Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi, Fiestas

Basque Fact of the Week: The Fiestas of the White Virgin

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The Basque Country is full of colorful festivals and each city and town has their own special fiesta. Even towns as small as Munitibar – less than 500 people – have a big fiesta on their saint’s day, with the plaza full of people dancing to live music. Vitoria-Gasteiz, the political capital of the Basque Autonomous Community, is no exception. Their main fiesta, in honor of the White Virgin and celebrated around her feast day of August 5, draws thousands upon thousands of people and features an oddly unique character that ushers in the main festivities.

Celedón descending over the crowd at the Fiestas de la Virgen Blanca. Photo from rove.me.
  • The Fiestas of the Virgen Blanca, or White Virgin, (Andre Maria Zuriaren Jaiak in Euskara) started in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba, in 1884. For many years, the city celebrated its fiestas in September, but in 1883 it was decided to move them to August to honor the Virgen Blanca, as her feast day is on August 5. In 1921, she was declared the patron saint of the city. In 1954, she was named queen of the city. She is also known as Saint Mary of the Snows.
  • The Virgen Blanca is a statue from the 14th century that sits in the Church of San Miguel in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Her veneration dates to the time that Araba was part of the Kingdom of Nafarroa and is attributed to Sancho the Wise, who named his daughter the same. He founded the city in 1181 and the cult of the White Virgin has existed ever since.
  • Since 1957, the festivities begin with the descent of Celedón. Celedón is a rag doll that represents an old Araban villager. He is attached to a pulley system and lowered across the main plaza holding his umbrella which hangs from the wires. After, a real-life version of Celedón makes his way through the crowd and a traditional dance (the aurresku) is performed on the balcony of the church. The crowd chants “Gora Gasteiz! Gora Celedón!” Celedón is meant to represent the rural peasants that come to the city to celebrate the fiestas. Tradition holds that he was from the village of Zalduondo.
  • The “cuadrillas de blusas” are the heart of the festival. Dressed in traditional costumes, they lead various activities throughout the city during the fiesta. The fiestas are characterized by free open-air concerts, various sporting competitions, bertsolariak, and lots of singing, dancing, and drinking.

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

Primary sources: Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa. VIRGEN BLANCA. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/virgen-blanca/ar-128546/; Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa. Virgen Blanca. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/virgen-blanca/ar-142639/; Fiestas de la Virgen Blanca – Historia, tradición y la bajada de Celedón, Vitoria-Gasteiz

Basque Proverb of the Week

Basque Proverb of the Week: Proverb #16

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Alferrik da, ura joan eta gero, presa egitea.

It is useless to hurry once the water has already run by.

Image generated by Buber using ChatGPT.

These proverbs were collected by Jon Aske. For the full list, along with the origin and interpretation of each proverb, click this link.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: Txikiteo

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Wandering the streets, friends in tow, hopping from bar to bar, getting a bit of a drink and a pintxo – the tradition of the txikiteo. One of my favorite things to do in the Basque Country, txikiteo is the epitome of Basque social life. It’s a perfect way to spend time with your koadrila and to bump into other friends. It’s also a great way to see a Basque town, to get to know its heart. If you haven’t had the chance, I highly recommend an evening (or three) exploring your favorite city in a new way.

A group of txikiteros in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Photo from El Correo.
  • No one really knows when the tradition of txikiteo began, but it’s a natural consequence of a region that has so many bars. In fact, the Basque Country has one of the highest number of bars in Europe, surpassing many countries. People would wander the bars, maybe initially to get news from the sailors visiting the ports. It grew into a social phenomenon, one of the primary ways Basques enjoy their cities and towns.
  • The word txikiteo comes from the Basque word txikito, meaning small or little. People wander the bars, having a little bit to drink (a zurito or txikito) or a small bite to eat (a pintxo). While having some similarities to a pub crawl, drinking isn’t the goal. Rather, it is to socialize, to get out of the home and to see other people. People who are out on a txikiteo are called txikiteros.
  • For a long time, txikiteo was an activity exclusive to men, but in recent years women have also participated, often with women-only groups wandering the streets. Txikiteo is the time when koadrilas go out and spend time together. It used to be an almost daily custom, but modern life has made it rarer, often a weekend activity at best. The recession and the pandemic didn’t help matters.
  • Another driver changing the custom of txikiteo is tourism. Tourists aren’t used to how a txikiteo works. Instead, many are accustomed to sitting in one place and eating and drinking. So bars are adapting to this new reality and offering multi-pintxo deals, encouraging patrons to stay longer. This is in conflict with the very idea of txikiteo.
  • The glass used for the wine has its own interesting history. The story goes that, in 1929, Queen Victoria Eugenia visited Bilbo (other stories say it was the Prince of Asturias in 1865). The city went all out for her visit, including lighting the streets with candles in glasses. After her visit, the city had an abundance of glasses they had no use for, so they gave them to the local bars. These proved perfect for txikito – they had a heavy base so that they didn’t slosh so much in the hands of somewhat inebriated patrons. While these traditional glasses have become rare, there is a bit of an initiative to bring them back.
  • Txikiteo is such a part of Basque culture, Bilbo celebrates Txiketero Day on October 11.

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

Primary sources: El vaso de txikito: tradición y cultura en Bilbao by Julia Flores, Radio Nervión; Un trago con muchas historias by Marta Hernández, Deia; Txikiteo, Wikipedia

Basque Proverb of the Week

Basque Proverb of the Week: Proverb #15

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Alferrarentzat jana eta langilearentzat lana, ez da inoiz faltako.

There is never a lack of food for the lazy person, nor of work for the industrious.

Image generated by Buber using ChatGPT.

These proverbs were collected by Jon Aske. For the full list, along with the origin and interpretation of each proverb, click this link.

Basque Fact of the Week, Folklore

Basque Fact of the Week: Gizotso, the Basque Werewolf

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Gizotso – gizon (man) + otsoa (wolf) – is the Basque wolf man, the Basque werewolf. Though there aren’t many wolves left in the Basque Country, Basques have a long history with wolves, which often terrorized livestock and even people. So, it is no surprise that the Basques, as so many cultures, had stories of men who became wolves, who were more vicious than any wolf ever was. While stories of werewolves are common throughout the world, the Basque version has a few interesting twists. No silver bullets here, but if you hit his shadow an odd number of times, you can hurt him.

One representation of a gizotso, by artist Argote.
  • Wolves have been part of the Basque landscape since time immemorial. As elsewhere, wolves posed a problem for the local human populations, primarily by killing both people and livestock. Ultimately, in the Basque Country, wolves were hunted to near extinction. This complex relationship between people and wolves has sparked many stories, including that of the gizotso, or werewolf.
  • Half man, half wolf, the gizotso lives in the deepest parts of the forest, sometimes coming out to terrorize people. In some places, the gizotso was said to be extraordinarily strong. In one story, a gizotso chased a woman. Despite her neighbors yelling for her to run home, the gizotso caught her and tore off her breasts. In yet other places, the gizotso is found at nights at crossroads, burdened by chains, and will carry off anyone it can catch.
  • How did gizotsos come about? In some places, people believed that the gizotso was the product of nefarious dealings between rational and irrational beings, sometimes the result of sexual relations between people and wolves. In others, it was believed that, on the Eve of St John’s fiesta, there were springs that turned to wine at midnight. If one tries to find the spring and doesn’t, they become a gizotso. Sometimes, in the mornings, the gizotso sheds its skin. If someone else finds it and wears it, they will then become a gizotso.
  • To attack a gizotso, you had to go after its shadow. You couldn’t hit it directly. And you had to hit it with an odd number of blows. If you hit it an even number, the wounds would heal. Similar beliefs applied to wizards and witches – when they were in a trance, you could attack their shadows but not them directly.
  • This aspect was described in a story told to Jose Miguel de Barandiaran by one Dominica Giltzu in 1941:

    The Werewolf and the Tailor

    Once upon a time, there were apparently werewolves in many places. These werewolves were men who dressed in wolf skins and walked around at night surrounded by old irons. Completely covered, only a little of their foreheads showed. Apparently they went out to the crossroads to scare people.

    There must have been one like that in Ustaritz. Once, when a tailor was returning home late at night, the werewolf of Ustaritz appeared to him, intending to scare him. The tailor struck him on the forehead with the tip of a hoe, and blood flowed. The werewolf shouted at him: “Give me another one!” For the enemy has no strength in odd numbers.

    But the tailor did not give him another one, did not hit him again. And the werewolf followed him to the door of his house, begging him: “Give me another one, give me another one.”

    The tailor paid no attention to him, until the werewolf gave up and left.

    The next day an acquaintance of the tailor, from Ustaritz, came to his house with a ten-pound note, saying: “I have long wanted to get rid of this burden. By making me bleed, you cured me. Take ten pounds in payment.”

    “And why did you ask me to give you another blow?” asked the tailor.

    “It was not me, it was my companions who made me say it.”
  • Of course, werewolves are by no means a singularly Basque phenomenon – they are common to the folklore of many places in Europe, going back to Ancient Greece.

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

Primary sources: Barandiaran Ayerbe, José Miguel de. Gizotso. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/gizotso/ar-66361/; Gizotsoa euskal mitologian, Wikipedia

Basque Proverb of the Week

Basque Proverb of the Week: Proverb #14

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Alferrarendako lanik ez, eta astirik ez.

The lazy person has no work, but no time for anything else either.

Image generated by Buber using ChatGPT.

These proverbs were collected by Jon Aske. For the full list, along with the origin and interpretation of each proverb, click this link.

Basque Fact of the Week, Diaspora, History

Basque Fact of the Week: The Province of Nueva Vizcaya

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When I wrote about the various cities of Durango a while back, that opened a thread of the Basque history of Mexico and the southwest United States that is ripe for further exploration. That history is reflected in so many place names of the region. Not only are cities like Durango named after their Basque counterparts, but just like we have states like New York and New Jersey that are named after “older” regions in the United Kingdom, there were provinces such as New Vizcaya and New Navarra in the Americas named after places in the Basque Country. I guess those explorers and conquistadors were not so creative…

Map of Mexico in 1819 featuring the province of Nueva Vizcaya. Image from Wikipedia.
  • Nueva Vizcaya was originally founded by Francisco de Ibarra when he conquered that part of what would later become Mexico and the United States. It was the first province in the northern part of New Spain. What was once Nueva Vizcaya is now the Mexican states of Durango and Chihuahua, part of the Mexican state of Coahuila, and part of Texas. Ibarra established silver working and cattle ranches in the region. Residents of Durango had complete access to the local silver mine.
  • The Spanish first arrived in 1531, under with Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán, but it wasn’t until silver was discovered that Ibarra moved further north and established the territory. In 1562, he was named Captain General of Nueva Vizcaya and undertook conquest of the region, founding the city of Durango amongst others.
  • The city of Durango played a part in the Mexican War of Independence and the subsequent forming of the Mexican Empire, led by Augustín de Iturbide. In particular, Durango was subjected to a 3-weeks-long siege as Iturbide’s forces tried to take the city, which finally surrendered on September 3, 1821.
  • Nueva Vizcaya lasted as a political entity until 1823, when the Supreme Congress of Mexico split it into the two modern provinces of Chihuahua and Durango. Yet a new state, comprising Chihuahua, Durango, and what eventually became New Mexico, was briefly considered, but the residents of Durango objected as the proposed capital of this new state would have been in Chihuahua. In the end, they were kept separate.
  • Native Americans continuously attacked the city and the region since its founding until the 19th century, trying to reclaim the land. The area is home to numerous native groups, including the Nahuatl, Zacatecos and Tepehuán.
  • There is also a province called Nueva Vizcaya in the Philippines. There was a province called Nueva Navarra in Mexico as well, to the west of Nueva Vizcaya.

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

Primary sources: Estornés Lasa, Mariano [et al.]. NEW VIZCAYA. Auñamendi Encyclopedia, 2025. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/new-vizcaya/ar-98759/; Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain, Wikipedia

Basque Proverb of the Week

Basque Proverb of the Week: Proverb #13

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Alferrak, beti lanez beterik.

Lazy people are always busy.

Image generated by Buber using ChatGPT.

These proverbs were collected by Jon Aske. For the full list, along with the origin and interpretation of each proverb, click this link.

Basque Fact of the Week, Diaspora, Food

Basque Fact of the Week: Picon Punch

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Maybe you’ve heard that some politicians in Nevada are trying again to make Picon Punch the official state cocktail. It’s not the first time, but that Ferino, a distillery in Reno, is making their own version of Amer Picon, the central ingredient that gives the Punch its distinct flavor, is perhaps going to help the bill get past the finish line this time. One of several distinct Basque beverages, Picon Punch is also uniquely American.

A Picon Punch as served by Elko’s Star Hotel.
  • There is no single recipe for Picon Punch, as different places have adapted it to their own tastes. What they all have in common is a base of Amaro, a bitter often drank straight as an aperitif. Club soda, grenadine, and brandy are typically added, with a lemon peel as garnish. Often there is no brandy, or the brandy is replaced with gin. Some version skip the club soda.
  • Picon Punch originated in the United States, the creation of Basque immigrants. Sometime in the late 1800s, Basques in the North Beach part of San Francisco, California. At least by 1899 it was mentioned in a local newspaper, but it could have been created before. Maybe it was at the Noriega Hotel, maybe another boardinghouse. But Basques took it from there with them to Nevada and other parts of the US West. By 1906, it had even made its way to Honolulu. It has been seen in the Basque Country, though it is not overly popular there.
  • Amer Picon has its own interesting history (Amer means bitter in French). It was created by an Italian, Gaétan Picon, who had visited Algeria in 1837 while serving in the French Army. He caught malaria there and needed a way to stomach the quinine he had to take as treatment. He discovered local herbs and made a liquor from them to help the quinine go down.
  • The French Amer Picon became popular as a substitute for absinthe, but has been hard or impossible to get in the United States. After prohibition, during which alcohol was outlawed, Torani began marketing their own Amer and it eventually replaced Amer Picon, partially because Amer Picon became weaker with time to the point that it is now only 18 proof while Torani Amer is still near the original 80 proof.
  • To make matters worse, Amer Picon stopped shipping to the US in 2000. Torani Amer is the only alcoholic beverage Torani makes, and they had supply issues during and after COVID. So to ensure that the supply doesn’t end, more than one distillery in the United States has taken on making the stuff.

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

Primary sources: The origin of the Picon punch, a quintessential Western cocktail by Mike Higdon, Reno Gazette Journal; Picon Punch, liquor.com; Picon Punch, Wikipedia

Basque Proverb of the Week

Basque Proverb of the Week: Proverb #12

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Alferkeria, askoren ondamendia.

Laziness leads many people astray.

Image generated by Buber using ChatGPT.

These proverbs were collected by Jon Aske. For the full list, along with the origin and interpretation of each proverb, click this link.