the Spanish as a first language model, which means that Basque parents that wish for their kids to be educated in Euskera need to expend more money. Barely what you can call a biased policy against the poor and the immigrant. The last sentence in that paragraph is the reason why both Basques and Catalans need to strenghten their respective languages. I can tell the author that this world is better off with all of those languages instead of just a few of them. But the author writes in English, a language that is not in the endangered list, which comes to prove that he is just a supremacist like his bosses in Madrid.

But the big question is, why would anyone wish for Euskara to disappear? Like the author said, it is a language isolate that does not belong to the Indo-European branch like its neighbors, so, shouldn't Europeans be working together towards the preservation of such an unique language?

But wait, check this out:

The nationalists’ linguistic dogmatism is provoking a backlash. Earlier this year Mr Savater, the philosopher, together with a diverse group of public figures ranging from Placido Domingo, a tenor, to Iker Casillas, Real Madrid’s goalkeeper, signed a “manifesto” in defence of the right of citizens to be educated in Spanish. They were denounced as “Castilian nationalists” in the Socialist press. But they touched a nerve. Many thoughtful Catalans believe that Catalan would be safe if it remained the language of primary schools, but that Catalonia would gain much by allowing a choice between Catalan and Spanish in secondary schools.

Finally, the mastermind behind the article, no one else that pro-Franco and the mouth piece for the extreme right in Spain, "philosopher" Fernando Savater. No, the "manifesto" was not criticised by just the "Socialist press", it was criticized by human rights, civil rights and indigenous rights organizations all over the world. Linguistic dogmatism? Only Spain has applied such a concept, shall we remind the author about his own quote regarding Francisco Franco's policy towards Euskara, Catalonian and Galizan during his long dictatorship?

But Savater is not done yet, here you have another one of his venomous darts:

The argument about language is really about power. “The problem with nationalists is that the more you give them, the more they want,” says Mr Savater. What some of them want is independence; all of them use this as a more or less explicit threat to gain more public money and powers. The polling evidence suggests that no more than a fifth of Catalans are remotely tempted by the idea of independence. The figure for Basques is around a quarter, despite 30 years of nationalist self-government and control of education and the media, and despite the departure of around 10% of the population because of ETA’s violence, points out Francisco Llera, a (Socialist) political scientist in Bilbao.

Savater is the champion of Spanish nationalism, but he criticizes the other nationalisms, how consistent. But he is not alone, the guy by the last name Llera insists that not the Catalans nor the Basques want independence, so, why does Madrid oppose a referendum that would clear up things so violently? Both Aznar and Zapatero have threatened Ibarretxe with jail time for wanting to conduct a referendum regarding Basque self determination. Why are Spaniards so scared to learn the true numbers of Basque nationalism once and for all?

The article goes on, but the author just repeats itself in a vain attempt to make his point across.

Just another Basquephobe acting as a mercenary in behalf of Spain's colonialist nationalism.

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Irish Basque Radio Relaunched

This info comes to us from our friends at the Irish Basque Committees:

BASQUE INFO RADIO PROGRAM RE-LAUNCHED.

Tuesday 4th of November 6.30-7pm / Wednesday 5th of November 12-12.30pm

at www.feilefm.com or 103.2 FM Belfast.

*News: more political parties banned, arrests and tortures, thousands of people take to the streets to support democracy, prisoners, Basque language, against High Speed Train...

*Interview with Gorka Elejabarrieta, Basque pro-independence movement representative in Brussels.

*Music: Fermin Muguruza's new album.

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Osasuna : A Basque Football Team

The only reason why I am posting this note published by The International Herald Tribune is because they are calling Osasuna a Basque football team, which I am sure will enrage more than one Spaniard claiming that Navarre is not part of the Basque Country.

Here you have it:

Osasuna hires Camacho as coach

The Associated Press
Published: October 13, 2008

PAMPLONA, Spain: Osasuna hired former Spain and Real Madrid coach Jose Camacho on Monday, hours after firing Jose Angel Ziganda.

The 53-year-old Camacho agreed to lead the Basque club through the end of the current Spanish league, with financial details not offered.

Osasuna released Ziganda six games into his third season, with the club lying 16th in the 20-team standings with four points.

Camacho had largely been working in television since March when he quit Benfica seven months into his second spell at the Portuguese club.

I love it, Osasuna's name is in Euskara, the Basque language, and it means "health". In fact, from the three Basque teams playing in Spain's Premier League, is the only one with a Basque name.

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