Etxeberria's Gesture

This note comes to us thanks to RTÉ Sports:

Bilbao striker to play for free

Friday, 3 October 2008 13:41

Long-serving Athletic Bilbao forward Joseba Etxeberria has announced he is set to retire at the end of the 2009/10 season, and that he will play his final year in football for free.

The 31-year-old has signed a one-year contract extension which will see him receive no wages from the Basque club for the whole of next season.

At a press conference on Thursday the forward, who joined Athletic at the age of 17 in 1995, revealed he asked directors for the ground-breaking deal as a gesture to repay the club for their support throughout his career.However, he does not expect other players to follow his lead.

'I wanted to make this gesture, but at no time did I want to set a precedent,' he told reporters.

'We're in a professional world where it's legitimate for each person to defend their rights and their contracts, and I think that's how it should be.

'But this is a gesture I'm making to show my gratitude for the love I've received during so many years. It's something I've been mulling over for a long time.'

Despite being only 32 by the end of the deal, Etxeberria added he had chosen to retire because 'I've been going a long time and it's time to step aside for new people'.

Bilbao president Fernando Garcia Macua added:' Etxeberria's gesture of playing at absolutely no cost to the club is surely a unique case in world football.'

What a guy!

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Basque-phobe of the Week : Louise Lemelin

The doubtful honor of "Basque-phobe of the week" goes to a pro-torture Canadian judge by the name of Louise Lemelin.

She has decided to deny the right to habeas corpus to Basque political prisoner Ivan Apaolaza, by doing so Lemelin tells the world that the law in Canada is not for everyone, just like in South Africa back during the Apartheid regime.

Here you have the note from The Canadian Press:

5 hours ago

MONTREAL — A Quebec judge has denied a bid for freedom by an alleged Basque terror suspect who faces deportation.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Louise Lemelin ruled Tuesday she would not hear a motion for a writ of habeas corpus from Ivan Apaolaza Sancho's lawyers. Lemelin would not hear the motion because Sancho is not a Canadian citizen.

His lawyers say that means their client is denied his only recourse to fight what they call an unlawful 15-month detention based on evidence obtained through torture.

Lead lawyer William Sloan said in an interview he'll appeal Lemelin's decision.

"When it says everyone in the charter with respect to rights to habeas corpus, it means everyone except immigrants," Sloan said sarcastically.

"We have two different legal systems, one for human beings and one for immigrants who don't quite make it because they don't have the right to habeas corpus."

Sloan has argued the government's case against Sancho is based on evidence obtained through torture and should be thrown out.

Sancho is wanted by Spanish authorities in connection with a series of car bombings linked to ETA, a Basque separatist group.

Sancho admits to being part of the Basque nationalist movement, but denies having any ties to the group.

He faces deportation to Spain where, his supporters say, he faces the risk of being tortured. Canadian immigration officials ordered Sancho deported in May.

"Once again, Canada's courts are legitimizing evidence obtained by torture," Sancho said in a statement.

"I can only hope that Canadians of good conscience continue to speak out against this continued injustice, in my case, and in the case of others.

He has been in detention since June 2007 after the RCMP arrested him while aboard a ferry near Quebec City.

While an Immigration and Refugee Board commissioner rejected some federal evidence that appeared to be obtained through torture, he ruled there was more than enough additional evidence, including police warrants and affidavits, showing Sancho had ties to ETA.

Sloan has argued much of this evidence should be stricken.

A pre-removal risk assessment must still be performed before Sancho can be deported.

Sloan says he plans to revive his argument about evidence obtained through torture at that point.

"(The Immigration and Refugee Board) is just looking at the consequences of the deportation, so its position is going to be whether or not the evidence was obtained through torture.

"The only thing that counts is whether he'll be tortured or killed when he gets back."

Sancho had lived under a number of aliases using forged documents since arriving in Canada in 2001.

He lived mainly in the Vancouver area, rooming initially with Victor Tejedor Bilbao, another alleged Basque terrorist living illegally in Canada who was deported in June.

Sancho moved to Montreal in late 2006.

Has anyone in Canada inquired in Spain about what ever happened to Victor Tejedor, has he been charged? Remember, many Basques that have been extradited to Spain are now free without ever being charged, but only after spending at least four years in jail. Such totalitarian behaviour is the one that Louise Lemelin is endorsing with her decision.

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Energy Forum at BEC

This note comes to us via EITb:

Bilbao Exhibition Centre to host European Future Energy Forum

09/29/2008

The Centre has been chosen by organizer 'Turret Middle East' to host a meeting which is scheduled to take place next year from the 9th to the 11th of June.

As from 2009, the Bilbao Exhibition Centre is to add another international event to its calendar: the Centre has been chosen by organizer Turret Middle East to host the European Future Energy Forum, the first edition of which is scheduled to take place next year. In the final stage of the selection process, Bilbao completed with Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Frankfurt for the honour of staging the European edition of what has become a strategic event following on from the first World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) in January this year.

The candidature of the Bilbao Exhibition Centre was part of a package which included support from the Basque government, the Department of Innovation and Economic Promotion of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Bilbao City Hall, Bilbao Convention Bureau and Destino Bilbao. The city's selection is made all the more significant by the standard of the other candidates short listed: Germany is Europe’s leading player for renewable energy sources in terms of consumption, output and technological advances, Denmark is the world's leading producer of wind power and Iceland boasts exceptional geological and geothermal resources.

The balance was tipped in favour of Bilbao by the level of investment in the country, the extraordinary recent growth in renewable energy sources, the prominent position of the Basque Country in the field, with strong support from business and institutions, and the success of Gastech 2005, an event which broke records at the Exhibition Centre.

World Future Energy Summit

The first ever World Future Energy Summit featured 220 exhibitors and attracted over 11,000 visitors from 77 countries, including royalty, heads of state, energy and environment ministers, top entrepreneurs and other high-ranking personalities.

In the wake of the success of the summit, and seeking to provide a global benchmark event for policies on energy, investment development and alternative, renewable infrastructures, organising firm Turret Middle East decided to organise a forum outside the Near East every two years, so as to extend the brand to a broader geographical area.

As a result, the Bilbao Exhibition Centre will host a biennial blend of commercial exhibitions and technical seminars on renewable energy sources and their application. This is an area which is undergoing spectacular growth, involving specialists from the fields of energy, architecture and finance.

Organizers with proven prestige

Turret is an English-based firm with broad experience as an event organizer in many different sectors all over the world. It has also maintained links with RAI, DMG and Reed Exhibitions among others, so its representatives work at the highest possible levels. Around 18 months ago it established a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi (to cover the Middle East market), where it has already organised five fairs in the fields of recycling, foodstuffs and renewable energy sources, all of them highly successful. The firm's prestige and track record in organising specialist events means that expectations are high for the success of this fair at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, aimed at the energy market.

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Bilbao's Best Pintxos

Like I mentioned before, it is the summer and the news outlets take a break from the political related articles about the Euskal Herria and they focus on publishing notes about travel and culture, which includes the top notch Basque cuisine.

Here you have this one from The Telegraph about the best pintxos in Bilbao:

Bilbao: a delicious nibble in the city's bars

The winners of the contest to find Bilbao's best 'pintxos' - the Basque equivalent of the Spanish tapa - have just been announced. Nigel Richardson samples some of the dishes

By Nigel Richardson
Last Updated: 1:06PM BST 12 Sep 2008

The potato omelette had just emerged from the oven and lay blinking, as it were, on the plate. Juan Mari tasted and swooned.

“This bar doesn’t appear in any guidebooks,” he said, “but I think the tortilla is brilliant. Not like the thick brick they do in Spain.” Basques routinely refer to the rest of Spain as another country.

He was right. The egg was warm and moist, the potato firm and the onion slightly caramelised. We accompanied it with a white wine from Valladolid. It was shortly after noon in Cafeteria Concha, a bar in Bilbao, and my txikiteo with four Bilbaino friends — all aficionados of snacks on a stick — had begun.

A txikiteo is a Basque institution, a bar crawl involving the frequent eating of pintxos — roughly speaking, the Basque equivalent of the Spanish tapa. But whereas “in Spain” a tapa often comes automatically when you order a drink, a pintxo costs extra. It is also, according to the rules of the annual competition to find Bilbao’s best pintxos, something that you must be able to consume standing up, in a maximum of two mouthfuls.

The pintxo started life modestly, as a piece of tortilla or ham on bread but in recent years has evolved into many mouthwatering combinations.

This evolution is partly a by-product of the so-called Guggenheim effect — the tourism boom generated by the architect Frank Gehry’s futuristic museum — and partly a result of the aforementioned competition, the Muestra de Bares de Pintxos, now in its 11th year, for which bars compete avidly.

This year’s winners had just been announced when I arrived in Bilbao, so my partner’s cousin, Juan Mari, suggested we sample a few of them. Nine hours after that first wonderful tortilla, we ended the tasting in Lekeitio, a bar specialising in tortilla paisana, with spinach and chorizo. However, they had run out of this — a happy hazard of the quest for pintxos, which should be freshly made, so we ordered a ración, which we all tucked in to — a portion, bigger than a pintxo, of seafood salad. Juan Mari touched his lips and made that petal-opening gesture with his fingers meaning “very good”.

Alasne disagreed: “Too dry.” Juan Mari amended his judgement: “It could do with more tomatoes.” And so the food discussion continued, as around us 85-year-olds clinked glasses of txakoli — a local slightly sparkling white wine — and five-year-olds skittered at their feet.

“You can’t learn in a day what we have taken 40 years to learn,” Marivi chided me. Geri and Alasne agreed. The point of the txikiteo, they said, is that it is an intimate, delicate experience that changes each time, depending on different bars and days for culinary fancies.

On this particular day, our txikiteo had involved the following 10 bars, five of them close together in the old town, the Casco Viejo. Honourable mention should also go to Victor Montes, the Harry’s Bar of Bilbao, which we omitted only because it always is included in such gastronomic top 10s.

Expect to pay €1.20 to €3 for pintxos, from €1.20 for a glass of txakoli or wine. Most bars close on Sundays, or Sunday evenings, and opening times can be erratic. If a bar is closed, simply go to the one next door.

Cafeteria Concha, Calle General Concha

This modest bar, with flashing fruit machines, does not enter the Muestra de Bares de Pintxos competition — the owner explained that his wife, who makes the pintxos, can’t be doing with all the fuss. Consequently, its mouthwatering tortilla remains something of a secret.

Zuga, Plaza Nueva (Casco Viejo)

A trendy bar serving a young crowd in a corner of the Plaza Nueva, the heart of the old town, Zuga specialises in ambitious combinations including goat’s cheese with manzanilla sherry, dried fruit vinaigrette and honey; liver with red fruits and Modena vinegar; and turkey neck — surprisingly tender and delicious — in a filo parcel on bruschetta.

Sasibil, Calle Jardines (Casco Viejo)

One of several bars that excel in, and serve, just one thing, in this case productos del mar: grilled fish, anchovies from the fishing port of Ondárroa and shellfish. There is also a small restaurant.

Gatz, Calle Santa Maria (Casco Viejo)

Gatz is this year’s winner of “best bar” in the Muestra de Bares de Pintxos and certainly one of my friends’ favourite haunts. The speciality of the house is bacalao (salt cod) al pin-pil: succulent little bombs of fish, garnished with browned slivers of garlic. There is a print on the wall featuring a footballer in the red-and-white strip of Athletic Bilbao, chatting up a girl in this very bar. “Look at his legs,” said Juan Mari. “He looks as if he eats a lot of pintxos.”

Irrintzi, Calle Santa Maria (Casco Viejo)

Next door to Gatz, and named after the ululating Basque cry, with which people are said to have hailed each other across the valleys, this has the most helpfully displayed pintxos, each flagged with neat labels, so you don’t have to ululate above the din to ask what they are. The choice is imaginative, including onion stuffed with black pudding and peppers and croquettes made with squid in its ink — a new dish.

Eguiluz, Calle del Perro (Casco Viejo)

This is one of several excellent cazuelita bars on this street, a cazuelita being a hot dish served in a terracotta pot — bigger than a pintxo, smaller than a main course. Here, they include paella, grilled prawns, meatballs, tripe, and snails and cost between €7 and €15.

Bitoque, Calle Rodriguez Arias

This small, self-consciously fashionable bar was the winner of the “golden beret” for best pintxo in Bilbao, the champion being a somewhat pretentious concoction of egg yolk, potato, pancetta and an “air” of cheese, for a steep €4.50.

Like a cocktail barman, the chef made mine while I waited and it tasted disappointing, a triumph of style over substance. Other pintxos include grilled scallops “with violet and gold potatoes”.

Café Estoril, Plaza Campuzano

Among a clutch of bars popular with football fans before and after games, it is known for its Camparis and Martinis. Pintxos include ham and green peppers, bacalao with peppers, and bonito (tuna) with mayonnaise.

La Viña del Ensanche, Calle Diputación

Wood-panelled and cheerful, with a bar carved from a single tree, this is one of the oldest bars in the city (established 1927). It specialises in hams and chorizo, and has the feel of Andalusia, reckoned my companions. There is a shop and delicatessen attached.

Bar Lekeitio, Calle Diputación

Another classic bar of Bilbao, packed with young and old, and named after the pretty Basque fishing port of which there is a blown-up old photograph on the wall. Its star pintxo is the tortilla paisana but they are also proud of their tacos with raw bacalau, garlic and parsley.

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Coast Full of Contrasts

This article about the strikingly beautiful coast of the Basque province of Bizkaia comes to us thanks to EITb:

The Basque Coast in Bizkaia: A coast full of surprises

09/13/2008

Mundaka is the destination of surfers all over the world. They come to surf the best left hand wave in Europe.

The winding coast of Bizkaia is dotted with small fishing villages and jagged coves that make up a landscape full of contrasts. Beaches, harbors and cliffs merge into the nearby summits along the whole length of the Basque coast. From Bakio to Sukarrieta, the route is full of visual surprises.

To get from Bilbao to Sukarrieta, we must take the road towards Mungia and continue on towards Bermeo. 5 km down the road is the turnoff for Bakio, the cradle of Bizkaia's txakoli. This town, a local tourist destination, has a large beach which is packed with beachcombers during the summer months.

The coast road takes us to the beautiful view of the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe promontory. This rocky island, which is joined to the mainland by a small bridge, together with the hermitage on the top, is a nearly sacred place for many Bizkaians. A little bit further down the road we arrive at the lighthouse and Cape Matxitxako.

The town of Bermeo, with its gothic church of Santa Eufemia, the Medieval Ercilla tower, and the port, is one of the most important towns along the coast. It has a lively street atmosphere and excellent restaurants, which are two of many good reasons to visit the town.

Just a couple of kilometers down the road is Mundaka. The view from the Atalaya or vantage point is one of the most beautiful and relaxing in the whole of Bizkaia: the mouth of the Urdaibai estuary, merging into the ocean, and Izaro island on the horizon. This symbiosis originates the best left-hand wave in Europe, which attracts many surfers from around the world.

The same view can be contemplated from Portuondo lookout, on the road to Pedernales-Sukarrieta, which is the next town down the coast. This secluded place has a few and beautiful caves on the banks of the estuary. Each valley, each fishing port, each of the summits in the Basque Country is yet another beautiful spot to be discovered.

I've been to all the places described in the article and I fully recommend that you take any chance in the future to visit them.

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Measuring Winds in Venus

This note comes to us thanks to the Basque Research page:

Team led by scientists from University of the Basque Country manage to measure wind details of Venus

Venus is a planet similar in size to the Earth. Nevertheless, it is quite different in other aspects. On the one hand, it spins very slowly on its axis, taking 224 terrestrial days and, moreover, it does so in the opposite direction to that of our planet, i.e. from East to West. Its dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide with surface pressures 90 times that of Earth (equivalent to what we find at 1000 metres below the surface of our oceans), causes a runaway greenhouse effect that raises the surface temperatures up to 450ºC, to such as extent that metals like lead are in a liquid state on Venus. At a height of between 45 km and 70 km above the surface there are dense layers of sulphuric acid clouds totally covering the planet. It was in the 1960s that they discovered, by means of telescopic observations, that the top level of cloud layers moved very rapidly, orbiting the planet in only four days, compared to the planet’s own orbit of 224 days. This phenomenon was baptised the “superotation” of Venus: the winds carrying these clouds travel at 360 km/h.

The various space missions that explored the planet in the 70s and 80s showed that the “superotation” was a permanent phenomenon and, moreover the probes that descended through its atmosphere indicated that, in a number of places, the winds decreased in speed to zero at Venus’s surface. New observations carried out with the Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency, in orbit around Venus since April 2006, have enabled the team of scientists from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) to determine in detail the global structure of the winds on Venus at its level of clouds while, at the same time, to observe unexpected changes in the wind speeds, and which will help to interpret this mysterious phenomenon. The team was led by Agustín Sánchez Lavega with team members being Ricardo Hueso, Santiago Pérez Hoyos and Javier Peralta, from the Planetary Sciences Group at the Higher Technical Engineering School of Bilbao. The article, entitled “Variable winds on Venus mapped in three dimensions”, was published with front page coverage in the Geophysical Research Letters. This journal is published by the US American Geophysical Union (AGU) and is the most prestigious in its sphere of research. Moreover, the article was one of eight selected amongst hundreds for publication by the AGU in all journals as being the most outstanding in the EOS Transactions bulletin – sent to 50,000 AGU members at research centres all over the world.

Novel aspects of the rotation

Using images recorded by both day and night on Venus with the VIRTIS spectral camera on board the Venus Express, the UPV/EHU scientists have succeeded in measuring these clouds over several months and have discovered new aspects of the “superotation”. Firstly, between the equator and the median latitudes of the planet there dominates a superotation with constant winds blowing from East to West, within the clouds decreasing speed with height from 370 km/h to 180 km/h. At these median latitudes, the winds decrease to a standstill at the pole, where an immense vortex forms. Other aspects of the superrotation that observations with VIRTIS have made possible are that the meridional (North – South) movements are very weak, about 15 km/h, and, secondly, unlike what was previously believed, the superotation appears to be not so constant over time: “We have detected fluctuations in its speed that we do not yet understand”, stated the scientists. Moreover, for the first time they observed “the solar thermal tide” effect at high latitudes on Venus. “The relative movement of the Sun on the clouds and the intense heat deposited on them makes the superotation more intense at sunset than at sunrise”, they stated.

“Despite all the data brought together, we are still not able to explain why a planet than spins so slowly has hurricane global winds that are much more intense than terrestrial ones and are, moreover, concentrated at the top of its clouds” stated Mr Sánchez Lavega. This study has enabled advances to be made in a precise explanation of the origin of superotation in Venusian winds as well as in the knowledge of the general circulation of planetary atmospheres.

Remember, I always dedicate the posts about science and research in Euskal Herria to Keith Johnson who once said that Basques could never excel in science because they speak a language suited only for sheepherders.

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Lesson From Athletic Bilbao

This article comes to us via Bleacher Report:

Athletic Bilbao's Recruitment Policy an Example to Every Club in Europe

by Anthony Sanchez

Athletic Bilbao’s “cantera” policy is the bravest statement any club could make in today’s climate of greed and hunger for success and money no matter what the cost.

Bilbao is located in the Basque country of which there are seven provinces. Four in Spain and three in France. Bilbao’s cantera policy, (cantera translates as "quarry") dictates that Bilbao will only field players from the Basque region or of Basque descent.

This policy has served Bilbao and Spain well. Bilbao are the fourth most successful club in Spain behind Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid with eight La Liga titles and twenty-three Copa Del Reys and they have provided more players for the Spanish national team than anyone else (somewhat ironic when Basque politics are taken into account).

Athletic Bilbao are similar to Barcelona in that the club is about something more than football. They both represent the identity of a region.

Like Catalonia, the Basque region’s culture suffered under Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco. In a bid to promote nationalism Franco banned the Basque language, the cantera policy, the Basque flag, and they even had to temporarily change their name from Athletic to Atletico to adhere to Spanish language laws.

Real Madrid and Barcelona, along with other Spanish clubs, have had similar recruitment policies to Bilbao but have never stuck to them with the same conviction.

Even way back when Argentinian Alfredo Di Stefano, Real’s greatest player was playing, Real bent their own rules by getting him dual nationality. Barcelona’s lack of faith in their own youth policy is evident when you see their home-grown players like Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal and Gerard Pique signing for Manchester United (though he has now returned for a fee).

While Real Madrid and Barcelona, in fact come to mention it every other top flight club in Europe, spent the summer searching the world for suitable talent, Bilbao have calmly gone into the new season without a single foreign player in their squad.

Although the cantera policy has been changed in recent years so any player can be considered Basque as long as he acquired his skills in the Basque country, this rule has been rarely used and there is still only a small number of non-Basques who have ever played for the club.

Unfortunately, the club’s form has begun to suffer as a result. Mid-table finishes over the last decade have gradually descended to the 2006-2007 seasons relegation battle when survival was only guaranteed on the last day.

Though last season they performed better with an eleventh place finish in La Liga, and many people are optimistic of their chances this season, it remains to be seen if the club can move forward using their current policies.

The club’s finances have also taken a hammering in recent years, though they are attempting to correct this issue. Amazingly, for the first time ever, Bilbao will carry the name of a sponsor on the front of their shirt this season. A two million euro deal was reached with Petronor refining company recently.

The rise of Osasuna and Real Sociedad have also seen them competing for the attention of the best Basque players which have become a somewhat dwindling resource. According to Spanish daily AS in 1928, 56 percent of Spanish footballers were Basques compared with 8 percent today.

This downturn in form shows no signs of changing Bilbao’s recruitment techniques though. “El Mundo-” Spain’s second largest newspaper reported in the mid nineties that 76 percent of the club’s fans would rather see the club relegated than give up the cantera policy. The fans see the clubs identity as being more important than trophies.

This policy of retaining a link with the region which gave birth to the club may be seen as borderline racism by some, but to me it is an amazingly admirable thing.

It would be so easy for Bilbao to try and recruit some big name players, push for a Champions League place and try to sell a million replica shirts in Asia but they don’t. The board of the club show amazing integrity by always making sure the supporters are the first priority, not money.

Now I’m not stupid enough to think this kind of policy could work everywhere neither would I want it to but I would be happy to see it employed in every club to a certain extent.

My club, Manchester United for instance, have always done well getting local talent in the team and I think most of the teams they have produced have had Mancunian players. Players such as Jack Crompton, Roger Byrne, Nobby Stiles, Brian Kidd, Remi Moses all the way up to Wes Brown, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs are examples of local players who have achieved success with the club.

But without players from other countries like George Best, Dennis Law, Eric Cantona, Carlos Tevez, and Cristiano Ronaldo and players from other regions, Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson, and David Beckham, the success the club has had would probably not have been possible.

The ambitious clubs are going to continue hunting the best players, that is inevitable, and I wouldn’t want it any other way but I believe rules should be brought in to force clubs to include a small collection local players in their squad.

Otherwise what is the point of the clubs adopting the names of the areas they come from? Surely it is about more than where the team plays their home games?

I have heard it said that bringing in laws to limit the number of foreign players is against European law but I have also heard it said that bringing in laws to make a minimum number of home-grown native players compulsary would not be. Maybe this is the way forward.

I understand my thoughts maybe uncomprehensible to all the supporters from around the world who will never visit the city of the club they support or for the players who dream of playing for a club in another country or continent.

But in a game where clubs are fast losing any connection with the people that built them, where super clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid fight over a Portuguese player who couldn’t care less about either of them and a Russian billionaire in West London collects footballers like he’s trying to complete his Panini sticker album, maybe European clubs could learn a lesson from Athletic Bilbao and bring a little bit of much needed integrity to their clubs.

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Pride of Santurzi

More about travel experiences and the Basque Country, this time from The Independent:

Bilbao by ferry: Plain sailing

The 'Pride of Bilbao' may take 36 hours to reach Spain, says Simon Calder, but it's worth it

Saturday, 30 August 2008

Flying through one of the London airports during a peak weekend in August tests any passenger's nerves to destruction. Earlier this month, Stansted airport exemplified the appeal of flight-free travel. After the barely penetrable mass of humanity at check-in, security was overstretched and undignified, and the shuttle to the western satellite was packed tight.

In my experience, departure screens at airports mostly comprise a succession of fibs: "boarding" usually translates as "not boarding". But I hurried to the gate just in case – to find a scrum of passengers going nowhere. While I waited, two announcements caught my ear.

One reproached the unfortunate passengers who had just discovered they were going to experience a flight-free Sunday: some had hoped to fly to Edinburgh, others to Naples, but they failed to negotiate the airport labyrinth before the gates had closed. "Report immediately to gate 18 for transport back to the terminal or you will be waiting here even longer," a disembodied voice warned.

The other was for the flight to Bilbao, announcing a delay of an hour. The biggest city in the Basque Country is accessible in a couple of hours once the flight departs, but having tried both, the 36-hour surface version is far preferable. The Pride of Bilbao may not be the most modern ferry in Europe, but she is comfortable enough – and the two-night voyage provides relaxation, indulgence and excitement in whatever proportions you choose. The average no-frills flight does not offer that choice.

The electronic map aboard the ship shows the route in both directions as virtually identical, yet they are very different experiences. Leaving Portsmouth after dark, the ship slides into the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel and steers west-south-west for the pointy bit at the end of Brittany. The on-board catering ranges from a defiantly proletarian self-service to a restaurant branded as Langan's Brasserie, and it is easy to find a quiet corner of a bar for a nightcap.

When you awake (in your cabin, silly, not the bar) the vessel is likely to be near the tip of the Breton peninsula, where she turns a full right-angle to head south-south-east across the Bay of Biscay towards the Basque Country.

For anyone with an interest in sea life, this is where the fun starts. A naturalist is on board and on hand to spot the marine mammals who converge on the bay, and shrieks go up from the assembled passengers whenever whales or dolphins are sighted. In between times, you learn about the lives of the cetaceans – and the role that a regular ferry can play in researching the creatures.

Make sure you are up in good time on the second morning for the triumphant arrival on Spain's north coast. At about the time that mobile phones reawaken with a cacophony of bleeps, trills and gongs after their day-and-a-half-of slumber, the shoreline hoves into view: thrillingly corrugated, with a green ridge rasping beyond it melting into the (not-infrequent) mists.

Gradually the deep inlet leading to Bilbao takes shape – and only at this stage do a few poorly researched passengers realise that the ferry stops short of the city proper. She should really be named Pride of Santurzi, since that is the name of the dockland suburb where the voyage ends. No disappointment necessary: foot passengers can hop on the fast and frequent train direct to the heart of the city, perhaps pausing to admire the gigantic transporter bridge that commands the skyline. Meanwhile drivers who want to set the controls for the heart of sunny, ie. southern, Spain, can easily access the autopista network. Now, the neat thing about Bilbao is that there are no wrong answers in terms of onward direction: due west takes you into lovely Cantabria, going east puts you amid the Pyrenees in no time.

In between are three other viable vectors; south-west, for León and, beyond it, Extremadura; south, into the Rioja; and, south-east to Zaragoza – still with three weeks in its role as Expo 2008 venue – and beyond to the Mediterranean. And, when you reach ports such as Barcelona and Denia, you can carry on flightlessly flitting across Europe. If the ferry to Italy does not appeal, how about a (relatively) short hop to the Balearics? Palma airport may be one of the very busiest in Europe, with millions touching down in August alone – but you will have gone the pretty way.

Coming back on the long haul from Bilbao, you will have an equally attractive journey as outbound, just different. The voyage north is faster, and begins at lunchtime. This means that around 24 hours later you have a fascinating approach to Portsmouth along the south side of the Isle of Wight, then swinging around into the Solent and a dramatic arrival back to mainland Britain. And, unlike in Stansted, you will not be hanging around waiting for your luggage.

By the way, the triumphant arrival is not on Spain's north coast. You arrive on Euskal Herria's coast, its only coast.

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Aste Nagusia in Bilbao

This article comes to us thanks to EITb:

Bilbao's Great Week kicks off

08/16/2008

Basque chef Aitor Elizegi was in charge of launching the firecracker rocket at 19,00 at Arriaga Square in Bilbao to start the "Aste Nagusia" (Basque name for Great Week).

Bilbao's "Great Week" kicked off officially at 19,00 with a warm reception to Marijaia -the figure of the festival- and the launching of the firecracker rocket –"txupinazo"- by the Basque chef Aitor Elizegi. An hour later the open air bars –"txosnas"- will be opened and the 23rd local pop-rock show will start with the performance of Mamba Beat and Munlet.

First fireworks of the "Great Week" 28th contest will be launched by the Saragossan pyrotechnic, beginning at 10:30 p.m.

The first concert will start at midnight in Botica Vieja with groups such as Delorean and The Teenagers.

As it is usual, Bilboko Konpartsak has already organized an alternative program to create an even greater festive atmosphere. Pinpilinpauxa, for instance, has organized a male strip tease at midnight.

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Bilbao's Zazpi Kaleak

This article about Bilbao's iconic Zazpi Kaleak (The Seven Streets) comes to us via EITb:

Bilbao's seven street: the heart of the villa

08/15/2008

Somera, Artekale, Tendería, Belostikale, Carnicería Vieja, Barrenkale y Barrenkale Barrena. These are the names of the seven parallel streets located between the Church of Santiago and the estuary of Bilbao.

When the villa was established, traders settled in these streets. The oldest place in the old quarter of the city is still known as Siete Calles (Seven Streets). The narrowness of the city ceases to be a problem due to the environment of its bars and its picturesque trades.

It is a pleasure to wander round the Siete Calles heading nowhere. However, we have planned a route for those who do not want to miss any attractive details in the area. We will start our itinerary from the Church of San Anton, next to the bridge with the same name that was the first successful attempt to link both sides of the estuary.

San Anton is in fact San Antonio Abad, to whom this graceful temple was dedicated in the fourteenth century. It was constructed in the fourteenth century on top of the primitive fortress of the villa and it is a gothic building with a squared plan. Its picture comes up on the shield of Bilbao next to the picture of the bridge.

An impressive building of eclectic style located next to the church catches the eye of anyone passing nearby. It is the Ribera Market. “Nothing can be conceived more lively or picturesquely as the look the market of Bilbao offers”, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer wrote about what he saw in front of him. This big market place, known as the Ribera Market or the Atxuri Market, was constructed in 1929 on the side of the river. It is a project designed by Pedro de Ispizua y Susunaga from Bermeo. Have a look at its glass.

It is a must-do to properly go into the Siete Calles, through Belostikale or any of its parallel streets. If there is enough time, we will be able to go shopping or practice the txikiteo, you know, chatting as we go from one bar to the other and so on.

However, we will stop at the church of Santiago, the tallest and most important building in the Old Quarter that stands in a way that makes the main door be the first thing people see. It was built on top of an ancient cemetery and it is of gothic style. However, the following building works have added, once at a time, newer elements, such as a neoclassic cloister and a façade from the nineteenth century, under the directions of Severino de Achucarro.

We cannot forget that Bilbao once constituted part of the Camino de Santiago (Saint James’ Way) and that the apostle is the patron saint of the villa from the seventeenth century. It was before, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when the church, that has 26 altarpieces, was constructed.

On the other side of the cathedral, we will find the Church of the Santos Juanes (Juanes Saints) and, next to it, the Basque Museum of Bilbao. It is an archaeology, ethnography, and historical centre that gives the visitors the opportunity to acknowledge the roots of the Basque Country. It was built on top of an ancient school with a cloister that belonged to the Jesuit Company; the work of art that stands out the most is the Mikeldi, a pale-Christian sculpture of animal-like shape that was possibly worshipped as if it was an idol.

Our attempt of approaching the Old Quarter will end by going to a newer place, the Plaza Nueva (New Square). This magnificent arcaded square of neoclassic style is a place for encounters and party. If the weather is good, relax in one of its terraces. If it’s Sunday, do not give up on the idea of wandering round the bazaar. The king Fernando VII started the process of building this square, and it was finished in the middle of the nineteenth century, under the orders of the architect Antonio de Echeverria. The square has 64 arches with columns of a classic Greek style and the space it guards has always a nice environment.

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The 2008 Billabong Pro in Mundaka

This article comes to us via Global Surf News:

The Billabong Pro returns to mythic barrels of Mundaka

Billabong Pro Mundaka

ASP World Tour event #9
Mundaka, Basque Country
29 September - 12 October 2008

The Billabong Pro returns to Europe’s mythical Mundaka rivermouth

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 12 August, 2008 : - - - Mundaka has become a reference in worldwide surfing for its mythical rivermouth left-hander located at the opening of the river of Gernika and the North Atlantic Ocean. Since the inaugural event in 1999, surfing legends from all over the world have come over to surf this mythical wave, renowned for its long and hollow waves.

However, the wave of Mundaka is also known for its fickle conditions. This was made evident with the absence of a workable sandbar, reason for the cancellation of the event in 2005. According to the latest studies and the comments of the surfing locals, the barrels of Mundaka are in perfect condition.

This year, Billabong will set up an alternate site on the beach of Sopelana, a place that offers fantastic waves. The site is only a few car-minutes away from the center of Bilbao. The decision to surf either at Mundaka or Sopelana will be taken on a daily basis by the contest director, after assessing the conditions in both sites with the surfers and the ASP officials.

The Billabong Pro Mundaka plays a crucial part in deciding world champions. Being the third last event on the 11 stop tour intense competition ensues as tour leaders jostle for rating points leading into the final two events of the year in Brazil and Hawaii.

Bobby Martinez (USA) will be back to try to make it 3 wins in a row at Mundaka along with prestigious names such as Joel Parkinson (Australia), Taj Burrow (Australia), 07 World Champ Mick Fanning (Australia) and current tour leader Kelly Slater (USA).

Alongside the 45 world´s best surfers, three “Wild Card” surfers have also been invited to compete in the Billabong Pro Mundaka: surfing legend Marc “Occy” Occylupo (Australia ), local charger Hodei Collazo (Basque Country) and rising star Marcos San Segundo (Basque Country).

More information about rankings, surfer profiles and the tour can be found on aspworldtour.com.

The opening of the Billabong Pro Mundaka sees a truly traditional show with dances and music. At the start and end of the competition, surfers and officials will be greeted by the Aurresku, an honorific and traditional dance, and the 2008 winner will be carried by the local surf club members to be thrown in the port.

Winners always accept their trophy wearing a wetsuit and a newly-won Txapela (a traditional large hat)! That is the price to pay to have your name carved in the white stone of the perpetual Billabong Pro trophy. The Billabong Pro Mundaka is supported by Euskaltel, Kustom, Von Zipper, Nixon, Yamaha and Cobra Jetski, as well as the villages of Mundaka and Sopelana with their respective Surf Clubs and the EHSF.

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Basque DNA Research in Boise

This not comes to us via Idaho News Now:

Researchers gather DNA from Idaho Basques

by Ysabel Bilbao

BOISE -- Idaho’s largest ethnic group will be celebrating this weekend on Boise’s Basque block.

While a festival for some, it will be an experiment for others.

This block will fill with people for the annual San Inazio Basque Festival.

While Basques enjoy the celebration, two research students from the University of the Basque Country will be gathering DNA for medical research.

For many the Basque Center is a place to have a drink with friends, but this week it’s turned into part bar and part research lab.

Ph.D. students from the University of the Basque Country, Adrian Odriozola and Eneko Sanz, are taking DNA samples from local Basques as part of a worldwide research project.

The two have gathered samples from hundreds of Basques living in Idaho, Nevada, and California.

Each person gargles a liquid, which collects cells from the sides of people’s cheeks.

From the back of the bar their work is then transferred to a lab at Boise State University.

It's here under the guidance of Dr. Greg Hampikian, that Odriozola and his American counterpart Michael Davis extract DNA samples.

"We are trying to establish a collection of Basque Community DNA around the world. And in Boise there are a lot of Basque in Idaho, it's a strong DNA, Basque community," said Odriozola.

It's that strong community and strong genetic link to the old country that has drawn the researchers abroad. Dr. Hampikian says the best form of genetic research comes from twins separated at birth. Studying their DNA helps researchers know if disease or illness comes from nature or nurture.

Studying the Basque here and in their homeland provides that on a much larger scale.

"Finding two populations that have the same genetics that are located in different places is a huge benefit to all of humanity," said Hampikian.

The research students are focusing their studies on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, but their research will include a variety of illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

"We want to establish a strong collection about the Basque community, not only for use in DNA Bank, we want to offer this to the scientific community," said Odriozola.

"These types of studies are ongoing, not just with Europeans or the Basques, but really a worldwide phenomena," said Michael Davis, BSU graduate student.

The Basque researchers will leave Boise next week and head back to the Basque country to input data.

Afterward, they will continue traveling to Central and South America to collect DNA samples from Basques living there.

My only question is, are you to do this before or after your first kalimotxo?

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The Basques : Another View

This article tackles one of the issues that fuel this blog, the way the media corporations have been following Spain's lead when it comes to poisoning the view of what the Basque Country is. Madrid has implemented a propaganda campaign in which the term Basque is usually used as a synonym for terrorist, as a result, anything and everything Basques means violence. Paris is all too happy Madrid does the dirty job involved in denying the Basque Country its right to regain its sovereignty.

Well, this article from New Zealand opens a gap in the curtain of lies and deception against Euskal Herria, it comes to us thanks to Stuff:

A Basque solution to growth

WORLD OF SCIENCE - BOB BROCKIE

The Dominion Post | Monday, 14 July 2008

Think of Basques, think of bombs. Right? But there's more to Basques than bombs. The tiny Basque country is renowned for its science.

The region, on the north coast of Spain, is smaller than Wellington province and is home to 2.1 million people. Their common language is Spanish, but about a quarter of them speak the strange Basque language. If you want to say "Nice to meet you" in Basque you'd say "Potzen nau zu ezaguteak".

In the past 200 years, millions of Basques have emigrated to America. Ten per cent of Argentineans have Basque ancestors. Today's Basques, with a gross domestic product per capita income of NZ$48,000, are among the wealthiest people in Europe and much better off than New Zealanders. In the 1980s, Basques' traditional fishing and shipbuilding industries collapsed but, since then, their government has developed a spectacularly successful growth strategy built on scientific knowledge, technological innovation and entrepreurship.

Basques' biggest company, the Mondragon Cooperative, is hugely successful and has tentacles all through Spain and South America. It even has its own university.

The country's wealth is now built on new technologies – aeronautical and energy technology, and making fine machine tools, wind turbines and rolling stock. They are into nanotechnology and miniaturisation in a big way, developing high-performance hybrid materials for hi-tech industries, making precision miniaturised desktop type machinery for mass hydro-forming, stamping and cold- forging bulk materials, and improving high-resolution electron microscopy and lithography.

They are developing new catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells, designing a hydrogen-driven car (H2CAR), installing 16 sea-wave energy turbines, doing stem-cell research, and have developed new implant materials for healing wounds and for plastic surgery. Among other things they are developing miniaturised throw-away medical laboratories – each the size of a credit card and read with a hand-held gadget.

Basque technologists are on to "microwire technology" enabling huge amounts of data to be stored on microscopic wires. These wires have military uses, but Basques paste them on goods in supermarkets. To reach the checkout, your shopping trolley must pass through an electronic arch which instantly calculates the total cost.

They have research centres devoted to climate change, applied mathematics and health innovation. They also have an ambitious plan to "coordinate information and communication technologies around cognitive systems, pervasive computing, digital security and natural interfaces", and participate in the European space programme.

This tiny Basque country has 12,500 scientists and technologists at its universities, polytechnics or in private companies and puts a lot of money into attracting leading foreign scientists to work there, or join forces with them. This month they are advertising internationally for 30 more scientists.

The Basques' capital city, Bilbao, is about the size of Wellington and has become world- renowned for its new, fabulous, elegant, jaw-dropping, avant-guard, titanium-clad museum, and then, in September, there's their popular mixed-sex annual 5000-metre foot race along the beach at low tide, in the nude. First prize a holiday in the Canary Islands.

We have a lot to learn from the Basques.

Just one thing though, the capital city of the Basque County is Iruñea, not Bilbao.

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2008 Universal Basque Award

This note comes to us thanks to EITb:

Promoting the Basque Country

Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak wins 2008 Universal Basque Award

07/09/2008

The jury valued Arzak's work "adapting gastronomy, one of the most important traditions of the Basque Country, to the new times and making of it one of the most innovative of the world".

Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak, owner of a three star restaurant and one of the most famous chefs in the Basque Country, won on Wednesday the 2008 Universal Basque Award.

Basque Government's General Secretary for Foreign Action Iñaki Agirre, announcing the prize together with the spokesman for the responsible Juan Cid Basque savings bank Caja Laboral-Euskadiko Kutxa, said Arzak was chosen in between sixteen candidates for being able to "make the Basque Country shine without overshadowing anyone".

The jury valued Arzak's work "adapting gastronomy, one of the most important traditions of the Basque Country, to the new times and making of it one of the most innovative of the world".

The Universal Basque Award, organized by the General Secretariat for Foreign Action and Basque savings bank Caja Laboral-Euskadiko Kutxa, is a recognition of the personal and professional careers of individuals, associations or entities whose activities have had a bearing on promoting the Basque Country abroad.

The Bilbao Guggenheim Museum won last year the award. Since the award was created in 1996 the recipients have included Orfeón Donostiarra, Ainhoa Arteta, Martin Ugalde, Jorge Oteiza, Xabier de Irala, Joane Somarriba, Pedro Miguel Etxenike, Monseñor Laboa and Pablo Mandazen, more commonly known as “Brother Ginés.”

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Canada Collaborates With Torturers

Canada is supposed to be a country that protects and defends human rights, well, it just failed to live up to that status. As it happens, Canada just delivered a Basque citizen to a government known around the world for its widespread practice of torture.

This note comes to us via Yahoo News:

Suspected Basque terrorist has been deported to Spain from Vcr

Tue Jun 17, 2:34 PM

By The Canadian Press
ADVERTISEMENT

VANCOUVER - A man accused of being a Basque terrorist has been deported from Canada to Spain, where he faces trial for attempted murder and his alleged role in a bombing campaign.

Canada Border Services Agency confirms Victor Tejedor Bilbao was put on a plane in Vancouver and sent back to Spain on Monday.

"The government takes its obligation to safeguard public safety very seriously and will take all necessary measures to ensure Canadians are protected. Canada's doors are not open to those who break the law and endanger the safety of our citizens," the agency said in a statement released Tuesday announcing the deportation.

Agency spokeswoman Faith St. John said no further details would be released.

Late last year, 51-year-old Bilbao was ordered deported by the Immigration and Refugee Board after it ruled he had been a member of the Basque terrorist organization ETA and had engaged in terrorism in 1981.

Spanish authorities accuse Bilbao of taking part in the bombing of power stations and the attempted murder of a Spanish journalist considered a "squealer" by ETA. Two of his co-accused have been sentenced to 17 years in prison in Spain.

Bilbao was arrested in June 2007 in Vancouver, 11 years after arriving in Canada and beginning a new life under an assumed name.

Bilbao tried to claim refugee status in Canada after his arrest, arguing that he was a member of the Basque political group Herri Batasuna nearly 30 years ago but, to his knowledge, it wasn't a front for the Basque terrorist groups.

The Immigration and Refugee Board denied his claim and ordered Bilbao deported last November.

A lawyer for Canada Border Services had argued that Bilbao was considered to be a flight risk, saying Bilbao confessed in 1988 that leaders of ETA had ordered the hit on the reporter.

But Bilbao later recanted and said he made a false confession because he was tortured.

His lawyer Phil Rankin fought the extradition, warning his client faced the risk of torture or death at the hands of Spanish police.

Rankin cited an Amnesty International report stating Spain cannot control the police treatment of prisoners - particularly Basques - but the board disagreed and ordered the accused terrorist returned to face Spanish justice.

Agency lawyer Jesse Davidson told an earlier hearing that there was no finding by the court system that Bilbao was ever tortured.

The Immigration and Refugee Board has also ordered the deportation of Ivan Apaolaza Sancho, who was arrested on board a Quebec City ferry last summer.

Sancho, who is wanted by Spain in connection with a series of car bombings tied to ETA, had been living in Canada since 2001 under false aliases and forged documents. Sancho initially lived in the Vancouver area, rooming with Bilbao, and moved to Montreal in late 2006.

He, too, says he will be tortured if returned to Spain and his lawyer is appealing the board decision.

Sancho has admitted to being part of the Basque nationalist movement but has denied ever supporting ETA.

I'm sure that wherever he is, Francisco Franco is proud of Jesse Davidson.

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Think Gaur Euskadi 2020

They say it is a long term plan when they know that their political referent (I was going to say ally but that term implies equal conditions) the PSOE is plotting to put Patxi Lopez in Lakua as soon as possible. And the PSOE holds all the cards: Urkullu is an ideological heir to Imaz and we all know just how negative Imaz was for Basque nationalism, the PP is crumbling down and the PNV unleashed the Spanish state's reign of terror on the true nationalist parties (Batasuna, ANV, EHAK).

So, taking those variables into consideration I present to you this article appeared at EITb:

Politics

PNV's event

PNV presents its long-term project

06/15/2008

Under the name 'Think Gaur Euskadi 2020', this project expects to lead Basque society’s future. The Basque Premier has said that the Basque referendum proposal is "of great significance".

Basque Nationalist Party PNV has presented 'Think Gaur Euskadi 2002' project at BEC (Bilbao exhibition Center), which has been set in motion today and ends in December. This project expects to lead Basque society’s future.

The president of the ruling Basque nationalist party PNV Iñigo Urkullu has faced this challenge renouncing neither objectives nor principles and on the basis of the party’s unity.

Mong the questions that PNV members have been able to ask during the event, there have been many references to the referendum that Basque government wants to carry out in October. In this respect, Basque Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe Ibarretxe has assured that his referendum proposal is "of great significance".

Right to decide and Basque people

Ibarretxe has defended that "the right to decide" and "the existence of the Basque people" are "two basis" of "great importance more and more each day" among Basque society.

In his opinion, citizenship observe "with total normality and no dramatics" the fact that they will be questioned and will have to answer those questions". "Political parties are the ones observing with dramatics and nervousness", he added.

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Basque Cookbook in Braille

The web page WRAL.com brings to us this article:

Cookbook helps the blind cook Basque cuisine

By ALBERTO LETONA
Associated Press Writer

Posted: Jun. 13, 2008

BILBAO, Spain — For Jose Angel Iturbe, making the renowned cuisine of Spain's Basque region more accessible to the visually impaired was a bit like cooking blindfolded.

It also was a delicious success.

Asked to create a cooking course for the blind, Iturbe and 30 students from his school of restaurant and hotel management at Leioa University produced not just a class, but also an award-winning Braille cookbook.

"It was a big challenge because at all times we had to act as if we were blindfolded," Iturbe said recently of the effort that produced "Cocinar a Ciegas," or "Cooking in the Dark."

The idea for the class came from the Basque office of the National Organization of Blind Spaniards, one of the nation's most respected and effective advocacy groups.

"Until now, cooking was off limits to blind people because of the danger it involved," said Claudio Congosto, the 46-year-old head of social services for the organization's office in Bilbao. He lost his sight in a car accident.

Iturbe called the kitchen the most dangerous room in the house for the blind because of the presence of water, heat, sharp objects and corrosive cleaning liquids.

So in teaching blind people to cook "you have to look after a lot of details; guide them physically, make sure utensils are easily accessible and the knives not too sharp."

For that reason, the book's 100 recipes - which are drawn from Basque cuisine's rich heritage of seafood and tapas-style foods - have been adapted for microwave cooking.

This spring, "Cooking in the Dark" won a prize at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in London.

"Blind people appreciate gastronomy and take an interest in it," said Edouard Cointreau, founder of the Gourmand awards. "But until now no one had dared to design a practical course for them and write it all down in a book."

The book, which was released last year and distributed to the Basque region's more than 3,400 blind people, has proved so popular that thousands more copies are to be printed.

And the course from which the book was drawn has proved successful, as well.

Iturbe's team so far boasts two graduates from its 60-hour cooking course, which was held for the first time last year. Another course is scheduled for this year.

One of the graduates, 52-year-old Conchi Calderon, said she now is able to cook for her 85-year-old mother, with whom she lives.

"I was terrified of the stove," said Calderon, who now has mastered recipes such as a warm salad of mushrooms and prawns, and a popular Basque dish of hake simmered in a sauce of parsley and garlic.

The other diploma-holder, 48-year-old Jose Antonio Garcia, said he now cooks for his wife and two children and enjoys whipping up his favorite dish - potatoes stewed with red peppers.

"After taking the course, I am now the best chef in my house," said Garcia.

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Inmune To "Red Fever"

Basques and Catalans are not Spaniards, which explains why we can care less about what the Spanish national team achieves in the Euro Cup.

Now, when the national teams for Euskal Herria and Catalunya are finally allowed to compete in international tournaments things will be different.

In the mean time the reaction will be the one described on this article found at Earth. com:

'Red Fever' sweeping across almost all of Spain

Posted : Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:04:02 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Sports

Madrid - There has been a severe outbreak of "Red Fever" across Spain. "La Seleccion"'s 4-1 thrashing of Russia on Tuesday, in their Euro 2008 debut, has provoked delight, expectation and even euphoria across the country.

The only regions of Spain which appear to be relatively immune to "Red Fever", as per usual, are the Basque Country and Catalonia, two regions where "La Seleccion" has never enjoyed much support - and where the national team has not played for almost 20 years.

Bilbao and Barcelona remained relatively calm on Tuesday evening, whilst David Villa was destroying Russia with the tournament's first hat-trick.

In practically every other Spanish city, though, there was near-bedlam, with people following the game on open-air giant screens or crowding into bars and cafes.

The triumph allowed many Spaniards to put aside, albeit for a few hours, the property market crisis and the truck drivers strike provoked by sky-high petrol prices.

Most offices, warehouses, factories, schools and universities closed earlier than usual on Tuesday, in order to allow people to see the debut of Luis Aragones' talented team.

Continues...

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Euskal Herria Beyond Iruñea

This article comes to us via North Shore News:

Beyond Pamplona

Jon Azpiri
North Shore News

Sunday, June 08, 2008

PAMPLONA, Spain: You can blame Ernest Hemingway. Thanks to his seminal 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, the Fiesta de San Fermín in Pamplona has gone from a small local event to a worldwide phenomenon.

The book, which chronicles the exploits of so-called Lost Generation as they try to find themselves while travelling through Europe, has inspired countless young foreigners to take part in the Running of the Bulls, an adrenaline-filled and sometimes bloody rite of passage where revelers run alongside charging bulls down the narrow cobble-stoned streets of the Basque city.

Hemingway returned to Pamplona in 1959 and felt that it had become a victim of its own success. "I've written Pamplona once and for keeps," he wrote in a later book, The Dangerous Summer. "It is all there as it always was except forty thousand tourists have been added. There were not 20 tourists when I first went there nearly four decades ago. Now on some days they say there are close to a hundred thousand in the town.''

Indeed, Hemingway's writing helped draw untold thousands of visitors to the Basque city. His description of San Fermín makes it seem like a singular experience that can't be found anywhere else in the world. What most travellers to Pamplona never discover is that San Fermín is hardly unique. During the summer, there are numerous weekend festivals throughout the Basque Country bordering France that also feature all the music, wine, and machismo that made Pamplona famous.

For most young Basques, nightlife doesn't consist of hitting a local pub or nightclub. Instead, they head out to a nearby town for an all-night street party. The activity is so common that the Basques even have a word for it: gaupasa, which means to party until sunrise.

Most festivals in the Basque Country were originally intended as a celebration of a town's patron saint, although it's hard these days to find much in the way of pious spirituality. Instead, the festivals revolve around several days of music, dance, sports, and plenty of kalimotxo -- a Basque concoction that consists of equal parts red wine and Coca-Cola. There's plenty of food as well: groups of friends get together to cook large paellas that they share with passers-by along with homemade sangria, which is often served out of a large garbage can.

A couple of weeks after festivities wrap up in Pamplona, the Fiesta de la Madalena signals the start of the summer festival season in the Basque province of Vizcaya, located on the Bay of Biscay, 100 kilometres to the northwest. The festival revolves around the nearby island of Izaro, which was once the centre of a battle between the neighbouring towns of Bermeo and Mundaka. Both towns laid claim to the island and the dispute was settled in a typically Basque way: a boat race.

On July 22, 1919, the two towns held a regatta to decide which town would get the rights and since then the inhabitants of Bermeo have organized an annual a torch-lit convoy of boats there to commemorate their victory and re-stake their claim. Surprisingly, no one in the rival town of Mundaka is particularly broken up about the loss. This laid-back surfing town, with reputedly one of the longest left breaks in the world, parties just as hard as its former rival.

The nearby town of Elantxobe had nothing to do with the battle over Izaro, but celebrates its patron saint, María Magdalena, on the same day as the regatta; so they join in the party. Like most Basque festivals, Las Madalenas seems to take up every square inch of public space in Elantxobe, a fishing village precipitously located on a slope overlooking Cape Ogoño.

In the town harbour, rows of makeshift snack bars serve kalimotxo as well as chorizo, tortilla, and blood sausage, and there's plenty of entertainment ranging from punk rock to traditional Basque folk music complete with accordions, flutes, and tambourines. Others entertain themselves by watching inebriated party-goers trying to make their way down the town's steep cobble-stoned streets without falling on their faces.

A few weeks later, the town of Guernica (spelled Gernika in Basque), 14 km inland from Elantxobe has its Fiesta de Andra Mari. Guernica is considered to be the spiritual capital of the Basque people but is best-known world-wide as the target of a 1937 aerial attack by the Luftwaffe. This was the inspiration for Pablo Picasso's most famous work, Guernica, which has come to symbolize the horrors of armed conflict.

Walking through Guernica during its fiesta in August, it's now difficult to picture this sunny town as the location for one of the world's most notorious war crimes. The streets are lined with lively cafes and restaurants that brim over with patrons during the fiesta. The local jai alai court is also packed as fans watch the ancient Basque game where players hurl a rubber ball against a wall using a curved wicker basket attached to one hand. The tournament during Andra Mari is considered one of the world's best. At night, locals take to the town's windy streets in costumes for a night of Halloween-like festivities. The only image that most of the world has of Guernica is that of Picasso's stark black-and-white mural, but during the Fiesta of Andra Mari, you can't help but be overwhelmed by colour.

One of the biggest festivals to mark the end of summer is the Fiesta de San Antolín in Lekeitio, a fishing village 25 km northeast of Guernica near the Bay of Biscay. geographical hint. Like many other festivals, Lekeitio's September celebration features a strongman competition based on the Basque rural tradition. Contests consist of cutting tree trunks with crosscut saws, spinning around 360 kg horse carts, and a relay race where the runners carry 80 kg sacks of corn rather than a baton. There are also countless other competitions that involve lifting everything from boulders, anvils, and bales of hay.

On September 5, thousands of people gather around the waterfront to watch competitors as they hang off a dead goose while being dunked into the town harbour. A long rope is suspended from the harbourside to the mast of a boat, then teams of men in small rowboats position themselves beneath it and one designated person grabs the goose and jumps off the boat. Those at the harbour's edge then whip the rope up and down, repeatedly dunking the man into the water from a height of more than ten metres.

For those who think that hanging off a rope is hardly a substitute for the visceral thrills of Pamplona, there's always the Fiesta de San Roque in Deba, Gipuzkoa, a coastal town 20 km east of Lekeitio. The small seaside town is one of many outside Pamplona that also offer you the chance to get trampled by a bull in the middle of the street.

But one thing you won't have to worry about is getting trampled by other tourists. Like Pamplona during Hemingway's time, there likely won't be more than 20 foreigners in the entire town.

If you go:

The Basque Country is located in the Pyrenees Mountains that straddle the border of France and northern Spain. Bilbao, the largest city in the region, has daily flights from London and Madrid, or is a four-hour drive from the Spanish capital. Other festivals include:

Aste Nagusia -- Bilbao (August 16-24). The city shuts down for an entire week to celebrate "Big Week". As its name suggests, the festival offers everything a regular fiesta would but on a much larger scale with more than 100,000 revelers partying in the streets of the Basque country's largest city.

Tolosako Iñauteriak --Tolosa (April-May). Something like a Mardi Gras in reverse, this festival takes place 40 days after Easter. It even has its own "Fat Thursday" to kick off six days of intense partying, including a wild parade held on Sunday. The festival ends the following Tuesday with the Asteartita, or "Burial of the Sardine."

Barte Fiestain -- Larrea (July 4). While Americans celebrate their independence, this town in the province of Alava celebrates a loaf of bread. The festival revolves around the old legend of how a Larrea local sold the people from the neighbouring village of Ermua an image of St. Martin in ex-change for a loaf of bread known as a barte. During the festival, people from Larrea head to the church to visit St. Martin. After mass, they break bread with their neighbours and party until dawn.

Note: Iruñea is the Basque name for Pamplona, so, where it reads "Pamplona, Spain" it should read instead "Iruñea, Euskal Herria".

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Celtic League

This note comes to us thanks to Agence Bretagne Presse:

Celtic League's General Secretary at Basque Youth Congress

The General Secretary (GS) of the Celtic League has been continuing developing contacts with the peoples of Europe in his role as President of the European Free Alliance Youth (EFAy), a European political youth organisation.

Last weekend, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot addressed the annual congress of Basque political youth Gazte Abertzaleak (GA) in Bilbo/Bilbao, Basque Country, who elected a new Secretary General and Bureau of the organization. Also present at the congress was Unai Ziarreta, President of Basque nationalist party Eusko Alkartasuna, who had also been invited along to speak.

In his address, the GS spoke about the importance of all the different peoples in Europe working together to achieve a European Union that is democratic and fair:

« We are all aware that the EU as it stands today needs to be reformed, to take account of the rights of all the peoples of Europe, where we all have an equal voice and are equally represented. This aim cannot be achieved on our own, but in working together we have the means and the determination to make a difference. »

In words that have significance for Bretons and Irish alike, Ziarreta spoke about the importance of working for a united Euskal Herria (Basque Country) that is not segregated by two different states (France and Spain) and even partitioned within the state itself (as in the case of Navarra).

The Basque Country is just one of the several stateless nations that exist in the state of Spain and in this way is similar to all of the other Celtic countries with the exception of Ireland. The Basque language and culture is arguably the oldest in Europe and predates the Indo European languages of which the Celtic languages are part. However, the Basque lands (Euskal Herria) have been divided up over the years and now straddle the states of France and Spanish and are split up within the Spanish state itself, with Navarra and the 'Basque Country' both having their own distinct parliaments. Both Basque Governments in the state of Spain, have a high degree of autonomy, which far outstrip the powers of Wales and Scotland.

J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

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