BASQUEXXXXXXXXXXXXX VILLAGES XXXXXXXXEUSKAL HERRIAK ON THE WAY TO GERNIKA urreko Euskal Etxeetan euskal hi- A riburuak ezagutu ditugu. Orain, berriz, pix- kanaka pixkanaka he- rrietara hurbilduko gara. Asko dira Euskal Herrian ospetsuak diren herriak eta arrazoiak ere ugariak dira. Baina, bada bat guz- tien gainetik nabaritzen dena, Gernika hain zuzen ere. Historikoki euskaldu- nentzat garrantzitsua iza- teaz gain, gaur egun ba- kea eta askatasunaren sinbolo bihurtu da. Horre- xegatik, herriei eskainita- ko lehen kapitulu hau be- rarentzat izango da. ow that we have described the Bas- Nque capitals, we are starting a new chap- ter about Basque villa- ges. And we start with one of the greatest symbols of Euskadi: Ger- nika. Koldo San Sebastián My grandfather took me to Ger- nika when I was twelve. We visited the Casa de Juntas, and when we were near the Tree he cut my racket short (too much culture for a young of the Gernikako Arbola sung by the dings with different eyes. He used to boy), as only the old Basque captains orfeón in the Plaza de los Fueros, in Le- say that the Viking presence had been can: Egon ixilik! (Be quiet!). One day, I keitio. So for many years Gernika was very intense there. Travelling to Gernika was also with my grandfather, I saw in a kind of sanctuary, distant, a place to is always a great pleasure. a restaurant that does not exist any mo- change of bus between Lekeitio and Bil- According to Lope García de Sala- re, a picture of a mendigoizale (moun- bao. What a mistake! My mentor, Jon zar, a daughter of the king of Scotland taineer) respectfully facing the Tree. Bilbao, born in Cayey de Puerto Rico, came to Mundaka. There she conceived That image deeply impressed me. It im- whose family came from Mundaka, and gave birth to a son. Mother and pressed me in the same way as when showed me the magic and taught me to son lived then in Altamira de Busturia. the men bared their heads to the sound look at the Saint Town and its surroun- When the young man is 22, he is cho- 14 BASQUEXXXXXXXXXXXXX VILLAGES XXXXXXXXEUSKAL HERRIAK sen by the Bizkaians as captain of their troops to fight against the son of the king of León, who had invaded their te- rritory. He defeated the foreigners in the battle of Arrigorriaga, and was ma- de Lord of Bizkaia by his men who ca- lled him “Jaun Zuria” (White Gentle- man), because of his fair hair, which was nearly white, and his rosy comple- xion, uncommon among the Basques. But this is only one of the many versions about the origin of the Domain of Biz- kaia. Some people believe that Jaun Zu- ria was really a Viking who had come to our coasts around the 9th century. The fierce northern sailors would have sailed through the Mundaka River into Gernika. Their heritage, a brisk and supple type of boat. And something el- se. According to Jon Bilbao the great number of people with fair hair and The Casa de Juntas is not only a historical heritage, but it has a great symbolic value for light eyes in this part of the country is all Basques. due, without any doubt, to the Viking inheritance. Professor Antón Erkoreka has published a book following the tra- of San Martin church and in the funeral ces left by the Scandinavian men in our stele of Trinity hermitage. A branch of history: Baiona, Pamplona and mostly the Roman road starting at Balmaseda Mundaka River open up practically any Vikingoen aztarnak went as far as Bermeo. hypothesis. • The Romans also exploited the red Jon Juaristi reminds us that certain ugariak dira Gernikan marble quarry in Ereño. With the disin- writings and legends about Busturia tegration of the Roman Empire Euskale- could well refer to exiled Saxons of the rria entered a dark period with no writ- Wessex and West Anglia dynasties that had been overthrown by the Vikings, and not to Scandinavian sailors. In any case, those visitors with yellow hair and fierce gestures entered Bizkaia borde- ring a very similar coast to the one they had left behind: the Ogoño bulk, Izaro. And they entered then a calm river, further away from Mundaka, that held a certain likeness, at least in the right margin, to a Norwegian fiord. Anyway, when the Vikings came, there were already Basques here. The presence of man in that area goes back to the Low Paleolithic. Many prehistoric traces have been found in the region. In 1916 some cave paintings were found in Santimamiñe, in Kortezubi, which were painted by men of the magdalenic culture. Traces of the Solutrense were found in 1959 in Atxeta (Forua). The Roman presence in the region of Urdai- bai opens the first page of the story. There are votive inscriptions in the altar The Jai Alai pelota court is the witness of important pelota matches. 15 Many people come every Monday to the fair. ten news that lasted 500 years. The Vi- Since then every year in the morning of kings came during that period. •Astean behin egiten den July 22, Saint Mary Magdalene’s day, But what is this land so full of his- azokak zentzu berezia du after a mass in Santa Eugenia church, tory like? Urdaibai is framed by Cape Gernikarrentzat a colorful flotilla sails to Izaro. The boat Matxitxako (Bermeo) and Arbolitz Point that carries the authorities stops next to (Ibarranguelua). Cape Matxitxako is the isle. The silence is complete. In a the main geographic accident in the Basques learned from the Norman the moment the ikurriña presides the place. Basque coast, it is a natural spur that art of fishing whales”. On the other The racket is impossible to describe. accidentally protects the entrance of the hand the boats painted in the 18th cen- Songs, scarves, shouts, sirens. Some estuary. The limit of Urdaibai region tury stamps of the fishing ports are minutes later, after collecting the certifi- heads upward from there through Bur- identical to some Viking boats rescued cate, the major of Bermeo throws a tile goa mountain into Bermeo, continues from the Roskilde Fiord. The heritage is into the sea, symbolizing that Izaro be- through Garbola and Truende moun- even clearer in some of the words used longs this year again to Bermeo. Then tains until it reaches Sollube, in the in- for sailing techniques. Gwyn Jones, they all go to Elantxobe, where the ma- tersection of Bermeo, Arrieta and Bus- author of classical works on the Vi- jor is waiting to exchange the stick of turia. Then it winds through Kurtzegane kings, includes the Basque coasts in the command with the major of Bermeo. and Sestretxa mountains into the lands usual routes of the northern men. This will be the leader until he leaves of Errigoiti in Arriaga mountain. The The Bermeo fishermen are some of the place. Then everybody goes to border then goes eastward and forms the best in the world. They have chased Mundaka to watch the dance of the au- an arch through Maiaga mountain, to the fish across the seven seas and it is rresku of honor. return to the summit of Otxolarre. The not unusual no find their ships in Afri- Jon Bilbao says that the first ele- south border is framed by Bizkargi and ca, Mar del Plata, Callao,... in most of ment in the word Mundaka, “Mund”, Oiz massifs. River Oka in its descent to- the Spanish ports there are ships from means in Danish rivermouth. Apparent- wards the sea has been the main desig- Bermeo. ly it was an important port long ago. At ner of the landscape, opening at its feet The isle of Izaro stands watch at the the beginning of this century Carmelo a great valley facing north. entrance of the estuary. It belongs no- de Etxegaray wrote: “there are few fis- The Urdaibai inner lands form an wadays to Bermeo. Centuries ago Ber- hermen there, and practically no one intricate pattern of mountains and va- meo and Mundaka fought for the pos- working in fields other than sailing”. lleys. During the last five centuries the session of this rock. To put an end to the Many of the Basques who emigrated to shape of this region has known great struggle, they decided that the isle the Philippine Islands came from this changes, especially because men used would belong to the village whose trai- part of Bizkaia. The last Major of Mani- its woods in the ironworks or to build nera would arrive in the first place to la, José Manuel Etxeita, was from Mun- ships. the rock. The inhabitants of Elantxobe daka, and he is considered one of the It is precisely in fishing and ship- acted as judges. Bermeo won. The ver- most important writers in Euskera of the building techniques where the inheri- dict did not please the inhabitants of 20th century. tance from the Vikings seems more cer- Mundaka who called since then those The cultural expressions of the tain. As Rabot from France states “the of Elantxobe “makueses” (bad judges). neighboring Busturia are mostly rural, 16 but in those of Mundaka the streets ta- ke a leading role. This village offers one of the most curious examples of urban Shrovetide. A group of young boys do an “eskea”: they give satirical verses in exchange of money and food. The boys are called “atorrak” because of the cos- tumes they wear. Busturia is mainly a farming villa- ge, but some small industries have gathered around it.