Basque Language on Trial

This entry was posted at the Irish Basque Solidarity Committees blog:

Trial against Basque language newspaper Egunkaria begins

On 3rd February 2003, the Spanish police ordered the definitive closure of Euskaldunon Egunkaria, the only daily newspaper published in the Basque language. This was followed by the arrest of ten people. All of them were well known and respected Basque language and culture activists, journalists and writers. One of them is a Jesuit brother.

They were held incommunicado for five days under the anti-terrorist law. Some of them were imprisoned and others later released. One of them, the newspaper’s director, told journalists at the prison gates he had been savagely tortured. His words and his shattered appearance shocked Basque society.

The operation was ordered by the Spanish National Court on the grounds that Egunkaria allegedly formed part of a wider group of businesses and organisations controlled by ETA – the old “all is ETA” motto.

Immediately after the closure hundreds of protests took place across the Basque Country, including what was probably the largest demonstration ever to take place in the country two days after the closure.

Nearly four years later on 15th December 2006, the National Court Prosecutor determined that there were no grounds for the case and requested a stay of proceedings.

Despite this, six months later a court hearing was officially announced.

In the hearing it was concluded that only five of those arrested would finally go to trial: Joan Mari Torrealdai, ex-President of the administrative council of Egunkaria; Iñaki Uria, ex-Managing Director; Txema Auzmendi, former Administrative Council Secretary; Martxelo Otamendi, ex-Director; and Xabier Oleaga, former deputy director.

The trial begun yesterday Tuesday 15th in Madrid, with the accused facing sentences of between 12 and 14 years in prison, in addition to a further 14 to 15-year ban from practicing journalism. For the last months many support events have been organised and the presence of the leaders of the majority of Basque political parties and trade unions and education, culture and language movements’ representatives at the gates of the Spanish National Court yesterday was proof of the broad support they have in Basque society.

The hearing began with the testimonies of the accused who stated the newspaper was created by the Basque language grass roots movement to fill the crucial vacuum of a newspaper written in the national language and without any intervention by ETA.

They also told the court how they had been subjected to torture while detained incommunicado but the judges ordered them not to talk about this.

Aside from the accusations that form the basis of Tuesday's trial, there are further charges of attempting to falsify accounts and defraud the Treasury, of which eight defendants stand accused.

They could face up to between 13 and 26 years in prison and possible fines of between 21 and 33 million euro. The date for this trial is yet to be announced.

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Latin America and the Basque Street

This note was published at EITb:

Kepa Junkera presents new album 'Kalea'

The musician from Bilbao counts on figures such as Pablo Milanés, who sings on the popular 'Txoria Txori' by Mikel Laboa, Lila Downs, and Juanes, who performs 'Aldapeko'.

Kalea, which was presented on November 19 in the Basque Country, is the second part of the trilogy that Bilbao musician Kepa Junkera began one year ago with Etxea.

This time Junkera has travelled to America to meet and record with many unique artists, singers who have sung in Euskera (Basque language) some of the most famous traditional Basque songs.

A total of 82 artists, singers and musicians from 11 different countries, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela, Uruguay, Cuba, and Brazil, accompany Junkera in the album. Those singers are Juanes, Lila Downs, Pablo Milanés, Ximena Sariñana, Abel Pintos, Adriana Varela, Georgina Hassan, Hilda Lizarazu, Juan Carlos Baglietto, Liliana Herrero, Liliana Vitale, Pedro Aznar, Sandra Milhanovich, Sebas Bereciartua, Victor Vitico Bereciartua, Fabiana Cozza, Fabio Caddore, Ivan Lins, Kadu Viana, Magda Pucci, Cris Miguel, Sandra Oak, Angélica Leutwiller, Zuzu Abu, Sarah Abreu, Joel Teixeira, Edson Penha, Renato Bráz, Vander Lee, Flavia Maia, Giba Alves, Mariah Rocha, Heloiza Ribeiro, Patricia Sosa, Leon Gieco, Manuel García Herrera, Jorge Villamizar, Ele, Eme, Gerardo Alfonso, Mayito, Martha Gonzalez, Miguel Inzunza, Susana Baca, Pamela Rodriguez, Nora Sarmoria and María Márquez.

Musicians such as Lito Vitale, Celso Duarte, Leonardo Amuedo, Barbatuques, Carlinhos Antunes, Armando Marçal, Da Lua, Ernesto Snajer and so many others have collaborated in this record, something that is a true reflection of a project that transcends the barrier of an ancestral language.

Kalea is a double CD with 24 songs published in a deluxe format including an extensive booklet with texts and reviews of each song and its lyrics in Basque and Spanish language.

Eitb.com gives you the possibility of listening to the first single of Kalea: "Aita San Antonio", recorded together with Pamela Rodriguez and Brazilian percussion group Barbatuques.

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The Boomerang Effect

More information about what is going on in Euskal Herria thanks to our Irish friends, this time at the blog published by the Irish Basque Solidarity Committees.

BOOMERANG EFFECT AGAINST SPANISH ATTACKS

-Forceful response to attack against the Basque pro-independence movement.

On Tuesday 13 October, 10 prominent activists, including Batasuna leader Arnaldo Otegi and former general secretary of the LAB trade union Rafa Diez, were arrested and accused of trying to "reorganise the leadership" of the Basque pro-independence left movement. Five of the 10 were arrested in a raid on the national headquarters of the LAB union in Donostia.

On Friday Judge Baltasar Garzon sent Otegi, Diez and three others to jail, accused of "membership of a terrorist organisation" and of trying to reconstitute the pro-independence Batasuna party on the "orders of ETA". Batasuna was outlawed in 2003.

Hundreds of people took to the streets and students organised strikes in the aftermath of the arrests.

A massive protest was held on Saturday 17 October in Donostia/San Sebastian to protest against the Spanish government's new wave of arrests against the Basque pro-independence movement.

More than 37,000 Basques protested against the arrests under the slogan "For liberty, all rights for all” in a very significant demonstration of unity among Basque society. The demonstration had been called by the majority of trade unions and supported by all Basque nationalist and progressive political parties.

The demonstration was the largest in the Basque Country in many years and even the pro-Spanish media had to recognise the huge success.

Statements of support also came from across the world like the World Federation of Trade Unions and the European Free Alliance. In Ireland, Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Brún and the Irish Basque Solidarity Committees cqalled for an end to such repression and the immediate release of those arrested and told the Spanish government they need to engage in dialogue with those they seek to demonise and criminalise. “This is the only way to reach a lasting settlement in the Basque Country” they concluded.

The Dublin Basque Solidarity Committee organised a protest outside the GPO on Sunday.

Batasuna responded to the arrests by saying: "The aim of these arrests is to stop political initiatives that the Basque pro-independence movement was due to activate - political initiatives to resolve the ongoing conflict and to create a democratic scenario for the Basque Country."

On Monday 19 the Basque pro-independence newspaper Gara published extracts from a 36-page debate document presented for discussion among the grass roots by Batasuna’s leadership. This discussion and its practical conclusions is what the Spanish government seems to fear and what they wanted to prevent with last week’s arrests.

In the document a new effective strategy is suggested. Batasuna’s leadership wants to promote a democratic process without any violence and external interference.

The latest arrests are part of the Spanish government's ongoing campaign of repression against political, social, labour and cultural organisations that are in favour of self-determination for the Basque Country. The central thesis of this criminalisation campaign, as formulated by Judge Garzon, is that “everything that surrounds ETA is ETA” , that is, any group or individual that shares ETA's goal of Basque independence, regardless of what methods they use, is part of ETA.

This process has often been led by politicians and the media but is given a 'democratic' cover and institutionalised by the Spanish courts through a series of judicial rulings initiated by Garzon in 1998.

The repression against all expressions of Basque nationalism has escalated dramatically during the summer, with the Madrid government working in concert with the Spanish chauvinist coalition government that took power in the south-west of the Basque Country in March.

-Another sucessful display of support to the Basque language.

Up to 100,000 people attended the annual day long festival to support the Basque language schools in the province of Navarre. This year’s edition was organised by the local school of Lakuntza with the slogan “Txikiak, handi” (The small ones are big).

Young and old came from across the Basque Country to enjoy lots of different activities like gigs, sport, food, street animation, workshops, cultural displays... 3,000 volunteers worked hard to make sure everything went well.

The money raised will help to build a new building for the Lakuntza Basque medium school.

These massive festivals are organised in each province of the Basque Country every year and become both a great way to fundraise for the vitally necessary Basque medium schools and to promote the Basque language.

Each year a different school organises the festival. It takes around 300 volunteers working for two years to organise it.


-Largest ever demonstration against High Speed Train.

12,000 people demonstrated in Baiona in the north of the Basque Country last Saturday against the construction of a new High Speed Train railway.

Over the last few years different plans to build High Speed Train railways across the Basque Country have been opposed by large sections of Basque society with the pro-independence left movement at the core of the protest campaigns.

ETA has also intervened with small bombs and the killing of a main contractor.

The High Speed Train would put the Basque Country’s future at risk due to the environmental destruction and huge consumption of energy and public funds.

-More political trials and more arrests.

Last Friday seven members of the Pro-Amnesty movement were arrested and taken to prison to fulfil the remaining sentences imposed against them by the Spanish Supreme Court for their political work against repression and in favour of the Basque political prisoners. They had been waiting for the outcome of their appeal.

Another 13 members of the movement were already in jail after all of them were sentenced to between 8 and 10 years in prison. Basque political prisoners do their time to the full.

The hard sentence has been understood within a context of political repression aimed to weaken the pro-independence movement and prevent new political developments that could take the Basque Country to a new scenario of peace and democracy.

Last week the first of a long list of trials began against alleged members of Segi, the pro-independence youth organisation. Over the last two years 16 police operations were launched in different parts of the Basque Country and 123 local youth activists were arrested, of whom 69 reported being tortured and 91 were imprisoned. All of them were well known youth movement activists in their towns involved in cultural, political and social public work.

Demonstrations, fasts, strikes, massive press conferences...have been organised recently to denounce these show trials and support the youth.

Two alleged ETA members were arrested by the French police on Monday 19 in Britanny. The Spanish media portrayed them as members of the ETA’s political office and tried to make conections with last week arrests of 10 prominent pro-independence activists.

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Euskaltzaindia's 90th Anniversary

This article was published at EiTB:

Basque Language Academy "Euskaltzaindia" turns 90

E. S.

Euskaltzaindia is celebrating its 90th birthday at the headquarters of the Academy of the Basque language in Bilbao.

Representatives of institutions such as the Spanish Royal Academy, the Royal Academy of the Galician Language or the Philology department of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, will be present at Euskaltzaindia’s 90th anniversary celebration in Bilbao on Friday 17.

The Royal Academy of the Basque Language (1919) is the official academic institution which watches over Euskara, or the Basque language. It carries out research into the language, seeks to protect it and establishes standards of use. The Basque name of this academy of language is Euskaltzaindia.

Basque is a non-Indo-European language whose speakers are largely found in the Basque Country or Euskal Herria, straddling the border between France and Spain, in the bottom right-hand corner of the Bay of Biscay. The territory the language is spoken in is spread over three distinct regions: in the Kingdom of Spain, the two autonomous communities of Euskadi and Navarre and, in the French Republic, the Département des Pyrénées Atlantiques.

Euskaltzaindia enjoys full official recognition as a royal academy in Spain (1976) and as a cultural association of public benefit within the territory of the French Republic (1995). At the same time it also enjoys widespread social recognition among the country's population. All this has brought about an intense normative activity leading to the standardization and modernization of the language in Basque society, especially since 1968.

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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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Ibilaldia 2009

This article was published at EiTB:

Ibilaldia 2009 kicks off in the Basque town of Galdakao

Nora García

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Lopez Starts Campaign Against Euskara

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

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

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

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

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

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No Manifesto Against English Requirement?

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

27% of jobs require languages

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

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

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

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

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

Regional languages

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

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

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

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The Rise of Txakoli

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Language Issues in Euskal Herria II

This is the follow up to an article published at the Portland Cultural Travel Examiner about the Basque language that we posted here a couple of days ago:

Tyler Sprecker

Language, identity and education policy in Spain’s Basque country: Part 2

As I mentioned in Part 1, the language debate taking place in the Basque Country of Spain is more than one about culture versus economy. The status of Basque as a language is tied closely to Basque nationalism and the fight for sovereignty. The Basque Country of Spain enjoys a great degree of autonomy from the rest of Spain, though not enough for Basque Nationalists who want nothing short of absolute sovereignty. While not representative of all Basque Nationalists, the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), a pro-independence terrorist organization, has been the darker face of the independence movement.

Although the separatist movement has lost some steam in recent years, it remains an important force in Spanish politics. Basque separatists have long argued for their right to self-determination as a separate ethnic group with their own language and culture. Surely a sovereign country retains the right to choose and promote its own language? Given the Basque country’s semi-autonomous status and current demographics, that has been a point of frustration for many.

Many native Spanish speakers in the Basque Country feel frustrated with the Basque language requirement for civil service jobs, arguing that some professionals such as doctors should be focusing their time and energy on learning about disease and medicine rather than a second language. Foreign language requirements have aroused public discontent in other regions of Spain as well. Protests were recently held in opposition of a government decision to make knowledge of Catalan mandatory for civil service jobs in the Cataluña region.

While not recognized as such by the federal government, Basque is a co-official language along with Spanish in the Basque Country of Spain. The Basque Country government strongly encourages bilingualism among its citizens. Under current policy all civil servants are required to speak Basque. The government has even taken to encouraging business owners to encourage their employees to learn Basque if they do not already know it. Educational policy is geared toward the same goal as well.

The Basque Country of Spain currently has three educational models from which parents are obliged to choose for their children. In Model A, all classes are taught in Spanish, except for language classes; Basque language classes are required. In Model B, some subjects are taught in Basque while others are taught in Spanish. In Model D, all classes are taught in Basque; Spanish language classes are required. In all three models English language classes are a required part of the curriculum. Some schools have even been testing a new trilingual education model where subjects are taught in Basque, Spanish and English. Over the past several years, the Basque Nationalist led government has been closing Model A schools due to reportedly low demand.

The need for bilingualism appears to be shared by many, though there is disagreement about the languages. Many native Spanish speakers see Basque as a language with marginal utility and would prefer their children to be taught English instead.

Public policy as it relates to language, however, may see some changes in light of recent political developments. After 30 years of governance by the Basque Nationalist Party (or by Basque Nationalist Party-led coalitions), the People’s Party (PP) – Spain’s main right-wing party, and the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE) have formed a governing coalition that is set to begin governing starting mid-May of this year. Exactly what this means for language policy is yet to be seen, although a joint-statement of policy goals agreed to by both governing parties was recently issued.

The joint release clearly states the new government’s support for freedom of choice for parents among educational models. It also states the parties’ support for bilingualism as official government policy whereby all students are to be bilingual, though their parents retain the right to choose their educational path towards that end. Only time will tell if such policies will in effect create a bilingual citizenry. The only other question remaining is: Have they chosen the right languages?

I insist, seems like the author took many of his cues from that infamous article by Keith Johnson although it does a better job at keeping a more objective view on the issue.

And I insist, how dare any US citizen label any group as "terrorist" after all the crimes committed by the US military in Afghanistan, Irak and Pakistan?

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Language Issues in Euskal Herria I

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

Tyler Sprecker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Eusko Flickr : 16. Korrika Zarratun (Basauri)

16. Korrika Zarratun (Basauri)
Originally uploaded by Txadonak2

The "Decline" of Basque Nationalism

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

The Decline of Basque Nationalism

by Lindsay Amantea

March 9th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

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

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

Now, a couple of important facts:

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

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

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

But let us continue with the article:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Basque Language Revival

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

As the world's languages disappear, Basque revives

By Julie Sell | McClatchy Newspapers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Sell is a McClatchy special correspondent.)

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

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Bilingual Education in Navarre

This essay was published at Basque Research:

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

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

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

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

Linguistic profile of student body

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

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

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

Taking different languages into account

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

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

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

Languages in the educational system

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

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

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

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

Languages in the University

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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A Thief Among Thieves

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

Here you have it:

The Wine Thief's Lapartu

By Kathleen Cei

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

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

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

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

Q: What is a Wine Thief?

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

Wikipedia's version:

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

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

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The Basques and The Philippines

The article you are about to read was published at PhilStar and the author dispels some myths and misconceptions about Philippine (and Basque) history, here you have it:

Of Basques, emblems and history

ROSES & THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces

One of the weaknesses of Philippine history, or really any history, is the tendency to perpetuate historical inaccuracy. Once an error becomes accepted and perpetuated through writings and stories, history is changed — usually to something unrecognizable. Occasionally, this is done purposefully — propaganda for instance. People in power rewrite history, or put their own spin on it, to suit their needs. This was a central motif in the book 1984 by George Orwell. “Big brother” changes and edits the past to fit a specific idea or concept. This reminds me of the “telephone game” where children or adults are lined up, told to memorize a phrase or a sentence, and whisper exactly the same words to the ear of the next child or person. What is relayed after the tenth child/person will always be remarkably different. An error is twisted, continued, completely changing the whole idea in the process.

The kastilas have always been known as those who occupied and ruled our country for more than 400 years. In reality, these are the Basques whose roots can be traced to the Basque Country, an autonomous region north of Spain, a distinct people with a different history, language (Euskera) and culture. Few people know that Juan Sebastian Elcano, the first to circumnavigate the world, was a Basque from the province of Guipozcoa. Most of the crew in Magellan’s expedition and subsequent voyages were Basques. Urdaneta and Legazpi, who came to our country in 1565, were both Basques. A good number of governor-generals who ruled during the Spanish occupation, including Luis Lardizabal who set up the province of Nueva Vizcaya (from the name of the Basque province called Biscay) and Simon Anda de Salazar were Basques. Thus, the Philippines may have been a Spanish territory, but it was also a Basque nation due to the role that the Basques played in the history of the Spanish occupation in the Philippines.

Today, there still exists a group of Basque remnants in the country. One of these is the distinguished Ynchausti family, one of the first major manufacturers and businessmen in the country whose activities laid the foundation for a budding Philippine economy. Many of us remember YCO Paints and Floorwax. Other companies they owned or founded were the Bank of the Philippine Islands, La Carlota Sugar Central, Ynchausti Steamship Co., Ynchausti Rope Factory, Tanduay Distilleria and Rizal Cement, to name a few. The year 1854 marked the formation of the Ynchausti y Compania, an umbrella company that brought together all these different companies and investments of the Ynchausti family. Ynchausti y Compania still exists today (in relative low-profile), however it controlled most of the assets above until around 1936, when some assets were sold to the Elizalde Clan (who had been trusted employees and minor shareholders up to that point). It is sometimes claimed that the divestment of the assets took place in 1893. But this is not true. Ynchausti y Compania is even listed in the 1901 Commercial Directory of the Manila and there are many mentions of the company well into the 1930s.

The Ynchaustis, close family friends, talk about another instance when error in history have entered public awareness and became perpetuated as fact. They refer to certain facts about their product, Tanduay, one of the venerable brands of Philippine industry that has been internationally awarded and recognized. The commonly held misconception about the insignia of Tanduay, very likely related through ignorance, is that the emblem is a fabrication. On the left side of the Tanduay coat of arms is a shield broken into four parts: a walnut tree on the upper left and bottom right hand quadrant, in the upper right and lower left hand a chevron. Despite popular belief, this is not a fabrication but in truth the coat of arms of the Ynchausti family. This is easily verified by checking the rolls of the coat of arms of Basque families in the Basque Country. Tanduay was a flagship company of the Ynchausti group of companies in the late 1800s, it would make sense that they would brand it as their own. Even the name Tanduay comes from the name of the area where the Ynchausti factories and head offices were based in Muelle de la Industria along the Pasig River. This then explains the shield to the left of the insignia and the emblem to the right is the Tower of Castile, which was a prominent part of the coat of arms of Old Manila. The companies of the Ynchaustis were based in Old Manila.

The story of the Ynchaustis in the country form part of our rich history as a nation. There are many lost stories from pre-World War II Philippines. Much of our past is sadly forgotten or changed (intentionally and otherwise). It is time we begin to seriously investigate the real history of our country. It is more interesting than we can imagine.

Historic facts are historic facts, and they should be told the way they are whether you like them or not. Elkano, Legazpi and Urdaneta were Basques, they were not Spaniards and no matter what the Spaniards want to say about it they can not deny that fact. Now, Elkano, Legazpi and Urdaneta took part in the rise of Spanish imperialism and its genocidal wars of colonization around the world, and that is a fact that no Basque can deny.

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Football and Politics

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

Spanish Debate: The Politics Of Football In Spain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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One Basque Word At a Time

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

Here you have it:

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

by Lisa Abend

Found in Translation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lisa Abend is a writer living in Spain.

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Mikel Laboa

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

Mikel Laboa

Basque singer central to his culture's revival

* Michael Eaude
* The Guardian, Tuesday 9 December 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He is survived by Marisol and their two children.

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

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