Javier Aguirre's Basque Identity

Being a Mexican of Basque background is often misunderstood in Mexico, this is why we are glad to present this article about one of Mexico's must famous Basques, Javier Aguirre, the coach of the national soccer team published at Sign On San Diego:

Patriotic Aguirre leads with passion

El Tri coach follows no-nonsense path

Mark Zeigler

“Guernica” is the famous mural by Pablo Picasso depicting the 1937 bombing of the Basque village during the Spanish Civil War. It is painted in black, white and a dark blue.

Javier Aguirre looks at “Guernica,” at the haunting images of death and devastation, and sees another color.

Green.

Aguirre is Mexico's national soccer coach, the man charged with forging a route to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa at a time when a wide freeway has dwindled into a lonely dirt path leading into a dark, uncertain jungle. He is here not because it is necessarily a good career move, or because he thrives on the challenge of qualifying Mexico for the World Cup after a 1-3 start, or because of the six zeros on his paycheck, but because he has to.

“A commitment to my country, you know?” says Aguirre, 50, whose team plays Guatemala in a friendly today at 5 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium. “I have to give something back to my people.”

Aguirre's nickname is “El Vasco.” The Basque. He wasn't born in the Basque region of northern Spain, but his parents were. His father fought in the Spanish Civil War at 17, was captured by Gen. Franco's nationalist army and later forced to fight for it in North Africa. His mother was from the village of Guernica.

She was there, standing in front of a church, when the planes from Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe began dropping the bombs. She was 7.

Someone grabbed her, rushed her into the church's bomb shelter.

That was 1937. Aguirre's father would get out of the army, meet Aguirre's mother, get married and look for a fresh start.

“Sometimes the worst part about the war is the post-war: no food, no job, (political) parties in jail, persecution,” says Aguirre, who speaks fluent English. “My parents decided to move to Mexico in 1950. My father changed his nationality from Spanish to Mexican.

“My parents spoke Basque at home, the food was Basque, but they knew that I was Mexican and I was born in Mexico. They told me the Mexican flag, the Mexican anthem, the Mexican language was the most important thing. My parents, they told me I have to love Mexico.”

In April, the bosses from Mexico's soccer federation called. They were desperate. The grand experiment of hiring a Swede, Sven-Goran Eriksson, had gone terribly wrong and El Tri found itself on the brink of not qualifying for a World Cup, on the brink of the unthinkable, the unfathomable.

Would he help?

Aguirre did this once before, swooping in during the rocky 2002 qualification and going 4-0-1 over the final five matches to secure a World Cup spot. He left to guide Osasuna, an unfancied club from the Basque city of Pamplona, to the UEFA Cup. From there he took Atletico Madrid, after a decade of embarrassing finishes, to the UEFA Champions League before a string of poor results led to his dismissal in February.

He was in demand. He could wait for another big club's job to open. He could stay in Spain, where his two sons attend college. He could let someone else step onto the bridge of El Tri-tanic.

And he couldn't.

A commitment to my country, you know?

There was the new life that Mexico gave to his parents, and the life it gave him. There also was 1981, when Aguirre was part of the national-team player pool that failed to qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

“I don't want to talk about it, but of course I know what would happen if we don't qualify for this World Cup,” he says. “I remember that feeling. It was a disaster, terrible. It was devastating, for the federation, for the people, for everyone.”

So he said yes.

San Diego is a city Aguirre knows well. He has owned a condominium in La Jolla Colony for the past decade, vacationing here with his family during the offseason, going to beach, attending Padres games.

But this trip is no vacation. “We are not here to relax,” he says.

Aguirre is known for crafting teams in his image, of a kid discovered by pro scouts relatively late in his career, of a player who relied on raw grit more than raw talent, of someone who never stops working. Superstars often don't flourish in his system, and he is not afraid to jettison them if they pout.

“He tries to make a good group,” goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa says.

Aguirre also talks of wanting “hungry players,” and one of his first acts as national coach was to eliminate their per diem on road trips. Not so they literally wouldn't eat, but to reinforce the notion that you play for pride on the national team and nothing else.

His roster for today's game, and for the CONCACAF Gold Cup that begins next week, has few of the veterans who play for some of the biggest clubs in Europe – much to the consternation of Mexico's predatory soccer media. In their place are youngsters with little international experience.

Or, in other words, the exact type of player Aguirre loves to coach. To mold. To motivate.

“The Mexican national team does not depend on anybody,” Aguirre says. “There are no starters. We are all Mexican. There are some people who may not agree with me. They may have favorite players. But that's the right I have been given, to choose who I want.”

He taps his coaching jersey. It's green.

“I need people who want to win, who are proud of this shirt,” he says, “proud to be on the national team, proud of the anthem, proud to be Mexican.”

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Festivities in Lekeitio

This note was published at EiTB:

San Pedro festival, Lekeitio

Euskadi.net

Festivities kick off on Sunday 28th June until Wednesday 1st July and will include Basque dancing, traditional music and extra activities such as pelota.

Kaxarranka, Kilin-Kala and Aurresku de Mujeres are traditional Basque dances well-known among the Basques. San Pedro's festivity is the most important day in June. It is celebrated on the 29th and starts with the High Mass followed by San Pedro's procession, which leaves from the church of Santa María and proceeds along the streets as far as the harbour. It is here where an unusual ceremony known as Kilin-Kala is held. The procession members bear a statue of the Saint that they bend over the water. The ritual is thought to be favourable for fishing. The local street band accompanies the bearers.

Next, "dantzaris" (typical Basque dancers) perform the celebrated Kaxarranka. A man dances on a large chest or "kutxa" carried on eight fishermen's shoulders. The performance involves three parts: a "Zortziko", a "Fandango" and an "Arin-Arin". The dancing takes place first in the port, under the image of San Pedro. Then people walk down the streets of the town passing by the house of the current fishermen guild president, the main square and the Town Hall accompanied by the sound of the "txistu" (Basque flute), the tabor and the kettledrum.

At noon, classic Aurresku de Mujeres (women's aurresku) takes place in the town's main square. In the evening, the popular "tamborrada" (drums parade) marches down the streets.

Next day is the turn of "San Pedro Txiki". Musical performances are to be found aplenty. The local street band will offer a show under the image of San Pedro followed by an open-air dance at night in Tala - near the breakwater. At 11pm the local street band will set out on a short trip from Tala to the Town Hall stairs.

On 1st July an open-air dance is scheduled to take place between Tortola and Beheko Kale Streets before the image of the Saint.

More activities have been arranged for the occasion, such as children's workshops, cesta punta and pelota mano pelota games, and hot chocolate tasting.

Lekeitio is a great spot to spend your holidays, don't miss it if you ever get a chance.

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Euskaltel Euskadi's Odds

This article about how Euskaltel Euskadi may fare in this year's edition of the Tour de France was published at Daily Peloton:

2009 Tour de France - Euskaltel/Euskadi Pronóstico

Christopher Fauske

The orange warriors of the Basque team bring its best balanced and strongest team to the tour. The team is aiming for a good showing and stage wins... but where and when in the 21 days of racing will they find the opportunity and magic?

It’s easy to make light of the chances of Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi in the Tour de France. One leading US publication estimated 10,000:1 as the ratio of the number of Basque flags on the mountains to the number of stage wins by the team. Mainly, this easy joke pays tribute to the importance the team has in contemporary Basque society.

It might also turn out to be unintentionally prescient as the squad does have a legitimate shot at picking up a stage win or two. Those chances partially lie in lucky breaks going the way of the orange squad; but they also lie in the hard work that DS Igor González de Galdeano has invested these past two years.

Before dismissing the team completely, it’s worth bearing in mind that prior to the Olympics last year one member of the team’s staff told me that Samuel Sanchez had, maybe, a “one per cent chance of Gold.” And look who won.

So where, and under what conditions, might the team pick up those stage wins?

First, the structure of this year’s Tour teams means that much is likely to be unpredictable. Astana is sending 4 legitimate GC contenders to the event. It will surely take a remarkable feat of discipline to figure out the appropriate tactics for that team on any given day.

The defending champion is now riding for a team that struggled throughout the Giro to protect its top rider, and at least some of Carlos Sastre’s best chances lie in long, lethal solo attacks on the climbs. Such attacks should shatter the field. They will also bring a response from Saxo Bank on behalf of one or other Schleck brother. Rabobank will be sending Giro champion Denis Menchov up the climbs. Cadel Evans seems to once again be trying to win le Tour with a solo effort.

Put all that together, take away race radios for two stages, throw in the flat stages made for Mark Cavendish, add the fact that Mont Ventoux is on the penultimate day (and somebody is going to have try to save something for that even while fending off attacks throughout the stages leading up to it) and it should be fiendishly difficult for any team to know just how to approach many of the race days. Several teams will be looking to take advantage of any resulting confusion in race tactics, Euskaltel-Euskadi among them.

Euskaltel-Euskadi’s GC contender is Mikel Astarloza. This will be his seventh tour. He finished 9th two years ago and sixteenth last year. His form at the 2009 Dauphiné Libéré was promising, and he was more comfortable with long solo climbs than he has been in the past. As other riders look to keep an eye on each other, Astarloza might just be able to pull away on one of the critical climbs and steal a march on his rivals. If his GC position during the transition stages isn’t too great a threat to race leaders, he also has the experience and the talent to join a long escape and help it stay away.

The team has three other potential stage winners in Amets Txurruka, who made a splash on his 2007 tour debut, picking up the most combative rider award, joining a long break on stage 12 that stayed away until the final kilometer, and wearing the white jersey for best young rider, albeit that he was “borrowing” it. Txurruka has not lost the ability to stay away on long breaks, and his increasing experience should help him on the road, especially those two stages that are going to be radio-free.

Additionally, the timing of the mountain stages and the need of several teams and a bunch of riders to gauge their efforts suggest that on several stages if the right group of riders get into a breakaway, they will be able to stay away from a peloton unlikely to be that interested in a chase. Look for Txurruka to contest at least one of those stages.

Koldo Fernández is Euskaltel-Euskadi’s first legitimate sprinter. Odds have to be on Mark Cavendish to win any sprint stage where he is with the lead group in the final kilometer, but there are two or three other sprinters with teams capable of countering at least some of Columbia-High Road’s lead-out efforts. On days when it is their intention, Euskaltel-Euskadi is fielding a team that can deliver Fernández to the final kilometer in good shape. Look for him to mix it up after this and to seek an unexpected opening, perhaps capitalizing on other teams’ final run-in countering of Cavendish’s moves.

The team has made it clear that Igor Antón is going to be looking for a stage win. Last year, his campaign was marred by injury, but anyone who saw his stage sixteen win in the 2006 Vuelta a España between Almería and the Calar Alto observatory knows he can climb. If Astarloza can rely on the rest of his team for support, the Euskaltel-Euskadi will be able to send Antón on his own forays. This might happen as early as the Pyrenees and definitely in the Alps. Who knows what Mont Ventoux will bring?

There is always at least one stage in the Tour when the day’s winner is a surprise to everyone, and if you were to look for Euskaltel-Euskadi’s potential “surprise,” neither former Lance Armstrong lieutenant Egoi Martinez nor Alan Pérez seems implausible.

In short, this is most likely the best balanced, strongest team Euskaltel-Euskadi has yet brought to the Tour.

Predictions: Mikel Astarloza, 7th in GC. Koldo Fernández, at least one second place stage finish. Most likely stage win, stage 11. Igor Antón, most likely stage win, stage 9 or 17. Amets Txurruka, most likely stage win, stage 13.

Hopefully he's right.

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A Trip to Béarn

This article was published at France Today:

Le Béarn: A Foray into France Profonde

Judy Fayard


When Henri IV succeeded to the throne of France in 1589, he was king of Béarn and Navarre. Knowing that his proud people would not relish being absorbed by the French, he declared to them: "I am not giving Béarn to France. I am giving France to Béarn."

One of candidate Francois Bayrou's most astute moves in France's recent presidential campaign was to meet the press while riding a tractor in the fields of his native Béarn. Those photos struck a deep chord with millions of voters-representing the reassuring stability of an idealized pastoral and agricultural France profonde in the face of an uncertain globalized future.

In many ways, the idealized image is true: the flatlands are rich with fields of wheat and corn, and in the mountains some farmers are still plow with horses and and harvest hay by hand. But the region is also

Béarn today is the larger half of the département of Pyrénées-Atlantique, shared with the Pays Basque to the west. It's a lush land of a thousand different shades of green, pierced by deep valleys and gaves-rushing rivers highly prized by fishermen for their salmon and trout.

The Béarnais share many other things besides their département with their Basque cousins, including the béret, which was in fact originally Béarnais, and jambon de Bayonne, first developed in Salies-de-Béarn by curing ham with salt from the town's springs.

And, even more than for the Basque country, the defining feature of Béarn is the stunning vista of the snow-capped Pyrénées, filling the southern horizon like a majestic battlement wall. The mountains partially account for the legendarily independent character of the Béarnais, somewhat mellowed by a mild, almost Méditerranean climate that also-witness those verdant valleys-gets a lot of rain, especially in the spring.

The Béarnais language, a variant of the langue d'oc, is still spoken by many and is being taught to schoolchilden once more. And like their beloved Henry IV, "Lou Nouste Henric," the Bearnais have a well-established appreciation for their hearty southwestern food and regional wines-sweet or dry white Jurançon, rosé de Béarn, Béarn-Bellocq, Madiran and white Pacherenc, also both sweet and dry.

"Béarnais baptism": garlic and wine

Pau, the regional capital, is perched on a cliff over the wide Gave de Pau, with an unparalleled view of the mountains from the terrace of the Boulevard des Pyrénées. The narrow cobbled streets of the old quarter lead to the château, an almost cartoonlike hodge-podge of a castle begun by the Vicomte de Béarn Gaston Phébus in the 14th century and meddled with by just about every sovereign who followed. Like the city itself, it's full of beguiling, low-key charm.

Henri IV was born in the château in 1553, the son of Henri de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret. On his father's side, he was directly descended from Louis IX, Saint Louis. His maternal grandfather was Henri II d'Albret, a rough and ready bon vivant, and his grandmother Marguerite d'Angoulême, sister of François Ier, was an intellectual and poet who wrote the Tales of the Heptaméron, inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron. When Henri was born, his grandfather gave him a "Béarnais baptism"-rubbing the infant's lips with garlic and a drop of Jurançon wine.

Henri's cradle was the shell of a giant tortoise, a curiosity thereafter displayed beneath a pyramid of lances holding a gold knight's helmet replete with white plumes. Given the quirky look of bemusement on the dozens of statues of him strewn around the château, Henri might have found the tortoise-shell shrine a bit over the top.

But the rest of the castle is worth the price of admission, including a grandiose dining room table that seats 100 guests, and rooms opulently refurnished in the 19th century under Napoléon III and Louis Philippe, both of whom were anxious to establish their connections to the direct descendant of Saint Louis.

It was also in the 19th century that Pau became known as la ville anglaise, a fashionable health resort for wealthy English folk. That notoriety earned the city a bevy of elegant English villas, the first golf course on the European continent, and horse-breeding and fox-hunting traditions still alive today.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts offers an eclectic collection-El Greco, Breughel, Rubens, Zurbarán, Degas's "The Cotton Exchange in New Orleans" plus local contemporary works-and the small Musée Bernadotte is the former home of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, one of Napoléon's maréchals, who became King of Sweden in 1818, founding the dynasty that reigns today and making this modest Béarnais city the birthplace of two kings.

A futurist complex in la France profonde

Perhaps a better base for forays into the countryside, though, is Orthez, lively but smaller and easier to negotiate. It's an authentic Béarnais town, the home of Jeanne d'Albret, whose former manor house now houses a small museum of Protestantism in Béarn. The formidable Jeanne was a devout Protestant who imposed Calvinism on her realm and on her son, Henri IV, until he bartered his faith for the crown of Catholic France (in his famous phrase, "Paris is well worth a Mass"). The main street in front of Jeanne's house leads, on one end, to the "Château" Moncade-an imposing 13th-century tower with a panoramic view-and on the other to the fortified Vieux Pont.

Between Pau and Orthez lies Lacq, and a modern-day tale. Until the mid 20th century, Béarn was an economic backwater and rural life was harsh. In 1951, the largest deposit of natural gas in western Europe was discovered here. Within a few years the immense gas plant at Lacq brought in thousands of workers, jobs and wealth to the entire region and spawned a sprawling industrial complex that looks like a futuristic city from another planet.

A few kilometers and a world away, Salies-de-Bearn (pronounced SaLEES) sits atop the salt springs that gave it name and fortune. The crystallized salt was used for preserving food, notably jambon de Bayonne, and the springs-seven times saltier than the sea, it's said-still supply the town's thermal baths. Delightful Salies calls itself the "Venice of Béarn," since the Saleys river meanders through, bordered by balconied houses on stilts.

Home of the béret

Nearby Sauveterre-de-Béarn is a stop on the pilgrimage route to Compostela. The name comes from salva terra, referring to hamlets founded by monasteries as safe havens for fugitives and wanderers. It's still an appealing place to wander, past stone houses topped by steep, slightly turned-up Béarnais roofs made of red tiles called picons. Only half of the 12th-century Vieux Pont still stands, site of a legendary trial by divine judgment: In 1170, the widow of Gaston V de Béarn, accused of murdering her newborn child, was thrown off the bridge bound hand and foot; she floated safely to shore, and so was "proven" innocent.

Tiny Navarrenx is surrounded by the remains of its medieval walls, considered a perfect example of 16th-century fortifications. It too is a stop on the pilgrim route (also a good café stop on the route de tourisme), and the site of the annual World Salmon Fishing Championships. Or so they are called.

Red tile roofs give way to the gray slate of mountain towns like Oloron-Sainte-Marie, where a chocolate factory fills the whole town with its aroma. The béret Béarnais is made here, and so are Artiga "Basque" linens. But the star attraction is the superb 12th-century portal of the cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Sculpted in Pyrénéen marble, the astonishing tympan portrays Biblical and allegorical figures along with fishermen (toting very big fish), hunters, farmers and cheesemakers. On either side, a mounted King Constantine treads on the head of Paganism, and a monster devours a man.

Eco-disaster in paradise

Straight south of Oloron, the Aspe valley is deep and narrow, with sheep and hay meadows and exhilarating views at every bend in the road. Villages pop up here and there: Sarrance, with a pilgrimage church and cloister; Bedous, where a turnoff to leads down to the river and a perfect picnic ground beside a limpid salmon pool. Near Accous there's a small aluminum factory owned by the Japanese company Toyal. It's incongruous, and recently the cause of controversy: When the owners announced they would build another factory at Lacq, local congressman Jean Lasalle, fearing the old one might close after the new one opened (only 43 miles away, but out of his district), went on a hunger strike to put the kibosh on the new project. Even more bizarre, he seems to have won.

Farther along, a turn off the main road winds up to Lescun, a flower-decked stone village with a café and a plain stone church with an ornate Baroque altar. The village sits in a majestic cirque of needle rocks, but climb a little higher above the church for the valley's most breathtaking view.

Sadly, all is not idyllic in this mountain paradise. The two-lane Aspe Valley road is a pleasure on weekends, but weekdays it's heavy with truck traffic crossing from Spain through the Somport tunnel. In mid-June a truck carrying chemicals went off the road near the Lescun turnoff, spilling thousands of gallons of toxic liquid into the gave, destroying fish and vegetation along a four-mile stretch. Farther down, the river eventually diluted the chemical disaster, but for the affected segment the river and its banks are closed off indefinitely.

Heading back, a detour north of Oloron will take you through the hilly vineyards of Jurançon, a beautiful drive on peaceful country roads where you can stop for a tasting wherever you see a dégustation sign. One great bet is the Château de Rousse, near La Chapelle de Rousse almost directly south of Pau. There, on the former hunting grounds of Henri IV, the Labat family produces award-winning Jurançons on steeply terraced vineyards. Geneviève Labat graciously shows visitors around, and a chat about the beauty of her garden leads inevitably to talk of rain, and the generous quantities of it in the region. "Ah, oui," she says with twinkling eyes and musical accent, "in Béarn we don't lack for water...or for wine."

We guess profonde means "not really", and taking the very first paragraph as our cue we can say that the author knows that Béarn is not quite a part of France. If you do some research you will find out that Béarn is actually part of Nabarra (Navarre in English).

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Eusko Flickr : Iturriaren Adarrak

Iturriaren adarrak
Originally uploaded by Xabito

Comic About Basque Whalers

This note was published at EiTB:

Basque whalers: heroes as classic as American cowboys

Igor Lansorena

Guillermo Zubiaga, a Basque comic book writer, publishes a comic about the adventures of Joanes, a Basque Whaler.

For Guillermo Zubiaga, a Basque graphic artist living in New York, the Basque whalers represent a heroic age, a "western" period particular to the Basques' own whimsicalness, comparable to the figure of the cowboy to the Americans, the vikings to the Scandinavians or the samurai to the Japanese.

For this reason, it is Guillermo's intention to keep their memory alive "as one of a number of very important symbols" for the Basques when he publishes The Flying Whaleboat, the first episode of a series of 3 comic books featuring the adventures of Joanes, a Basque whaler. "It is my opinion that the figure of the Basque whaler as well as the story behind his more than 3000 mile transatlantic exploits, is worthy of heroic praise," Guillermo says in an exclusive interview for eitb.com.

"One can't help but to wonder what kind of epic poems would had the classic Greco-Romans written would they had the knowledge of such deeds among their own folk," the Basque artist adds.

Guillermo had dreamt ever since college about creating something with a Basque theme specially for the American market. He first considered a compendium of Basque Mythology or conceiving a new take on the battle of Orrega but eventually decided resolutely on the theme of Basque whaling which he discovered through an article in the National Geographic by Selma Huxley.

The Basque comic writer had always been mystified by the whole aspect of the ancient whalers as their memory echoed along the entire Basque coast, reflected in the innumerable coats of arms of many Basque villages. The National Geographic issue confirmed to Zubiaga's mind that the content itself was a jewel when it came down to establishing whaling as a centerpiece of the story-line for a graphic novel. What is more, for Guillermo there was also the disputed early presence of Basques in the Americas which remains shrouded in mystery.

Guillermo finally decided on the name Joanes after the 1584 last will of Joanes de Echaniz, one the oldest written documents in North American history, and because the name is frequently repeated in historical records, Joanes D'Etxeberry's chants "Balearrantzaleen otoitzak," to folklore, Aita Barandiaran's story of the whaler Joanes Balaztena.

Han-Solo from Star Wars and the "Man with no name" played by Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns", two anti-heroes, were willful inspirations for the portrayal of Joanes.

The narration of Joanes the Basque Whaler was conceived as a single story of approximately 100 pages, but Guillermo decided to better adapt it to an American public, in a series of 3 episodes of 32 pages each. He has already finished the first one, The Flying Whaleboat of Joanes, and has already started penciling number two, entitled The Island of the Whales.

Influences

If Guillermo were completely free and had all the means, he would love to create an idea for Marvel of a story with Wolverine, his favorite hero in the American comic book universe. "During 1936-1937 as a combatant in the Spanish Civil War, as a foreign agent; the Canadian international brigades come immediately to mind, in Euskadi, fighting along the Euzko Gudarostea on the iron belt, or liberating Paris with the Gernika Battalion," Guillermo says.

If Zubiaga had to cite some of his influences in terms of his writing and drawing style within the American comic book industry as well as among their European and often south American counterparts, he confesses there are so many he is afraid to leave any out.

"Neal Adams, Mike Mignola, Klaus Janson, Frank Miller, Bernie Wrighston, Pasqual Ferry, Carlos Pacheco, Joe Kubert, Adam Kubert, Jimmy Palmiotti, Adam Pollina, Alan Moore, Dave Cockrum, Scott Lobdell, Will Eisner, Goscinny, Uderzo, Stan Lee, Victor Mora, Francisco Darnís, Jordi Bernet, Horacio Altuna, Milo Manara, Richard Corben, John Byrne, Walter Simonson, and the list truly goes on an on, since there is really a humbling assemble of talent", Guillermo says.

Regarding the authors and works who have had a more direct influence on Joanes the Basque Whaler, Guillermo mentions Second Century A.D. Lucian de Somastata, François Rabelais' Pantagruel, Rudolf Erich Raspe and Gottfried August Bürger's The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Walt Disney's Pinocchio.

Center of Basque Studies

The comic book will hit the shelves next July 24th at the annual convention of the North American Basque Organizations. It has not been an easy road, though. Since the Basque comic book writer had some contacts in the industry through his professional involvement, he thought he would be able to find an outlet for his work but he was somewhat mistaken.

Most of the comic book editors were not very interested in such an atypical theme. This did not stop Guillermo, who decided to give himself a year's deadline before considering self-publishing. He then met Joseba Etxarri, director of euskalkultura.com, who put him in touch with the University of Nevada and the Center of Basque Studies to participate with the annual NABO in advocating his book as a platform for a new outlook on Basque-American awareness.

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Archaeological Findings at Lizarate Pass

This note was published at EiTB:

Remains of a medieval castle at the gates between Gipuzkoa and Alava

Olwen Mears

The historical significance of the ancient doorway between two Basque provinces comes further to light with the discovery an ancient dwelling and inn.

Those responsible for leading excavations into the St Adrian tunnel (between Gipuzkoa and Alava) which started a year ago have been amazed by recent findings.

"This is double what we expected (to find)," said one archaeologist. "Without doubt, what is emerging here is a big surprise."

Remains which have been found inside the tunnel, where today only the old Roman road and an ancient chapel still stand, have lead archaeologists to conclude that there once stool a medieval castle of some magnitude, as well as possibly an inn and a cemetery. All of these are evidence of the importance of the underpass which joins the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Alava.

The Lizarate pass, better known as the San Adrian tunnel, was once the entrance to Gipuzkoa and the Roman road that runs through it united the ancient kingdom of Castille with France.

"It was like the N1 (important highway that runs from Madrid to the Basque town of Irun) of its day ... marketers, princesses,.. everybody traveling between Castille and France would have to have passed through here," explained one of the diggers.

Furthermore, remains have also been found from the Bronze Age, two metres below where the current archway stands, proving that the passageway was previously much wider.

Representatives from the council of Gipuzkoa will continue to encourage the archaeological exploration of the site with the objective of retrieving this historically strategic spot of the Aizkorri Aratz national park.

As one council deputy explained: "Firstly what we want to do is preserve the site and then of course give it the importance that is warrants."

This archaeologist needs some history classes, after the Romans there was no Castille and for hundreds of years there was a Basque kingdom called Navarre between Spain and France. Gipuzkoa and Araba where both provinces of that Basque sovereign state we call Nabarra.

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Eusko Flickr : Lapurdi - Recorrido por el Litoral

Lapurdi - Recorrido por el Litoral
Originally uploaded by eduiturri

Txalaparta and Basquetronic

This article was published at The Guardian:

Crystal Fighters (No 572)

This east London five-piece bring traditional Basque folk music screaming and kicking into the 21st century by fusing it with heavy dance rhythms and synthesisers

Paul Lester

Hometown: East London.

The lineup: Laure (vocals), Sebastian (lead vocals), Mimi (vocals), Graham (programming, txalaparta), Gilbert (synths, txalaparta).

The background: Have you ever wondered what would happen if you went back, say, 100 years and dropped a ton of modern recording equipment plus a copy of Mixmag into an obscure hamlet in the heart of the Basque region of Spain and left the villagers, steeped as you'd expect in folk music, to their own devices? No? Fair enough. To be honest, we hadn't given it much thought ourselves until we heard Crystal Fighters, the third great "Crystal" band of the century so far after Crystal Castles and Crystal Stilts. A five-piece comprising three gentlemen – two English and one American – and two Spanish girls, Crystal Fighters take the notion of melding folk and funk to another level. Hearing them bash their txalapartas (instruments made out of wood or stone) in time to programmed beats as bowel-loosening basslines burble underneath and voices shout in euphoric disharmony over the top, you do indeed feel as though you've wandered into a rave in a forest in early 20th-century rural Galdakao. And, oh look, there's a gimlet-eyed peasant, grinning as he leafs through a copy of that dance bible that we airdropped in earlier, wondering what the Spanish is for "subsonic boom-bap".

What Crystal Fighters do isn't a million miles away from Crystal Castles-meet-CSS. Their single Xtatic Truth has the ecstatic rush and mental electronic FX of the former and the excitable unison vocals of the latter, with the extra dimension you get from five members banging away on those txalapartas. "We make fast dance music with Basque instruments, synthesisers and our voices," they explain, adding that they fuse heavy dance rhythms with traditional folk melodies and chants gleaned from old Basque sheet music. "We're interested in using this music from a small community that's been handed down through generations. There are lots of Basque dances that are 200-300 years old and we use their eerie melodies, and play around with them until we find the bit that resonates most with us, which might be a two-bar or two-note phrase."

It all sounds simple enough, and it is, until you get to the part where they attempt to explain where they get the ideas for their songs from. Apparently, singer Laure was going through her late grandfather's possessions somewhere deep in Basque country when she came across an unfinished opera he'd been writing called Crystal Fighters. "The faded manuscript and the prophetic prose contained within quickly became an obsession," she said. Now her band are trying to bring some of the quality of his wild, dishevelled poetry to bear on London's trendy indie-dance scene. So far, so good: they recorded a live session for Radio 1, their live shows are becoming the stuff of legend and their online hit I Love London was voted one of the top 100 records of 2008 by Mixmag – the only unreleased entry in the list, ahead of the likes of Toddla T and Bloc Party.

The buzz: "Instead of sucking at the teat of dance music's rinsed-out tech boobies, they play a carnivalesque amalgam of all the best bits of ghetto house, punk, Latin electro, South American and Basque folk traditions."

The truth: It's positively Basquetronic.

Most likely to: Advertise txalapartas on Basque TV.

Least likely to: Go on a package tour with Crystal Castles and Crystal Stilts.

What to buy: Xtatic Truth is released by Kitsuné on 6 July, followed by I Love London later this year.

File next to: Buraka Som Sistema, CSS, Django Django.

Links: myspace.com/crystalfighters

Tomorrow's new band: Mickey Gang.

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Mycologist's Paradise

This article was published at EiTB:

Mushrooms and Truffles

Igor Lansorena

Basque cuisine offers a great variety of recipes using mushrooms, making them a much-valued ingredient.

The Basque Country is a country of dedicated mycologists, or mushroom experts, as well as mushroom eaters, even though until several decades ago only very few species were eaten, out of the countless possibilities that can be found in woody and moist surroundings such as ours.

By keeping to the knowledge about the most valued mushrooms in Basque cuisine through the variety of recipes that our chefs offer, one can thus avoid long hikes in search of mushrooms as well as the risk of not distinguishing between edible and poisonous species.

Today our recipe books include varieties that until very recently were disdained, and this allows one to sample fresh mushrooms all year round.

Mushrooms are usually preferred grilled, baked, or scrambled with eggs, these methods being the best in order to appreciate the delicate flavors and textures of the different varieties. Perhaps the most exquisite is the "perretxiku" (lyophylum georgii), so fragile that it will not cope with sauces and is usually eaten scrambled with eggs. Lightly fried and then carefully blended with eggs, "ontto beltzak" (boletus edulis) are highly regarded.

The grill and the oven offer the perfect preparation for other widespread species such as "gibelurdinak", mottled or silvery (clitocybe nebularis and geotropa). Whether grilled, served with eggs, as a stuffing or a garnish, in shish-kebabs with meat, as a base for sauces, or even raw, the most commonly used mushrooms in Basque cuisine often include "senderuelas" (marasmus oreades), "barbuda" (corprinus comatus), "champiñon" (psalliota campestris), "pie azul" (rhodopasillus nudus/saevus), "niscalo" (lactarius deliciosus), and a long list of miscellaneous possibilities that can only depend on locations, time of harvest, and on the imagination of the gatherer.

It is also necessary to mention truffles, which are found in Araba, specifically in the area of Campezo, which, though not always considered by traditional cuisine, have incorporated themselves vigorously into modern cooking. In addition to scrambled egg, truffles have become one of the most luxurious additions to sauces, creams, etc. in Basque cuisine.

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Araba Euskaraz '09

This note was published at EiTB:

'Araba Euskaraz' kicks off in Oion

Nora García

The town of Oion celebrates Araba Euskaraz 2009 under the slogan "Hauspoari eraginez". This year San Vicente Ikastola hosts this festival of Euskara (Basque language).

The aim of this festival is to gather funds in order to provide economic needs and an infrastructure for the ikastola that hosts Araba Euskaraz.

This year San Vicente Ikastola will be the host of Araba Euskaraz. This centre started working 30 years ago and nowadays it has around 300 pupils and 29 teachers.

The money collected in this festivity will be used to expand this centre's nursery, to improve the dining hall service and also to create a new meeting hall.

Araba Euskaraz is expected to be attended by the Basque Government Education councillor Isabel Celaa, Basque Government Culture councillor, Blanca Urgell and Alava General Deputy, Xabier Agirre.

The song for Araba Euskaraz 2009 has been composed by the famous Basque clowns Pirritx, Porrotx and Marimototx, who will also perform during this festival. Besides, there will also be concerts offered by groups such as Deabruak Teilatuetan, Nora Ezean, Ohiu e Hiperakusia, among others.

As part of the celebration, there will be several events scheduled in four different areas: Bertsolaris, Basque dances, sports for children, rural sports exhibitions and street animation.

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Cod "Pil-Pil"

This recipe comes to you courtesy of EiTB:

Cod "pil-pil"

Igor Lansorena

Cod is cooked in many different ways but there is one more remarkable than the others, "pil-pil".

Cod “pil-pil" is without doubt the most popular way to cook Cod. There are several traditional fiestas where people cook cod “pil-pil” in crowded contests.

To cook cod this way for four, you need four pieces of cod, four cloves of garlic, virgin olive oil and four dried chili peppers.

Leave the cod to soak the previous day changing the water three times. Cook the cod in a saucepan with plenty of water until it starts boiling.

Remove the saucepan from the stove and remove the cod from the saucepan with care, drain it and place on a towel.

In an earthenware pot, fry the chopped garlic and half the chili cut in small slices in plenty of oil.

When the garlic is brown, remove and put the slices of cod in the pot, separated and with the skin side facing up.

Shake the pot constantly in circular movements over a medium heat adding a bit of the water used to cook the cod.

As the pot is shaken, the sauce will thicken to a jelly-like texture. At this point the dish is ready to serve.

Decorate the cod with the browned garlic and the unused chili.

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Euskaltel's '09 Tour's Team

This article about Euskaltel Euskadi's line up for this year's edition of the Tour de France was published at VeloNews:

Euskaltel names Tour team

Euskaltel-Euskadi will be hoping for big performances at the Tour de France following relatively lackluster spring campaign.

The Basque Country-based Euskaltel team will ride this year without the services of consistent top-10 threat Haimar Zubeldia (who’s already punched himself a ticket back to the Tour with Astana), so the team will look to Igor Antón and Mikel Astarloza to fill the void.

Astarloza has already finished in the top-10 and rode well to a top-5 finish at the Dauphiné Libéré. He’s a steady climber who always seems to be there in the key moments.

Antón will likely forget about the GC and instead focus on trying to win a mountain stage, ideally at Arcalis, when tens of thousands of orange-clad Basque fans will be clogging the roads in the Pyrénées.

Also skipping the Tour this year is Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez, who wants to focus on winning the Vuelta a España and the world championships in the second half of the season.

Koldo Fernández will try his luck in the sprints while Egoi Martínez and Amets Txurruka, winner of the most aggressive prize in 2007, will be on the attack.

Euskaltel-Euskadi for Tour de France

* Igor Antón
* Mikel Astarloza
* Koldo Fernández
* Egoi Martínez
* Juanio Oroz
* Alan Pérez
* Rubén Pérez
* Amets Txurruka
* Gorka Verdugo

Best of lucks to all of them, we will miss Zubeldia.

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Eusko Flickr : Larrun

Larrun
Originally uploaded by tximistarria

Disrespect at Ezkaba

A group representing the Asociación de Familiares de Fusilados, Asesinados y Desaparecidos de Nafarroa (an organization that brings together relatives of those victims of the Spanish government that have been executed by firing squad, murdered or gone missing in the Basque province of Navarre) stated their disagreement to Elena Torres regarding the approach given to the guided visits at the Ezcaba fort.

Yesterday, Elena Torres (president of Navarre's Parliament), received the delegation for the association, headed by association's own president, Mirentxu Agirre, who counted with the company of Olga Alcega, Tomas Dorronsoro, Josefina Lamberto and Roberto Rocafor. At the end of the meeting the association stated that they do not agree with the approach that they are giving to the guided visits a the Ezkaba fort, "because they barely portray its real purpose, a jail for extermination". As it is well known, during the guided visits the main focus are historic and architectonic information about the fort, but they barely make any reference to the use given to the fort as a jail by the Francoist dictatorship.

During the meeting, according to a press release by Navarre's Parliament, Agirre was pleased by the degree of development in the agreement between that the Parliament decided to establish with the Universidad Pública de Nafarroa (Navarre's Public University) to create an archive dedicated to the Historic Memory.

"We are very satisfied by the interest and sensibility shown by Elena Torres time and again towards our cause. We trust that, just as she told us, the archive dedicated to the Historic Memory will be active by the next legislative period. On our behalf, we assured her that we are willing to collaborate in any possible wasy", informed Mirentxu Agirre at the end of the meeting. She also made public the "gratefulness" from the association for the cycle of conferences that, under the title "Victims of the Civil Was and Historic Memory" was organized by the Parliament on November of 2008, and to this matter they asked Elena Torres if there was a possibility to make such conferences an every year occasion.

The association was created back in November of 2002 with the objective of "reclaiming the historic memory in regards of the victims of the Francoist genocidal repression during the Civil War". On March of 2003, the Parliament approved a declaration in favor of the acknowledgment and moral reparation of all those Basques from Navarre executed by firing squad in the aftermath of the Francoist coup d'etat in 1936.

We sustain that a lot more needs to be done regarding all the heinous crimes committed by the Franco regime from 1936 until today that Juan Carlos Borbon perpetuates the murderous regime as king of Spain.

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Eusko Flickr : Lekunberri

Lekunberri
Originally uploaded by CarlosL.

Eusko Flickr : Leitza - Herriko Erdia

Leitza - herriko erdia
Originally uploaded by bara-koukoug

Campaign Against Extradition of Basque Activists

This article was published at An Phoblacht:

Don't Extradite the Basques Campaign launched

Emma Clancy

The Don’t Extradite the Basques Campaign was formally launched on Wednesday 10 June against the extradition to Spain of Belfast-based Basque pro-independence activists Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva at a press conference in An Chultúrlann.

Civil rights activist Fearghas Ó hÍr outlined the campaign on behalf of the committee, joined by a range of supporters including prominent human rights defenders and community activists, aiming to demonstrate the broad support for the human and civil rights of the Basque people from across the Belfast community.

An online petition against the extraditions was also launched at the press conference. Initial signatories to this petition include Fearghas Ó hÍr, human rights lawyer Pádraigín Drinan, Eamon McCann (NUJ National Executive), Gerry McConville (Chair, West Belfast Partnership Board) and Michael Culbert (former Antrim and St Gall’s Football Manager).

Iñaki de Juana

Speaking on behalf of the campaign, Fearghas Ó hÍr said: “The Spanish authorities are trying to extradite Iñaki de Juana, who served 21 years in Spanish jails, from Belfast, where he moved immediately after his release in August last year, to face questioning related to charges of ‘glorifying terrorism’.

“The arrest warrant is based on somebody at a rally in Donostia in August, which was celebrating Iñaki’s release from prison, reading a letter that used the popular Basque expression ‘Aurrera bolie’ (‘Kick the ball forward’). The Spanish authorities claim this phrase constitutes a call for the continuation of armed struggle.

“Iñaki was not present at this rally and denies writing such a letter, which Spanish police admit they cannot produce. There is no evidence that this comment was Iñaki’s or that it somehow constitutes a terrorist offence.

“There has been a virulent and sustained hate campaign against Iñaki by the Spanish media for many years, and Spain’s former justice minister has previously publicly called for the judges to ‘construct new charges’ against Iñaki to ‘keep him in jail’,” Ó hÍr explained.

“It is very clear that behind the warrant for ‘questioning’ issued by Spain is the agenda of putting Iñaki back in prison, despite the fact that these new charges are baseless.”

Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva

Ó hÍr then outlined the case of Basque youth activist Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva, who was arrested in March 2001 by the Spanish police, with 15 other young pro-independence activists, and was accused of being a member of Basque pro-independence socialist youth organisation Jarrai.

“While Jarrai is a solely political organisation, it was declared illegal by the Spanish authorities in 2005 and categorised as a “terrorist” organisation by Spain’s Supreme Court in 2007,” Ó hÍr explained.

“Charged with ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’, Beñat faced a possible 14-year jail sentence for his political activism. Released on bail after 10 months in prison, he did not attend what many believed to be a political show trial.

“In 2004, Beñat decided to seek refuge in Belfast from Spanish political persecution and the risk of torture.

“At the time of Beñat’s alleged membership of Jarrai (1994-2000), the organisation was legal. The Spanish court is applying the law that criminalised Jarrai retrospectively.

“Beñat is being targeted by the Spanish authorities for carrying out political, public and peaceful youth work in the Basque Country. His only ‘crime’ has been his political ideas in favour of Basque independence and socialism,” Ó hÍr said.

Political persecution

“In its effort to prevent the Basque people from exercising their democratic right to self-determination, Spain is breaching several fundamental rights as outlined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, of peaceful assembly and association, the right to take part in the government of their state and the right not to be subjected to torture or abuse,” Ó hÍr said.

“Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva are clearly being persecuted solely for their political opinions, not for any criminal activity. We believe that there is a serious danger that they will not receive a fair hearing within the Spanish judicial system and face the risk of torture.

Mr Ó hÍr continued: “These extradition requests are politically unacceptable and we are calling on all those who support basic civil rights to sign the petition against the extraditions.”

The campaign petition demands that the Spanish government respects the fundamental human, civil and political rights of the Basque people as laid out in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and that it ends its campaign of criminalisation against the Basque pro-independence movement.

The petition supports the human right of de Juana and Villanueva not to be persecuted by the Spanish government for their political opinions.

It calls on the British government to immediately reject the extradition requests and to refuse to collaborate with the Spanish government in this political persecution.

Finally, the petition supports the right of de Juana and Villanueva to live freely in Ireland.

To sign the petition visit www.dontextraditethebasques.org

Once again, thanks to our Irish friends for their solidarity and support.

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A Petition to Stop Extraditions in Ireland

We received this information regarding an internet based campaign demanding to stop the extradition of Basque political refugees living in Ireland:

Sign The Campaign Petition!

* We, the undersigned, demand that the Spanish government respects the fundamental human, civil and political rights of the Basque people as laid out in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

* We demand that the Spanish government ends its campaign of criminalisation and political persecution against organisations and individuals that are in favour of Basque independence.

* We support the right of Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva not to be persecuted by the Spanish government for their political ideas.

* We call on the British government to immediately reject the extradition requests and to refuse to collaborate with the Spanish government’s political persecution of Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva.

* We support the right of Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva to live freely in Ireland.

Show your support for Iñaki and Beñat and sign this petition here.

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Eusko Flickr : 8. Alboka Topaketa

8. Alboka Topaketa (59 of 91)
Originally uploaded by etxebaiker

Eusko Flickr : Iniciativa Internacionalista

Iniciativa Internacionalista
Originally uploaded by Soniko

Eusko Flickr : Landarbaso

Landarbaso
Originally uploaded by jonlp

Mikelo Gets Wiki Recognition

Mikelo, one of our contacts at Flickr who has been featured a couple of times at our Eusko Flickr section has been awarded by Wikipedia according to this note published at EiTB:

Wikipedia appraises picture taken by Basque

Estibaliz Sainz

Mikel Ortega, a young photographer from Renteria, Gipuzkoa, found inspiration on Bianditz mountain.

A picture taken by Mikel Ortega Mendibil (Renteria, Gipuzkoa) has been chosen as the best free image of the year 2008 by the editors of Wikipedia, the free and multilingual on-line encyclopedia project.

The picture shows two horses on Bianditz mountain (Gipuzkoa) with the so-called Aiako Harria/Peña de Aia, or Aia's peak, in the background.

Mikel Ortega told eitb.com reporter David Pérez that the picture was taken "about two years ago, " when he was trekking in the mountains with several friends.

The 31-year old uploaded the image to Flickr under the Creative Commons license, which allows creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators.

Someone decided to upload Ortega's photo to Wikipedia and suddenly, he got a stunning surprise without "promoting the picture," as he said astonished.

The picture was modified by a German user called Richard Bartz, who removed a horse that was in the background - see the original image.

However, he clarified that he is not engaged in professional photography but in computers.

Zorionak Mikelo!

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