This one may be of interest to only me… Driving along the highways in the heart of Bizkaia, there is a sign that appears on the side of the road that simply says Urberuaga, but there is nothing really there. It turns out that there used to be a quite renowned spa in the area, […]
My mom tells a story of my dad where they were out in the countryside working, spending the night camping in the field. Somehow, my dad became aware of a rattlesnake nearby and freaked out, dousing the whole area with gas and lighting it on fire to kill the snake. My mom said it was […]
Love is the universal language, so they say. Though sometimes it is more difficult to “speak” than even Euskara! In every culture, there are norms of how men and women socialize and get to know one another, and this is true in the Basque Country. Particularly in rural areas before the advent of phones and […]
The Basque Country holds so many hidden gems. We are all familiar with the big places – Donostia, Bilbo, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pamplona/Iruña – but there is so much more to see. Spectacular waterfalls. Strange geological forms. Nature reserves. Small villages untouched by modernization. Ainhoa falls in this last category. A small town in Lapurdi on the […]
The Basques weren’t the first to explore the seas… or were they? The Basques didn’t invent boats… or did they? The Basques aren’t aliens from outer space… or are they? Seriously, the Basques played an important part in the development of shipbuilding and seafaring. We know that they were outstanding navigators, but their contributions go […]
The origins of the Basque language are lost to time, or so we are told. However, new discoveries such as the Hand of Irulegi challenge some of those assumptions and reveal new and exciting insight. At the same time, researchers continue to chip away, examining the body of evidence to further our understanding of the […]
“The people of Biscay are excellent in the art of navigation, pilots and warriors, … in handling maritime affairs, where all of them, without exception, prove to be excellent pilots and skilled in the art of soldiery, attacking armed enemies with the same ferocity as the violent fury of the terrifying onslaughts of the Atlantic […]
Not growing up in the Basque Country and not being exposed to the history and culture on a daily basis, there is so much I simply don’t know, so many figures that made an impact on the culture that I’ve never heard of. Gabriel Aresti is one of those. While I’ve heard his name in […]
One of my first exposures to the broader history of the Basque Country and the unique role Basques played in the history of the Americas was through National Geographic magazine. Before that, what little I knew was through osmosis from dancing and festivals. I didn’t really know much about Basques beyond having Basque parents. That […]
To me, one of the fascinating aspects of Basque history relates to witches. The Basque witch trials are infamous for how indiscriminate they were but also because they reveal how mob mentality can easily turn neighbors into enemies and outcasts into villains. Witches in the Basque Country represent this interesting transition between the autochthonous religion […]
