As distributed with Basque Country October 9th 2014 the-report.net United it stands The Basque Country has long been an industrial hub which has thrived while maintaining a unique regional identity. In recent years, Basques have based much of their development on unity and innovation. As their region emerges from the Spanish economic crisis and enters a new era of peace, they aim to become a global force in their own right. theguardian.com/the-report/basquecountry 18 regional focus Gipuzkoa seeks to unveil its hidden champions 06 investment The right place at the right time , who takes sole responsibility for its content. , who takes sole responsibility for 12 tourism Green and gracious The Report Company “This time of peace is an on behalf of opportunity for the evo- lution of our the Guardian economy” InigoInigo UrkulluUrkullu 22 wineries Raising the profile 14 industry and innovation 10 infrastructure 04 interview Made in the Basque Country A well-connected region Inigo Urkullu. President of the Basque Country GLOBAL BUSINESS FEATURES: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS. INSIGHTFUL ANALYSIS. ANOTHER LOOK. An independent supplement distributed in As distributed with 2 _ BASQUE COUNTRY An independent supplement produced by The Report Company 3 The Basque people INNOVATION Robust investment in born architect Frank Gehry, research and development has not only awed visitors has become crucial to the but also helped transform region’s quest to compete. the city. At just over two percent of GDP, Basque investment in this area is well above that of The history of the Basque Spain as a whole and higher people has been the than the EU average. Educa- subject of many, later discredited, theories down tion is a key part of that strat- IN NUMBERS egy, with 43 percent of young the centuries, including Basques holding university the notion that the Basque qualifications. “We have 2,500 people are descended Researchers working on had to be very competitive in from Turks or Magyars, or Basque industrial policy order to survive,” points out that the Basque language, in the public and private the regional premier, Inigo Euskara, was once spoken sector Urkullu. While the backing across Europe. One more of different regional govern- outlandish theory is ments for research centres 26,500 that Noah was Basque. and new technology projects People employed in the The roots of the Basque has been fundamental in life sciences sector people remain shrouded in the innovation drive, so mystery, and as anthro- too has the involvement of pologist Joseba Zulaika 11 wrote, “Basque identity is the private sector. Perhaps Strategic industrial clus- the most visible example of founded on an acute sense ters have been set up in of their enigmatic past.” Basques’ willingness to em- the Basque Country brace innovation is Bilbao’s Euskara, however, has pro- Guggenheim art museum, vided some clues to Basque whose design, by Canadian- history. Its utter distinction from other Indo-European tongues reinforces the idea that the Basques who settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula were among the first inhabitants of western Europe. A creative people, a hi-tech future The territory known as Writer: Guy Hedgecoe Vasconia, a precursor to the present-day Basque rest of Spain. With an unemployment rate that is well dishes of its chefs, who have taken global haute cuisine Country, existed in the mid- below the national average – and around half that of by storm. Such cultural energy, allied to the region’s dle ages in the western Pyr- OVERVIEW As the curtain opens on a new era of peace, the Basque Country is determined to enees, although it would be Andalusia – and an industrial sector which in many business character, made the creation last year of a fragmented and re-shaped keep industrialising its resilient economy and reinforce its status as a hotbed of innovation, cases has successfully reached abroad during Spain’s “Basque Country brand” a logical step, even though it down the centuries due downturn, Urkullu’s optimism seems justified. ruffled the feathers of those in Madrid who are leading to pressures from France, education and culture Castile and Aragon. In the The region has long been famous for its ability to in- the equivalent “Spanish brand”. late 19th century, a young novate and this trait can be seen in the business sphere. Given its impressive record on employment, technol- Biscayan called Sabino Many smaller Basque firms have pooled their resources ogy and education, the Basque Country can approach Arana became the driv- ing force behind modern It may be a small region of only two million in- the autonomous community of the Basque ists – would like. From the late 1960s, the sepa- by forming cooperatives and taking part in clusters. the social, economic and environmental targets the Basque nationalism, help- habitants, but the Basque Country represents Country, the focus of this report. ratist group Eta waged a terrorist campaign for The region is also home to corporate giants, such as EU has set out for its members in the Europe 2020 ing standardise the Euskara many different things to different people. Its The region has provided some of Spanish his- an independent state, killing over 800 people BBVA in banking, Iberdrola in energy and SENER in strategy with confidence. Another challenge for the language and bolstering rich rural life and wealth of traditions reflect tory’s most illustrious figures, such as circum- and deeply dividing Basque society. Police ac- engineering and construction, all of which have relied region is to consolidate the peace that arrived in 2011 the notion that the region’s people were of a separate its status as home to one of Europe’s oldest navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano, Jesuit founder tion and legal pressures would help weaken heavily on new ideas to develop their business. and leave the trauma of the Spanish economic crisis race from the French and peoples, who speak the enigmatic Euskara lan- Ignatius of Loyola and the philosopher Miguel Eta until it declared a definitive ceasefire in behind. “The Basque tradition is that desire to offer Spanish. However, Arana’s guage. Meanwhile, its factories and businesses de Unamuno. But down the centuries, the October 2011, a move former UN Secretary- A creative brand an excellent product and this is something that goes more extreme ideas have since been disregarded, es- are testament to its history as an industrial Basques have had a complex relationship with General Kofi Annan described as “a victory This creativity makes the Basque Country “a living pecially as the arrival of im- heartland. And yet, the extravagant design the rest of Spain. In medieval times they enjoyed for dialogue and peace”. Three years on from lab of innovation and strategy development,” accord- migrants has significantly of the Guggenheim art museum in Bilbao of- special status, being allowed to uphold many of that landmark development, the region has ing to Joseba Jauregizar, who as managing director of altered the Basque region’s “This time of peace ethnic make-up. Many of fers yet another view: a region that cherishes their ancient laws in return for respecting the adjusted to a new climate of peace which has Tecnalia, an alliance of technology firms, is at the heart today’s inhabitants of the culture and which is prepared to launch itself sovereignty of the Spanish monarch. Centuries benefitted not only ordinary Basques, but of the Basque Country’s efforts to expand its industry. has to be an economic Basque Country come from into the future. later, during the centralising dictatorship of also tourism and other industries. Once one of the world’s biggest iron ore producers, North Africa, South America Even pinning down the exact geography of Francisco Franco, Basque autonomy was reined “This time of peace has to be an opportunity the region is now renowned for its diversification into opportunity” and Eastern Europe. One thing has not changed the Basque Country can be difficult. Many of in and its culture was repressed, a policy that for the development of the Basque economy,” areas such as renewable energy, nanotechnology and Inigo Urkullu the region’s nationalists regard the territory would both provoke a resurgence of nationalist says Inigo Urkullu, the Basque regional premier, biotechnology and industry currently represents a over the centuries: Basques President of the Basque Country are known for being of Navarre and the three Basque provinces in pride and have violent repercussions. or lehendakari, of the moderate Basque Na- quarter of its GDP. industrious, reliable and south-western France all as part of what they tionalist Party (PNV). “If we were able to grow The Basque pioneering spirit is not confined to busi- right back to the traditional small businesses here – the honourable. The Spanish call Euskal Herria, or the Basque homeland. during a time of violence, now we must be able ness. It can be seen in the earthy sculptures of Eduardo local workshop,” says Jose Manuel Orcasitas, CEO of saying “palabra de vasco”, Three years of peace or “word of a Basque”, is But only the three provinces in Spanish terri- In the democratic era, the Basque region’s au- to grow even more, especially once we get over Chillida, the eerie “painted forest” of artist Agustin coach manufacturer Irizar. “Now, in modern times, still used to describe the tory that sit between the Pyrenees and the Bay tonomy has been restored, although not as the economic crisis.” Ibarrola, the experimental novels of Bernardo Atxaga the region’s big focus is on innovation, so providing a solemnity of a promise. of Biscay – Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa – form much as many – both moderates and extrem- That crisis has hit Basques less hard than the and, perhaps most famously, in the envelope-pushing high-quality result is what it is all about.” Editorial Coordinator: Gonzalo Portas Illustrations: Martin Leon Barreto For suggestions on a feature on your country or any Photos: Basque Tourism Agency, Vitoria City Council, specific theme, contact us on: [email protected] Unity in a diverse While the moderate Basque scape has opened up in recent (PP).