All posts by buber

Harnessing tides for power

A very interesting development from the Basque Country.  With all of the concerns related to climate change and dependence on foreign oil, people are looking for new ways to extract energy from where ever possible.  The Basque Country is known for its waves — just ask any surfing aficionado.  And while not as famous as […]

Basqueing in the Glow of Two Basque Cities

(I couldn’t resist the pun.) Some big news for the Basque Country’s biggest cities. First, Donostia has been chosen, along with Wroclaw, Poland, as one of the two European Capitals of Culture in 2016.  EiTB has the news here. This means that for the year of 2016, Donostia will host events that highlight Europe’s cultural […]

How the last election breaks down by region

In his blog, Ricardo Ibarra posted an infographic taken from El Correo that shows the breakdown of the last elections by region within the Basque Autonomous Community, an image shamelessly stolen from him and reposted here (click on the image for a bigger version). It is interesting to see how things break down.  Gipuzkoa went […]

A 6-year-old in Franco’s Basque Country

The Basque Country has changed dramatically since the time my father left for a new life in the United States.  Not only politically, with the death of Franco, the activity of ETA, and the rise of the Basque Autonomous Community, but socially, as well, as the Basque people have taken their culture into the 21st […]

New party, Bildu, very successful in regional elections

It wasn’t long ago, in fact not even a month ago, that Spanish courts had ruled that a new party in the Basque Country couldn’t stand for elections held just yesterday.  Bildu (Gather in English), a coalition of nationalist and left-of-center groups, was formed when Sortu (Create in English), another attempt to form a new […]

Rick Steves takes you to the Basque Country

If you’ve never been to the Basque Country and are considering your first visit, you might have no idea of where to start your tour.  Or if you’ve been several times to see family, you might want to break out of the routine of visiting the family baserria and find something new.  Rick Steves, “America’s […]

BasqueStage: Cooking in the Basque Country

I just stumbled onto this by pure accident (sometimes, spending too much time just surfing the web does lead to serendipitous discoveries).  Basque Stage is part project, part contest, with the goal of teaming up young chefs with world-renowned chef Martin Berasategui, owner of his signature restaurant in Lasarte-Oria, Gipuzkoa.  Basque Stage will award two […]

Isil-isilik dago…

It’s been way too quiet around here.  My apologies.  I have my typical excuse, real life.  But, to ensure that these pages are vibrant and alive, I want to do a much better job of posting, of sharing all things Basque.  So, if you have suggestions, please let me know. What should I be posting?  […]

Nor Naiz, Gu Gara: José Antonio Alcayaga III

Nor Naiz, Gu Gara (Who I Am, We Are) is a series aiming to explore the meaning of Basque Identity around the world, both within Euskal Herria as well as in the diaspora. For an introduction to the series, look here, and for a list of the previous entries, look here. For me, to be […]