For me, the best thing about the Basque Country is the strong social connections between family and friends. The Basques are so tight knit. Life-long groups of friends celebrate everything together and these groups are essentially a second family. Maybe this comes from having more compact towns and cities where it is easy to get together. Or that people rarely move far from where they were born (or they go half way around the world…) Whatever the reason, the koadrila is such a cool part of Basque culture.

• The koadrila or kuadrilla is someone’s personal circle of friends. However, more than just being a group of friends, it is a core part of the social life of Basques. Often established in youth, the koadrila (or cuadrilla in Spanish) “is a protective structure that includes both rights and duties.” What happens in the koadrila stays in the koadrila. The koadrila is almost like a second family.
• Once a koadrila is established, it is very hard for new people to break into the circle. Sometimes, partners of members can also become part of the koadrila, but new people without a strong bond with one of the existing members are rarely welcomed into the group.
• Historically, koadrilas were usually of one gender or the other – mixed groups were rare due to taboos associated with sexuality and the like. However, today koadrilas are often mixed.
• Koadrilas often go “kalera” (to the street) for poteo or txikiteo, or out drinking together. Usually, everyone puts cash into a pot (called a bote) and one person is designated as the buyer – getting and paying for drinks (a txikito or small glass of wine, or zurito, a small glass of beer) and pintxos at each stop during the txikiteo.
• Just like a family, the koadrila is there in times of need and members can be sure that, when times are tough, the other members will be there to help out, no matter where they are. Even years later, when the group may have gone their separate ways as life often demands, they still get together a few times a year for a group dinner.
• The koadrila is unique to Hegoalde and is essentially absent in Iparralde.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Traditions, Etxepare Euskal Institutua