Non Dramatic Democracy

Ibarretxe makes a point when he says that the future of all peoples in Europe is consultation through referendum.

You can read about it takes to this article published by EITb:

Ibarretxe: “Consulting means future for all European regions”

09/08/2008

Basque President affirmed that consulting is not something “dramatic” but “democratic.” He also called the citizens to defend their rights in order to decide “pacifically everywhere”.

‘Lehendakari’-Basque President Juan Jose Ibarretxe affirmed on Monday that consulting is the future for all European regions while “forbidding is the past”. He wondered which kind of ”participating democracy” is being created is Spain, a place where “first, the right to decide was denied. Then, the right to ask and now, the right to appeal against”.

Lehendakari made that statement at the official inauguration of the University of Basque Country Summer Course ‘Citizen Participation: new political culture in a context of shared leadership’ at Miramar Palace in Donostia - San Sebastian, accompanied by Gipuzkoa’s County Council Markel Olano.

Juan Jose Ibarretxe reminded that citizens must defend pacifically the right to decide “in Spain, in Europe and everywhere”, because that gesture does not mean something “dramatic” but “democratic.” While it is said that “democratic participation sets the way in Europe, Spain denies that way”, he dennounced.

In spite of the fact that the consultation is now seen as “exceptional”, future times “will not have limits” because “letting the citizens take part in the decisions” is “the way,” he added.

Speaking of which maybe Balza could be less "dramatic" and stop outlawing the civil acts and demonstrations called by the pro-independence Basque organization. Let us remember that Javier Balza's "dramatics" include torture and brutal police charges against pacifist demonstrators.

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Travel : From Andoain to Tolosa

This article comes to us thanks to EITb:

The inland road

Way of St. James in the Basque Country: From Andoain to Tolosa

09/01/2008

Tolosa is especially famous for its deeply rooted Carnival, during which the streets become alive with hordes of enthusiastic participants in disguise, on decorated floats, or as part of a carnival group.

Until 1614, the date on which Philip III granted it the title of town, Andoain swung back and forth between Donostia-San Sebastian and Tolosa. Its conversion meant that it could unite the two parts making up its population: Leizaur, next to the Rivers Leizaran and Oria, and Andoain, on the side of Mount Buruntza.

The parish church, located in the Village Square, is dedicated to San Martín de Tours, a loyal companion of the pilgrims to Compostela. This 18th century Baroque church is built in veined marble and is not far from the Town Hall, built in the same period, or Urigain Palace, presently the cultural centre and an example of early century French-Basque architecture.

Travelling along this important road, pilgrims would come across places such as Bilabona-Villabona, which could have its origins in Amasa, presently a neighborhood of the former. In fact, the parish church of San Martin de Tours, started in the 16th century, stands in Amasa, as does the hermitage of la Santa Cruz, possibly the first local church and home to a greatly worshipped calvary. Whatever the case, pilgrims were so common in Billabona that the expenses of running the local hospital were even paid for by the district.

Travellers would have covered about half of their journey through Gipuzkoa on reaching Tolosa, where they would find everything they needed to prepare themselves for setting out on the last part of the Road through this territory. Tolosa was created and fortified in the 13th century on order by Alfonso X the Wise, who was afraid that the aspirations of Teobaldo, from Navarre, would bring about the downfall of the prosperous commercial route through Gipuzkoa.

But Tolosa was already a highly important spot in the province well before it attracted the monarch’s attention, and it was precisely in its church of Santiago that the lawyers of Gipuzkoa deliberated on their annexation to Castile and where the first written ordinances in Gipuzkoa were issued.

Tolosa, which was the capital of Gipuzkoa from 1844 to 1854, still has a medieval quarter of narrow streets and extremely ancient buildings, such as the 12th century Idiaquez Palace. This Palace, built over a fragment of the surrounding walls, provided shelter in 1538 to the Emperor Charles V, and belonged to the latter’s secretary, Alonso de Idiaquez.

Even the most humble of pilgrims were given shelter in the hospital built over a primitive Templar commandery which, it would seem, used to stand next to a hermitage dedicated to Saint James, home to an ancient carving of the Apostle. This Ospital-Zaharra (Old Hospital), which stood next to the parish church of Santa Maria, was rebuilt by the Town Council in 1775 and yet again, after a fire, in 1819.

The above-mentioned parish church was built in the 16th century, although it has additions from every period, such as the Romanesque door of the hermitage of San Esteban, still standing until the beginning of this century. Other interesting buildings are the 17th century Convent of Santa Clara, its 18th century church, and Baroque palaces such as that of Atodo, among others.

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Thousands March in Donostia

This note comes to us via Google News:

Thousands march in Spain's Basque region for independence

Aug 9, 2008

MADRID (AFP) — Thousands of people marched through the streets of the seaside city of San Sebastian in Spain's northeastern Basque Country on Saturday to demand self-determination for the wealthy region.

"Stop the state of emergency. Self-determination for Euskal Herria," read a banner carried by participants at the head of the peaceful march, using the Basque language name for the Basque Country.

Dozens of people waved the red, white and green Basque flag while others chanted slogans in favour of independence for the region as a police helicopter flew overhead, Spanish media reported.

Police offered no estimate for the number of participants but the Basque newspaper Gara said in its online edition that some 5,000 people had taken part in the demonstration which was organised by left-wing Basque nationalists.

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Udaleku '08

This note comes to us thanks to The Buffalo Bulletin:

Basque-ing in the culture

Summer camp draws teachers and students from afar

By Grant Smith

Published: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

Since its inception in 1973, the Udaleku summer camp has offered youths the opportunity to expand their interest in Basque history and culture in the hope of preserving and continuing Basque tradition from one generation to the next.

“Many of our participants have an interest in Basque language or music and they feel weird because none of their friends can relate. We give them the opportunity to see that they aren’t so odd in their interests,” said Kate Camino, the internal director for the camp.

Camino, a Buffalo native who works in the Basque Studies Department at the University of Nevada Reno, used her professional contacts to assemble a group of energetic instructors willing to travel to Buffalo and share their skills.

Jexux Larrea agreed, despite not knowing English. Jexux, who is teaching Basque dance at the camp in Clear Creek Middle School, came from the city of Donostia in Spain where he works as a dance master in a culture group that teaches the methodology and history of Basque dance.

Larrea remembers his interest in dance being sparked at an early age. “I started dancing at 14 and never stopped,” said Larrea, speaking through a translator. He further noted that the language barrier has not been an impediment in conveying his passion. “If you want to teach the history or the background of the dance you must know the language, but to teach the dance itself you can just teach by example,” said Larrea.

Another native of the Basque country teaching at the camp is Eneko Espiro, who came to Buffalo from the town of Vitoria Gasteiz. Espiro agreed to instruct students on the playing of the txistu — a Basque fipple flute containing only three holes. “It has been a great challenge to take kids who don’t even know how to read music and then teach them how to do that and learn a new instrument, but almost all of them will be doing really well at the end of two weeks.” said Espiro.

In addition to music and dance, participants take courses in Basque culture and language. Incorporated into the classroom sessions are outings geared towards exploring first hand different facets of Basque culture. Such activities include a camp-out in sheep wagons, caroling through Buffalo during the solstice celebration of San Juan, and a trip to the Gatchell Museum to learn about early Basque sheep ranchers in Johnson county.

Forty-three students between the ages of 10 and 15, including visitors from six different states, are participating in the camp this year. “All the out-of-state campers are housed by volunteers in the Buffalo community and we owe them a big thanks for their support and assistance,” said Camino.

The students will showcase their new talents during an end-of-camp show at 7 p.m. Friday, June 27, at the high school auditorium.

“We eat, live and breathe Basque culture,” said Camino, “What we really want to do is to inspire these kids to the point where they will take our positions in the preservation effort.”

For more information concerning next year’s Udaleku camp or other Basque activities go to www.nabasque.org or contact Teresa Fieldgrove at 758-4540.

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Tartalo

Remember how not too long ago an US "journalist" accused the Basque society of being unable to compete in the modern world because of its stone-age language suited only for sheepherding?

Well, seems like things are not so bad in Euskal Herria when it comes to technology, check out this article appeared at Physorg.com:

Tartalo the robot is knocking on your door

A research team from the University of the Basque Country, led by Basilio Sierra, is devising a robot that can get around by itself. Tartalo is able to identify different places and ask permission before going through a doorway.

We are accustomed to seeing robots programmed to carry out a concrete task such as the robotic arms well known in industry. What is surprising is to see a robot walking without help and making decisions for itself. This is precisely what the Autonomous Robotics and Systems Research Team at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) are involved in: increasing the autonomy of robots so that they are evermore capable of carrying out more tasks on their own. Some years ago they developed Marisorgin, the robot for distributing mail and now they have put Tartalo into operation.

Those working on the third floor of the Computer Science Faculty in the Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastián find it normal and everyday to meet Tartalo in the corridors- meet, not bump into! This 1.5-metre tall, intelligent machine side-steps any obstacle in its path, thanks to sensors that have been installed around its "body": sonars that emit and detect ultrasounds, infrared sensors and laser rays. The laser, for example, measures the distance of the robot from any object within a radius of 180 degrees. Mr Basilio Sierra's team, although it did not build the robot, having acquired it, but it is developing and enhancing its abilities.

With these sensors and the computer that is the robot's 'brain', Tartalo will have the wherewithal to move from one place to another without problems; in fact, to wander. What the research team at the Department of Computational Sciences and Artificial Intelligence want to achieve, however, is a robot capable of going anywhere it is told to.

Finding one's way inside buildings

The machines best known for guiding one from a starting point to a given goal are GPS navigation systems. However, these do not function inside buildings and neither would it be realistic to create a database with the plans for every building in the world. For this reason the UPV/EHU researchers use biomimetic systems as a basis for developing the robot, meaning that Tartalo does the same as a person or animal on entering a new place: explore the terrain and take in points of reference. But, for a machine to carry out what living creatures do by, as it were, instinct, the computer programmers have to nevertheless put in a huge quantity of data, programmes and calculations.

Buildings are semi-structured environments wherein determined common spaces are always found. Tartalo has been "taught" (programmed) to recognise four of these: room, corridor, front hall and "junction". Thus, if we were to take the robot to our home, the first thing it would have to do is to carry out a process of auto-location, going around the apartment in order to memorise the location of these four places. By this process the machine creates a species of topological map and the homeowner only has to teach it what each space is called. For this to be possible, UPV/EHU researchers are designing systems of interaction between machine and persons. For example, in order for the robot to understand instructions, they are perfecting a voice recognition system and touch screen.

Single eye, sharp vision

In order to identify what is in front, to distinguish between a room and a corridor, for example, Tartalo uses this single eye - which gives it its name ?as a camera. It measures the images received through the eye-camera, compares them with its database and then evaluates probabilities to decide what the image that it has ahead looks like. The robot knows, for example, that if the space is long and narrow, it is a corridor.

The most important skill that Tartalo has been taught is to recognise doors. In fact, in order to access most of the places instructed to do so, the robot will have to pass through a doorway first. This is why the camera is located at the level of the doorknob or handle, which is what enables the identification of the door. When this happens, the system is programmed so that, when moving down a corridor, it seeks and negotiates doorways. If the door is closed, as it is not yet fitted with an arm to open it, it knocks two or three times on the door with its "feet".

The aim of the UPV/EHU research team is to develop the navigation system of the robot and the recognition of doors is fundamental to this end. From now on, Tartalo will have to learn to distinguish between many other things, such as faces, voices or any object that it is asked to fetch. But each one of these actions requires a specific programme and this, for the time being, is outside the remit of the research being undertaken by the UPV/EHU Autonomous Robotics and Systems Research Team. Nevertheless, little by little the skills developed by other teams will be incorporated into this robot.

Source: Elhuyar Fundazioa

But where did the robot got its name?

Here you have the answer, via Wikipedia:

Tartalo

In Basque mythology, Tartalo is an enormously strong one-eyed giant very similar to the Greco-Roman Cyclops. It is speculated that the name may derive from the Greek underworld Tartaros. He lives in caves in the mountains and catches young people in order to eat them. He also eats sheep. In Biscay, it's known as Alarabi. There is a story about him that appears to be derived from the Odyssey.

Story

One day, while two brothers of the Antimuño baserri (a kind of basque farm) were hunting, a storm broke, so they decided to take refuge from the rain in a cave, which was Tartalo's cave. Soon after, Tartalo appeared with his flock of sheep. He saw the two brothers and said: "Bat gaurko eta bestea biharko" ("one for today and the other for tomorrow").

That same day he cooked and ate the eldest one, and then, he went to sleep. While he was sleeping, the youngest brother stole Tartalo's ring and then he stuck the burduntzi ("roasting spit" in Basque) in his only eye. Tartalo was blind, but not dead yet.

He started to look for the boy among his sheep, but he put on a sheep's skin and escaped from Tartalo. But, unluckily, when he got out of the flock of sheep, the accuser ring started to shout: "Hemen nago, hemen nago!" ("Here I am, here I am!").

Tartalo got out of his cave and he started to run after the ring, hearing its shouts. The young one wasn't able to take off the ring, so, when he arrived to the edge of a cliff, he cut off his finger, and since Tartalo was near, he decided to throw it down the cliff. Tartalo, following the ring's shouting, fell off the cliff.

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Euskara Speaking Gipuzkoa

This note comes to us via EITb:

Basque routes

Gipuzkoa : a province of Basque speakers

05/02/2008

This area’s topographic conditions led large parts of the province to live for centuries in virtual isolation and with only the very occasional outside contact.

Gipuzkoa’s position at the heart of the Basque Country, surrounded by mountains and the sea, has contributed to the fact that it is this province, and particularly its inland rural areas, which has best maintained the Basque culture and folklore; we mustn’t forget that this is the province with the highest number of Basque speakers. Visitors will often run into people who speak the language, especially in the inland villages where Basque is in everyday use.

Romanization in Gipuzkoa was late in arriving and only had a superficial effect on its eastern extreme, leaving remains in Irun (the Roman necropolis of Santa Elena hermitage), Hondarribia and Oiartzun. But Gipuzkoa, to which neither the Celts nor the Muslims arrived, did have a certain amount of communication with the exterior in the Middle Ages thanks to the two alternative Roads to Santiago, one along the coast and another via the interior although contacts were limited to the areas near these roads.

Definitively annexed to Castile in the 8th century, the Castilian kings founded in Gipuzkoa numerous municipalities from which to control the ways of communication and the borders with the Kingdom of Navarre. These municipalities, which went on to further expand in later centuries, contain the highest concentration of artistic and architectural heritage.

Ever since the Middle Ages, the inhabitants of Gipuzkoa have devoted themselves to agriculture, coastal fishing (then including whales) and ironwork to which they would, in time, add trade. During the 19th century industrial revolution, while Bizkaia tended to work at heavy industry, Gipuzkoa preferred to specialise in the light industry sectors, such as paper or machine tools.

Industrial concerns established themselves fairly evenly throughout the province, thus contributing to a balanced distribution of the population. But despite the fact that Donostia-San Sebastián and its area have important demographic weight, the capital of Gipuzkoa still has the lowest population ratios in the Basque Country.

This decentralisation means that each region has, to a greater or lesser extent, its own monuments, industrial areas and natural spaces, not to mention an excellent selection of leisure activities, and gastronomy, thanks to the unforgettable fact that this is a land of great chefs. These are just some of the characteristics of today’s Gipuzkoa, rich in attractions
and economic diversification.

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Basque Research on Molecules

This note comes to us thanks to EITb:

Sci/Tech

Important progress

Basque scientists' research work hits the "Science" cover

04/18/2008

Donostia International Physics Center and U.S. scientists have discovered that some organic molecules have similar electronic properties to the atoms.

A joint research work by Basque and U.S. scientists on the electronic properties of organic molecules hit on Friday the cover of the prestigious scientific magazine Science. The discovery proves that organic molecules have conductivity properties similar to those of the metal materials

The discovery is a joint work carried out by scientists of the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) of the Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastian and the University of Pittsburgh (U.S.), who coined the term "superatom" to refer to these molecules.

The research team is led by Hrvoje Petek, a Croatian physicist professor at the University of Pittsburgh working at the moment at the Donostia International Physics Center within a Basque Government's scheme to employ top-level scientists.

According to the DIPC, the "superatoms" have conductivity properties similar to those of the metal materials, "which could be very useful in the future for the development of nanometric electrical devices".

According to Petek, the discovery "creates a new perspective on the electronic properties of the materials" as to prove that hollow-shell molecules can have similar conductivity properties to the metal materials paves the way to the creation of new materials with custom-designed chemical and electronic properties".

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Aia

This note was published at EITb:

Routes

Boundary between two provinces

Peñas de Aia

04/04/2008

The Peñas de Aia stand out clearly in the scenery of the area lying to the east of Donostia-San Sebastián (the Donostia-San Sebastián - Irún “corridor”).

Its unmistakable outline is also remarkable because of its height which, although moderate in absolute terms (833 m) is considerable if we take account of the fact that it is so near the coast (less than 10 km away as the crow flies).

The Aiako Harria (the Basque name for Peñas de Aia) massif stands in both Gipuzkoa and Navarre (it marks the boundary between the two provinces), and one of its far ends also lies on the border with the French side of the Basque Country, known as Iparralde in Basque. In fact, the north-eastern part of the park reaches as far as the river Bidasoa.

Among the mountains in the Basque Autonomous Community, the Aiako Harria massif enjoys the singularity of standing at the end of the Pyrenean Cordillera. We will no longer find plutonic rock (granite and its metamorphic aureole) towards the west on leaving behind the Aiako Harria and its area of influence. We are therefore talking about a geological singularity in the context of our province, i.e., the fact that the oldest land dates from the Primary or Paleozoic Era.

This rocky mass of solidified magma has given rise to veins of different metals which have been exploited since very ancient times, some since Roman times, and the number of wells and mining galleries dotted over the massif can be counted in dozens. It has been calculated that there is a total tunnel length of some 15-18 km. Minerals are still extracted at Arditurri.

The coast forms a part of the neighbouring scenery, with in the foreground the bay of Txingudi, an important enclave on the migration paths of aquatic birds; the towns of Hondarribia, Irún and Hendaye, Mount Jaizkibel, the Oiartzun valley... But the Nature Reserve extends southwards, through a landscape of summits and passes along the whole boundary with Navarre: Aritxulegi, Bianditz, Aldura, Urdaburu, etc.

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Eusko Flickr : Donostia - View From "La Batería de las Damas"

Donostia / San Sebastian - Vista desde la batería de las Damas
Originally uploaded by Lucio José Martínez González

Basque Michelin Constellation

Here comes the report by the Michelin Guide regarding the restaurants in Euskal Herria, the piece of real state with more Michelin stars per square mile.

The information comes to us thanks to EITb:

Life

Gastronomy

The Basque Country, a place full of Michelin stars

03/04/2008

Updated annually, the Michelin Guide's ratings shows that the new Basque Cuisine is highly valued by more and more people all over the world every year.

Three three-stars, three two-stars and twelve one-star restaurants make the Basque Country the epicenter of this constellation of haute cuisine as Michelin, the bible of gastronomy, announced the winners and losers of its 2008 edition.

The Michelin guide unveiled on Monday the list of restaurants awarded stars in the world of French gastronomy. In November, the French guide announced the star-winners in the Iberian Peninsula. Both lists confirmed the Basque Country as a land well-known for the exquisite quality of its food prepared with top- quality ingredients and all the know-how of master-cooks.

The restaurant Les Pyrénés in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Donibane Garazi) upgraded to two stars, becoming the third two-star restaurant in the Basque provinces southwest France.

In the Basque Country northeast Spain, Juan Mari Arzak, Martin Berasategi and Pedro Subijana maintained their coveted third star.

Most of the restaurants in the north Basque Country maintained its star, but for Les Platanes and Le Sissinou, which were downgraded.

In the south Basque Country, no restaurants were downgraded and one obtained its first star.



Three-star restaurants in the Basque Country:

Arzak (Donostia-San Sebastian)

Martin Berasategi (Lasarte-Oria)

Akelarre (Donostia-San Sebastian)

Two-star restaurants in the Basque Country:

Les Pyrénées (St Jean Pied de Port / Donibane Garazi)

Mugaritz (Errenteria)

Zuberoa (Oiartzun)

One-star restaurants in the Basque Country:

Ithurria (Ainhoa)

Auberge du Cheval Blanc (Bayonne / Baiona)

Du Palais (Biarritz / Miarritze)

Le Moulin d'Alotz (Arcangues / Arrangoitze)

Table et Hostellerie des Frères Ibarboure (Bidart / Bidarte)

Ferme Hégia (Hasparren / Hazparne)

Grand Hôtel (St Jean de Luz / Donibane Garazi)

Auberge de la Galupe (Urt / Ahurti)

Kokotxa (Saint-Sébastien/Donostia)

Kursaal (Saint-Sébastien/Donostia)

Azurmendi (Larrabetzu)

El Molino de Urdaniz (Urdaitz)

Things like this you will not read about the Basques too often in the main stream media.

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Basque Police Protects Fascist Demonstrators

This note published by EITb will set things clear for you.

The members of the current government in the Basque Autonomous Community work in behalf on Madrid as proved by their actions. They sent the Ertzaintza (Basque police) to protect a group of fascists and to repress the local citizens who protested their presence in Donostia.

Here you have the note:

Politics

Controversy

At least two arrested after far-right wing rally in San Sebastian

03/01/2008

Clashes broke out after the Falange party, linked to former dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, gathered Saturday at the central Pio XII plaza for a political rally.

Dozens of protesters clashed with police guarding a far-right wing rally in the northern seaside resort of Donostia-San Sebastian in the Basque Country Saturday.

Clashes broke out after the Falange party, linked to former dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, gathered Saturday at the central Pio XII plaza to hear leaders Ricardo Saenz de Ynestrillas and Manuel Andrino speak under heavy police protection.

Participants sang anthems associated with Franco's regime and waved flags and banners with right-wing symbols. "This is not a provocation, we have come to celebrate our Spanishness," said Ynestrillas.

As anti-demonstrators began to crowd around the rally-goers, shouting, "You, fascists, are the terrorists,'' police charged, using rubber bullets to scatter them.

Passers by in cars honked horns in disapproval at the rally and local residents also hurled derision.

As demonstrators shouted abuse at rally goers, police fired rubber bullets and charged protesters, detaining several.

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Before Carnival Season

This note comes to you thanks to EITb:

Fiestas & traditions

Donostia - San Sebastian

Prelude to the Carnival

01/28/2008

Being part of the prelude to the Carnival in San Sebastian, the Tinkers' Parade takes place the first Saturday of February. The nursemaids and Shepherds' Parade takes place the day after the Tinkers' parade.

The Tinkers' parade and the Nursemaids' and Shepherds' Parade form part of the prelude to the Carnival in San Sebastian.

Tinkers' Parade

Being part of the prelude to the Carnival in San Sebastian, the Tinkers' Parade takes place the first Saturday of February. This parade stages the arrival in town of the Hungarian tinkers, who announce the upcoming Carnival. A bear leads the Parade, which is one of the characteristic animals in the Basque carnival mythology.

The Tinkers' Parade is made up of different tribes which represent the various clubs taking part in it. One of the most characteristic features of this parade is the peculiar sound emitted by the tinkers as they beat their hammers against the pots which form part of their outfit. The show also includes canticles and dances performed by gypsy women. The queen, who is actually a man, offers the comic talent of this celebration. Beautiful floats decorated with brilliantly coloured lamps bring up the rear of the parade.

Nursemaids' and Shepherds' Parade

The nursemaids and Shepherds' Parade takes place the day after the Tinkers' parade, that is, the first Sunday after the Tinkers' Parade.

Together with the Tinkers' Parade, it forms part of the prelude to the carnival. This parade stages the period when shepherds used to come to town to court nursemaids and it is made up by dancers, drum players and dressed up people, being Kresala the society in charge of its staging since 1973.

The most awaited moment by those attending the parade is when the nursemaids "launch their babies to the sky." Works by such Basque composers as Sarriegui are performed.

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Iglesias and Oscar

This note comes to us via EITb:

Entertainment Ceremony on Feb. 24

Basque composer Alberto Iglesias enters Oscar race

01/22/2008

Iglesias was nominated for the best Original Score for the original score of Marc Foster's The Kite runner. It is his second nomination after the one for the original score for The Constant Gardener.

Basque composer Alberto Iglesias was selected Tuesday among the nominees to the Oscar Awards for the best Original Score for the original score of Marc Foster's The Kite Runner. This nomination come on top of the nomination for the 2006 Oscar awards for the original score for The Constant Gardener.

Based on Khaled Hosseini's literary work and directed by Marc Forster, The kite runner tells the story of Amir, who returns to his homeland in Afghanistan after spending years in California to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

Fellow nominees of Iglesias were Dario Marianelli for Atonement; James Newton Howard, for Michael Clayton; Michael Giacchino, for Ratatouille; and Marco Beltrami por 3:10 to Yuma.

Alberto Iglesias's work was also nominated for the Golden Globes and the Bafta.

He was born in Donostia-San Sebastian (Gipuzkoa), where he learnt to play the piano and studied Harmony and Composition. Iglesias is one of the most significant composers in the Spanish State and has created several original scores for films by Julio Medem and Pedro Almodovar.

The Basque composer is currently working on the original score of two new films for Steven Soderbergh, Guerrilla and The Argentine, based on the character of the Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Once finished, he plans to work once again with the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar.

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Danborrada in Donostia

These pictures of the Children Danborrada (Tamborrada) come to you courtesy of Diario Vasco:

Thousands of young people participate in the traditional 'tamborrada' during 'El Dia Grande' the main day of San Sebastian feasts, In the Basque city of Donostia, Euskal Herria, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008. From midnight to midnight companies of performers parade up and down the city. AP. 20/01/2008

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Erabaki : The Right to Decide

This note appeared at EITb:

Politics

Erabaki Platform

80 prominent Basque figures back the Basques's right to decide

01/18/2008

The platform presented its official manifesto on Friday claiming the right to decide "to open the path of peace and normalization. They also presented a web site and will have their first rally next February 10th.

Several Basque celebrities from the cultural and social spheres in the Basque Country presented on Friday a manifesto signed by 80 prominent people claiming for the right to decide "to open the path of peace and normalization."

The driving forces behind this initiative have formed the platform "Erabaki" (To Decide) aiming to achieve the "capacity to decide our future as a society and as a nation." They have also presented its official manifesto under the name of " Queremos decidir y vamos a decidir!" (We want to decide and we shall decide!) and its web site.

The members of the platform at the press conference included journalist Julio Ibarra, former director of Emakunde Txaro Arteaga, president of the Sabino Arana Foundation Juan María Atutxa or general coordinator of Lokarri Paul Ríos.

Basque sculptor Néstor Basterretxea, writer Toti Martínez de Lezea, bertsolari Andoni Egaña, stone-lifter Iñaki Perurena or journalists Xabier Euskitze and Josu Loroño were also among the signatories to the proposal.

The platform seeks to look for support through the web site and call a rally in favor of the right to decide in the Kursaal Conference Center in Donostia-San Sebastian next February 10th.

The manifesto says that "all the people have the right to be asked about the problems they are concerned with and all the people have the right to decide freely their future" and, consequently, the "Basque people, one of the oldest in Europe, have the right to decide freely their own future in accordance with the right of self-determination".

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Grande Marlaka Delivers Scape Goat

Rodriguez Zapatero is in dire need to consolidate his government's political legacy. He worked hard to derail the Peace Process in the Basque Country and months away from his standoff against Mariano Rajoy he was aching for a trump card.

It came in the form of Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola who were tortured by the Franco-era Guardia Civil in order to extract their confessions as the authors of the 2006 Madrid airport's parking deck bombing. So, enter Fernando Grande-Marlaska who as the bearer of good news for Zapatero delivered Portu's conviction.

Here you have a note by EITb regarding Grande-Marlaska's favor to Zapatero:

Politics

Hospitalized since Monday

Spanish judge orders imprisonment of injured ETA suspect

01/10/2008

The judge accused Igor Portu of bombing Madrid airport. Tomorrow, he will interrogate Mattin Sarasola, the other presumed ETA member arrested Sunday.

Spanish High Court judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska ordered the imprisonment of Igor Portu, the alleged Basque armed group ETA member arrested Sunday who is hospitalized since Monday for the injuries he suffered after he was arrested.

According to legal sources, the judge accused him of bombing Madrid airport December 30, 2006, among other crimes.

Grande Marlaska agreed to keep him isolated for some days.

The Spanish High Court judge expects to interrogate the other alleged ETA member who was arrested together with Portu on Friday in Madrid.

Presumed torture

On the other hand, a Donostia-San Sebastian court took Portu’s statement for the injuries he suffered after his arrest Sunday.

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About Portu's Detention

Here you have a note by EITb regarding Igor Portu's torture at the hands of the Spanish government lead by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero:

Politics

Hospitalized after his detention

Contradictory versions about Igor Portu’s case

01/08/2008

According to the official version, Spanish police used violence to arrest him. However, he was taken to a forensic surgeon after past 15 hours. His family states that he was feeling well at his home’s search.

The official version and the one given by the family and Askatasuna about Igor Portu’s case, arrested on Sunday in a road checkpoint together with Mattin Sarasola and accused of being “legal” members of ETA, do not match.

The young arrested from Lesaka, was admitted on Monday in hospital around four o’clock in the morning and remained hospitalized. He is seriously ill and is in the Intensive Care Unity (UCI) to get treatment.

The police took him to hospital “walking by himself and conscious” and he told them he had been “punched on his face, thorax and abdomen”.

The official version, backed by the Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, assures that he was beat because he put up resistance (produced at 11:00 on Sunday). According to the Minister, at the detention moment, the alleged member of the armed band ETA tried to escape and agents had to use their force to detain them.

The version supported by the family and Askatasuna is totally different. Both say Portu was present at his home’s searching and even if he was “tired”, he was feeling well. This version has been supported by Lesaka’s Mayor, Koldo Erkizia, (EA), who saw the arrested at the searching.

Due to the two contradictory versions, the Police Court in Donostia-San Sebastián has begun an investigation to clearify what happened.

Igor Portu is hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unity (UCI) in Donostia’s Hospital and has his ninth left rib broken and he also has a “serious” pneumothorax, or in other words, air and blood in his lungs. He has a pierced lung and blows in his eye, back and chest. His knees and ankles are also torn.

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Igor Portu : New Case of Torture

Here we have Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero trying to outdo Jose Maria Aznar and Felipe Gonzalez as the most effective dispenser of repression against the Basque people in the post-Franco era.

Drinking from the same stagnant waters of aggressive ultra nationalism left behind by Francisco Franco as a legacy to the Spanish politicians, Zapatero's government is involved in yet another case of torture against a Basque national.

Here you have the note published by EITb:

Politics

Igor Portu, seriously ill

Police Court opens investigation

01/07/2008

Igor Portu, who was arrested yesterday in Arrasate, is hospitalized in Donostia after being beaten. He has a broken rib, air and blood in his lungs, a pierced lung and blows on his eye, back and chest.

One of the alleged members of the Basque armed group ETA arrested yesterday in Arrasate/Mondragón, Guipuzcoa, Igor Portu, is hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unity (UCI) in Donostia’s Hospital, as Osakidetza, Basque Health Service sources have informed.

According to the medical report, Igor Portu has his ninth left rib broken and he also has a “serious” pneumothorax, or in other words, air and blood in his lungs. He has a pierced lung and blows in his eye, back and chest. His knees and ankles are also torn.

The police took him to hospital “walking by himself and conscious” and he told them he had been “punched on his face, thorax and abdomen”.

Igor Portu was hospitalised a few minutes before four o’clock in the morning, and has remained admitted in the Intense Care Unity.
The Police Court has opened an investigation to clarify what has happened.

Askatasuna blames PSOE and PNV

Pro-admisty organization Askatasuna has worried about the treat received by Portu while he was in Spanish police hands, and for the treat the other arrested martin Sarasola could be getting too.

In fact, Askatasuna has reminded Gorka Lupiañez’s, who denounced being tortured.

Askatasuna has denounced that PSOE "uses torture" to "get their political interests". They have also blamed PNV and Basque Government to whom they accuse of “complicity”.

Both were arrested yesterday

The first one is Igor Portu, who is 29 years old, and the second one is Martin Sarasola, of 30 years old age. The detentions were produced in a checkpoint established by the Spanish Police’s Antiterrorist Groups (GAR) in this locality in Guipuzcoa.

As information sources informed, found in the car searching two guns covered with cellophane-like paper, hidden in big backpacks. Some agencies inform that they were given to them “recently”.

Last night Spanish police began the searching of the two arrested. During the searching, which took for four hours, and finished around 01:00, about thirty people have met to show their support to the arrested ones.

“Legal” members

These same sources consider Portu and Sarasola “legal” members of the armed organization, or in other words, members which have not been recorded by police.

These two detentions could be related, as the same Sources State, with the Gorka Lupiañez Mintegi's detention, made in Berriz last month and also by the Spanish police. The investigation remains open and some more detentions could be made.

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Jazz in Donostia

This note comes to us thanks to EITb:

Fiestas & traditions

Great stars of jazz

The Jazz Festival in Donostia-San Sebastian

01/04/2008

Now the Jazz Festival consists not only of concerts, but also of music in the streets, contests for Basque and international amateur groups, conferences, film screenings and various music workshops.

Its beginning dates from September 1966. A group of people keen on this music genre proposed to the "Centro de Atracción y Turismo" (Donostia-San Sebastian Tourist Office) to hold a festival similar to that which had been holding in Nice for a few years.

That first event set a standard for the future: along with chief professional figures, an international amateur contest was organised. The budget was of 200,000 pesetas. And the stage was located in Trinidad Square, in the old opart of Donostia-San Sebastian.

The audience responded to the programmes filling the square every year as professional musicians played. It is difficult to forget the charm of those concerts in the summer nights: the music of Milt Buckner, Buddy Tate, Menfis Slim mixed with the buzz of the people strolling in the old part. The bells of the clock of Santa Maria followed the rhythm at the right time. Going to Trinidad Square was a feast where the setting itself became a pleasure: the audience, the square surrounded by the old stones of Santa Maria and San Telmo and the sky above

Because of the success, the stage had to be changed. The concerts were moved first to the sports centre in 1974 and then to the cycle track. There was more room for the audience and the festival did not depend on the weather anymore. The audience became bigger and bigger and as a result of this, better figures could be brought.

Charles Mingus, Tete Montoliu, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gilliespie, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Rollins, B.B. King, Woody Herman, Freddy Hubbard, Weather Report, Gato Barbieri, Art Blakey, Mercer Ellington, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Clark Terry, Milles Davies and many other famous artists played in the festival in several occasions during those years. Thanks to them San Sebastian Festival became the most attended in the world. For the response of the audience was amazing, with thirteen thousand people listening to Gato Barbieri or Chick Corea while in London or Montreaux they did not go beyond 4,000.

The cultural aspect has also been developed during this growth period. Now the Jazz Festival consists not only of concerts, but also of music in the streets, contests for Basque and international amateur groups, conferences, film screenings and various music workshops.

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EA's New Leadership

This note appeared at EITb:

Politics

VII Congress

Unai Ziarreta appointed new EA leader

12/17/2007

Unai Ziarreta, who succeeds Begoña Errazti as head of the Basque nationalist party EA, was supported by the 68.5 percent of the members of EA taking part in the congress.

Prominent member of EA Unai Ziarreta was appointed on Sunday new president of the Basque nationalist leader Eusko Alkartasuna.

Ziarreta, who succeeds Begoña Erratzi, got the support of 68.5 percent of the members of EA taking part in the congress held in the Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastian.

Party members also elected Joseba Azkarraga as the new general secretary.

In his first speech as EA presisent, Ziarreta called for the celebration of a referendum in the Basque Country and the search of independence.

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