Fighting Basques

Fighting Basques: Honoring our Basque World War II Veterans Who Fell in the Pacific

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On the 5th of December, a small ceremony will take place on the Japanese island of Okinawa in which tribute will be paid to all American veterans of Basque origin who died during World War II (WWII) in the Pacific, with special recognition for those who perished on the island. They were over twenty young Basque-Americans, six of them killed in Okinawa. Their identification and now visibility and public recognition are the result of the research project Fighting Basques: Memory of WWII, led by the homeland history association Sancho de Beurko since 2015. To date, more than 1,600 combatants of Basque origin have been identified in the United States Armed Forces, of which 1,100 biographies of both the veterans and their emigrant families have been completed.

This event is the result of a collaboration between the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum and the Sancho de Beurko Association, under the auspices of the North American Basque Organizations (NABO).

The Battle of Okinawa (March 26-June 22, 1945) was the last major battle of the last world conflict, in which more than 12,500 American soldiers fell, including five Basques, and more than 36,000 were wounded, many of whom died after the battle. On the Japanese side, more than 77,000 soldiers and more than 100,000 Okinawan civilians died. A sixth Basque died on the island as a result of a tragic accident at the end of the war. This will be the first tribute on Japanese soil to our Basque WWII veterans.

Joseph Uriola poses for the camera in a relaxed manner in his barracks.

Among them is Sergeant Joseph Uriola Alcorta, born in Boise, Idaho, on May 22, 1919, to immigrant parents from Bizkaia, Juan Urriolabeitia, a native of Markina, and María Dolores Alcorta, born in Ondarroa. Joseph enlisted in the US Army a few months before the United States entered the war. As a member of the 184th Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division he participated in the Aleutian Islands Campaign and in the battles of Kwajalein and Leyte. Joseph was killed in combat on April 7, 1945, in Okinawa, at the age of 25. He received the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, posthumously, for saving the life of a wounded comrade in the Philippines.

Dr. Pedro. J. Oiarzabal, co-principal investigator of “Figthing Basques,” will travel to Okinawa to participate in the event. He will also take the opportunity to see WWII memorials first-hand, as NABO will soon launch a fundraising campaign with the goal of establishing the first national WWII memorial to publicly recognize the selfless service of Basque and Basque-American veterans.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: The Heart of Donostia, La Parte Vieja

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After La Perla and our brief hike up Mount Urgull, we were ready for a night out, celebrating our trip and one of our party’s birthday. And what better place to celebrate than the Parte Vieja of Donostia? When I lived in Donostia, my friends and I spent quite a few nights wandering the bars, enjoying some drinks, and meeting some strange characters. Now was my chance to show the special charm, the unique marcha that only a night out in Donostia’s Parte Vieja can provide. It was a great night of family, friends, food, and fun!

I’ve always been told you can judge a bar by the number of hams hanging from the ceiling – this one looked pretty good. Photo by Blas Uberuaga.
  • The Parte Vieja, or Parte or Alde Zaharra in Euskara, sits in the historic center of the city at the foot of Mount Urgull and is bounded to the east by the Urumea River. It was the urban center of the city, defined by the walls surrounding it, until about 1863. In fact, the whole of the Parte Vieja’s layout is relatively new, particularly considering that Donostia was founded in the 12th century. In 1813, the combined forces of Britain and Portugal, during their efforts to end the French occupation of the city, burned the old town to the ground. In addition to the two main churches and the San Telmo Convent, only a few buildings on a street now called August 31 Street (Abuztuaren 31 kalea), since the city was burned on that date, were unharmed.
  • The walls that once surrounded the center were for the most part taken down in 1863, as the city was declared to no longer be a military fortress, allowing the city to expand. At the time, Donostia had about 15,000 inhabitants, 10,000 of which lived within those walls.
  • The cornerstones of the Parte Vieja, which survived that 1813 fire, are the Santa María and San Vicente churches. San Vicente (San Bizente in Euskara), of gothic style, is the older – construction began in 1507. Santa Maria, a basilica, was constructed in 1738 with the support of the Royal Company of Caracas. However, the center of the Parte Vieja is Plaza de la Constitución. This is where the Tamborrada begins. Consti, as the locals call it, was originally a bullring, and you can still see the boxes where people would watch the bull fights from.
  • The Parte Vieja, and by extension Donostia itself, is perhaps best known for its vibrant gastronomic scene, typified by the bars full of pintxos. Pintxos started in Donostia. The first was the Gilda, created when a bar owner stuck an anchovy, an olive and a chilli pepper with a toothpick. Donostia has the second most Michelin stars per capita in the world (only behind Kyoto, Japan) and several are in the Parte Vieja.

Primary Source: Parte Zaharra, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: Mount Urgull

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Rising out of the heart of the oldest parts of Donostia, Mount Urgull commands an amazing view of the city. Lisa and I had gone up part of it before, but we’d never made it to the top where the Castle lies. We did this time. It is a wonderful escape from the bustle of the city, and there were more than a few young people hiking up to pass the afternoon before hitting the bars of the Parte Vieja. At the top, the views from the Castle were spectacular!

A view of La Concha from Mount Urgull. Photo by Blas Uberuaga.
  • Mount Urgull rises some 123 meters (about 400 feet) above the city center of Donostia. In fact, at one time, there was only a small spit of sand connecting the mount to the coast, but over time that area was built up to form the Parte Vieja of Donostia. Even before it became a peninsula, it was an island and, over time, sediment built up from the river Urumea, connecting it to the mainland.
  • On top of the mount lies the Castle of Santa Cruz de la Mota, which dates back to the 12th century. It was built by Nafarroan king Sancho the Strong in 1194. In the 16th century, the structure was fortified to help in the defense of the city. The castle was the scene of much military activity. In particular, it played a role in the Siege of San Sebastían, part of the Peninsular War during which, after multiple attempts, the British took the city from the occupying French forces – Urgull was the last bastion of French forces during the siege. It also played an important role in battles during the Carlists Wars.
  • In 1921, the city acquired the mountain from the Ministry of the Army and converted it into a public park.
  • The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a relatively new addition, built in 1950. The associated chapel was built in 1955.
  • There are a number of additional sites to see in addition to the castle, including several batteries of canons – some built over the years by the French, the English cemetery, and the Historical Military Museum. The cemetery, dedicated in 1924, honors the British that died in the Siege of 1813. However, perhaps most impressive is the view of the city and La Concha beach.
  • The name Urgull is of Gascon origin, meaning pride. Its Gascon origins attest to the large Gascon population of the city at the time of the founding of the city in 1180.
  • Because of the mountain’s isolation, a unique lizard, a version of the Iberian wall lizard (Podarcis liolepis sebastiani), has evolved there.

Primary sources: Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa. Monte Urgull. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/monte-urgull/ar-130925/; Urgull, Wikipedia; Monte Urgull, Wikipedia; Monte Urgull, donostiasansebastian.com; Urgull, Wikipedia

Adventures of Maite and Kepa, Buber's Basque Story

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 172

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“Kaixo!” said Ainhoa as she walked into the bar and sat down next to them. 

“Zer nahi duzu?” asked Kepa as he waived over the waiter. “What would you like?”

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!

“Mil esker!” replied Ainhoa. She looked up at the waiter. “Cortado, mesedez.”

The waiter nodded as he disappeared.

Ainhoa turned back to Kepa and Maite, who was already nursing her coffee. “So,” she began, “I admit, when we met, I didn’t think you’d keep reaching out like this. It’s a bit…” she paused a moment while searching for the right word “…unusual. I don’t usually get this kind of attention.”

Maite nodded. “We’re sorry to be bothering you so much, but the truth is, you are just so interesting. I can’t get enough chatting with you.”

Ainhoa looked at Maite a bit warily. “See?” she said. “Strange…”

“Ok,” said Kepa, trying to alleviate the tension that was quickly growing at their small table. He pulled out the journal they had found in Marina’s destroyed baserri. He put it on the table and pushed it over toward Ainhoa. Maite gave glared at him as he did so, but he shrugged as Ainhoa picked up the book.

“Zer da?” she asked as she opened the cover. “What is this?”

“To be honest, we don’t know. I found it at an antique book store and thought it was pretty cool. Some of the designs in there are just pretty awesome and I thought I could use them for some graphic design work I hope to do. But then I remembered…” He pointed at Ainhoa’s bare shoulder, where there was a tattoo of a triangle inscribed within a circle. Next to the point of the triangle was another circle, on the left, and a crescent on the right. “That tattoo you have, it’s one of the symbols that is pretty common in this book. I hoped you might know what it means.”

Ainhoa absentmindedly rubbed her shoulder as she thumbed through the book until she saw the same symbol. “Huh” is all she said as she stared at the book and the other strange symbols that filled the page. 

“I’ll be honest,” she began, “I don’t know what it means. It came to me in a dream one night. I don’t even remember the dream, but I remembered the symbol. It spoke to me, you know? I could sense a power within it.” She shrugged. “So, I thought it would make a great tattoo.”

“It is pretty cool,” admitted Kepa. “Do you know anything else about it?”

AInhoa was silent as she sipped on her coffee. “Well,” she said, “I only have some vague images from the dream, nothing coherent. Just images of three woman. One was older than the other two, who looked like twins, except one was very bright and the other was obscured in shadows. However, all three smiled at me. I could feel an immense power coming from all three of them. They then somehow morphed into this symbol -” she pointed at the open page of the journal “- and then the dream ended.”

“Three women, one older, and two sisters?” repeated Maite. “Reminds me of the legend of Amalur.” 

“Of course!” exclaimed Ainhoa. “How could I not have seen that? That’s exactly what it is. Amalur and her daughters Ilargi and Eguzki.”

“If this symbol represents Amalur and her daughters,” pondered Kepa as he tapped the drawing in the journal, “what do the rest of these symbols mean?”

Ainhoa shrugged. “Sorry, but I have no idea. They don’t mean anything to me.”

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: La Perla Spa of Donostia

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We finally made it to Donostia, skipping some of the other small towns on the coast as we had to meet our AirBnB host. Driving our microbus through the narrow streets of Donostia was not my favorite thing, neither was trying to park it. But we made it. The next day we were rewarded with an appointment at La Perla spa. I had heard of La Perla but in my previous visits, as a “young” student more interested in socializing than in relaxing, I had never really considered visiting. It was pretty amazing, certainly worth a few hours. The variety of water treatments was cool and I think we all left more than refreshed.

Family and friends at La Perla spa in Donostia. Photo by Blas Uberuaga.
  • La Perla specializes in thalassotherapy – the use of seawater for therapy (the Greek word thalassa means sea). As a specific form of therapy, thalassotherapy has been promoted for maybe a few centuries, though the Romans certainly took thermal baths and other treatments in what was essentially what we would call thalassotherapy.
  • La Perla got its start in 1887, at a time when Donostia was a destination of Europe’s high society. It began as a large red hut on the beach, overlooking La Concha and the sea. It was called “The Pearl of the Ocean.” In the early 1900s, the modern spa was built. Designed by Ramón de Cortázar, the new spa was inaugurated on July 2, 1912.
  • The spa grew out of Queen Maria Cristina’s visits to the city as her summer home. She would bathe in the waters of the bay and the original spa was built to serve her and her court’s needs.
  • However, the building, partially due to an overall drop in activities in the city that coincided with the ban on gambling, fell into decay such that, by 1924, it was in near total ruin. In the 1960s, it was converted into a hall for festivities. In the 1990s, the spa was given new life. The old building was demolished and a new one that reclaimed its use for thalassotherapy was built, opening in 1995.
  • Today, La Perla sports a large number of facilities leveraging the ocean’s bounty for water therapy. These include: a hydrotherapy pool, a relaxation pool, a panoramic jacuzzi, a sensory labyrinth, water beds, a marine vapor bath, an ice fountain, dry and wet saunas, and facilities with sea views and direct access to the beach. It sports a total area of facilities of 5500 square meters, or nearly 60,000 square feet.

Primary sources: La Perla; La Perla (balneario), Wikipedia

Adventures of Maite and Kepa, Buber's Basque Story

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 171

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It was a couple of weeks before Kepa and Maite found time to drive back to Bizkaia. They had bounced back and forth with Ainhoa about a time to meet but with classes starting for Maite and Ainhoa’s band gigs, it was hard to find a good time. 

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!

In some ways, Kepa relished the down time. He needed a break from being shot at and pursued by homicidal maniacs. He found a job manning the bar at a pub in Donostia’s Parte Vieja – the old part of town. It was very different from anything he had done before. The constant barrage of tourists was both interesting and tiring. He enjoyed meeting new people and getting a glimpse of far away lands, but he couldn’t stand how rude and just generally annoying most of them tended to be. They were always barking orders at him, not giving him even a moment to fulfill the last order before the next came flying over the bar counter.

He was almost slumped in the driver’s seat as he navigated the car down the narrow roads that took them deep into the interior of Bizkaia. He had done this drive so many times he was nearly on autopilot. However, a light xirimiri covered the road with a thin layer of water, so he was careful to not take the turns too quickly. He had seen enough accidents in his time to know how dangerous wet roads could be.

“So,” said Kepa, breaking the silence that filled the car, “has Garuna figured out anything yet?”

WIth Maite’s day classes and his nighttime job, he and Maite hadn’t had a lot of time to just sit and be, to catch up about anything, really. He was beginning to wonder if he should quit the job, maybe find something that was a bit more aligned with Maite’s schedule. But, they needed the income to help pay for the apartment and everything else that came with living in the big city, and he wasn’t sure what else he could easily do. 

Maite sighed, shaking her head. “Ez.” She paused a moment before continuing. “I’ve actually asked it to go quiet, at least while I’m taking classes.”

“Zergatik?” asked Kepa. “Why?”

“I don’t think it would be fair, to me or to my classmates. Garuna is a massive AI that already knows everything in my textbooks, and much more. It knows about so many things that we haven’t even discovered yet. It could easily help me ace my tests and perform the most amazing research. But, it wouldn’t be me. It would be cheating.”

Kepa nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. It’s tricky. You could easily become one of the most celebrated scientists in our time if you used the AI. That’s got to be tempting.”

Maite blushed. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it. I could do some remarkable things. I could really make a difference in the world. And, I admit, there is a part of me that would enjoy the celebrity and recognition that comes with it. There is a lot of ego wrapped up in doing this kind of work.” Maite paused again. “But, I would know it wasn’t me, that it was Garuna, and that would always put a tarnish on anything I did.”

“Do you think Garuna will stay quiet?”

“It has so far. I told it that it could only ‘talk’ to me when we were discussing the zatiak and De Lancre. Not anything to do with my classes or research. I don’t think it was happy, and I think it is in the back of my head pouting…”

“I do not pout,” a voice rumbled in the back of her head.

Maite flinched. “But, it is always there, always listening, always observing. I just hope I can always tell the difference between my thoughts and its thoughts.” She looked over at Kepa, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m so afraid that it might take over.”

“Take over you?” 

Maite nodded. “What if it takes over my mind, that I become some kind of living vessel for this AI?”

“Can it do that?” asked Kepa, panic rising in his voice.

Maite’s response was almost a whisper. “I don’t know,” she replied, her body trembling.

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: The Tourist Paradise of Deba

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From Leiketio, we left Bizkaia and entered Deba. I’ve driven through Deba a few times now, and am always struck with the seeming dichotomy of the town. Known for its marvelous beach, the west bank of the Deba River is instead dotted with abandoned industrial buildings. Coming from the west and passing by these seemingly derelict buildings, it is hard to see the beauty of the beach. However, the town itself is charming. The beach is huge and the center of town is marked by many small shops and restaurants. Separating the two is a large park filled with trees, a somewhat unique feature for these Basque coastal towns.

Deba. Photo from Wikipedia.
  • Deba sits at the mouth of the river Deba, where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The town takes its name from the river. It is distinguished by the large beach which, today, attracts a large number of visitors.
  • In fact, when, in the middle of the 19th century the town was connected to the rail lines, it became an attraction for people far and wide, particularly from Madrid. It also became a key place for the people of Eibar and Ermua. Many people built second homes on the beach front. Today, tourism accounts for 50% of the jobs in the town, a shift from the earlier focus on fishing and ship building. Deba’s population is barely over 5,000 people, but that number swells in the summer as vacationers flock to the beach.
  • The region around Deba has been inhabited by humans since at least Paleolithic times (some 12,000 years ago). Caves discovered in the 1900s in the surrounding mountains of Ermittia and Arbil attest to these ancient humans. In 1969, the Ekain cave was discovered which contains a Paleolithic temple decorated with paintings of horses, bison, goats, deer, bears and fish in black. This cave, along with several others in the Basque Country, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. In total, there are some 50 prehistoric caves and sites in the region.
  • As a town, Deba’s history goes back to 1179 when one of its neighborhoods, Iziar, was mentioned in the treaty signed on April 15, 1179 between Alfonso VIII of Castile and Sancho the Wise of Nafarroa. However, the founding of the town was in 1343. In 1294, the town had been given permission to begin construction, in the region of Iziar. The towns people found the location less than ideal and asked to be closer to the sea. This request was granted in 1343. The first municipal ordinances were adopted in 1394.
  • Along with its neighbors – Mutriku to the west and Zumaia to the east – Deba is part of the Basque Coast Geopark. The flysch of Zumaia, shared along the Basque coast with Deba, are part of the scenic landforms that characterize the region. The unique landscape is also characterized by limestone and the nearby Lastur quarry is known for its stone, including the Gris Deba, or Deba Grey, marble, named for Deba.

Primary sources: Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa; Cendoya Echániz, Ignacio. DEBA. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/deba/ar-48401/; Deva (Guipúzcoa), Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week

250 Basque Facts of the Week!

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As of Sunday, with the Basque Fact of the Week about the beautiful Bizkaian port of Lekeitio, I’ve now posted 250 different Basque Facts of the Week. These facts try to cover a wide range of topics about the Basque Country, from the people and places that make it such a wonderful part of the world to the language and history that make it unique. I know I’ve learned a lot putting all of these together, but there is still a lot to learn. And these facts only touch the surface – I view them as a small peak into the vast and wonderful world of the Basques. For those wanting to know more, I try to provide references that go much deeper.

250 is starting to be a handful, and it is hard to navigate through so many different posts. I’ve found myself starting to write a new fact only to discover I’ve already written on that topic. I can only imagine how it is for someone who just stumbles on the site and doesn’t really have any idea of how to find anything. For all of us, I’ve created an index of sorts, where the facts are arranged by topic. There, you’ll find sections about art, the diaspora, Euskadi, Euskara, fiestas, folklore, food, history, people, and sports, amongst other topics. I hope this helps people find the topics they are most interested in. You can always find the archive in the top menu of the page, under “Features.”

If you have your own topics you would like me to consider exploring for a Basque Fact of the Week, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to get to it. Sometimes, it takes me a while – I need to proper frame of mind to look into some topics – but I hope to eventually get there.

Ondo ibili!

Adventures of Maite and Kepa, Buber's Basque Story

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 170

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Maite was silent on the way home, as she sat in the passenger seat, flipping deliberately through the journal. Kepa assumed she was mentally scanning the pages for Garuna to analyze. He wondered if they were talking to each other, right now. Did they ever talk about him? What did Garuna think about him? Could the AI even think for itself?

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!

Kepa shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Am I jealous of a computer?” he thought to himself. 

Maite looked up, distracted by Kepa’s head shaking. “Everything alright?” she asked.

“Bai, bai,” he replied. “Just a little tired is all.”

“Maybe we should stop and get something to eat.”

“We aren’t so far from home…” Kepa began.

“Ez. But we might as well try something new while we are out here, no?”

Kepa smiled. He loved how Maite always pushed him into new adventures. “Sounds good,” he said.

They stopped at the next town, a small village that, honestly, Kepa had never heard of before. They found the central plaza and a pub that sat opposite the church. As they sat down, an elderly woman rushed over, pen and paper in hand. Before they had settled into their chairs, she had rattled off the menu of the day and stood there waiting to take their order.

“Marmitako for me,” said Kepa.

“And I’ll take the rabo,” added Maite.

The woman nodded before rushing back into the bar.

“So,” said Kepa once they were alone again, “have you and Garuna made any sense of the journal yet?”

Maite shook her head. “Ez. It needs more data – more pages – and more time to discover a pattern. It is particularly hard because we don’t have any kind of cypher or key that says what any of the symbols mean in Euskara.”

“Can I see it?”

Maite refrained from rolling her eyes as she passed the journal to Kepa. She wasn’t sure what he would be able to see that she and Garuna hadn’t.

Kepa randomly flipped through the pages. “You know,” he began and then paused as he stared at one of the pages.

“Bai?” replied Maite after waiting a few minutes. “What do I know?”

Kepa looked up and shook his head again. “Sorry, I got lost in these symbols. They look familiar.”

“Zer?” exclaimed Maite, loud enough to draw the attention of the other patrons. “You’ve seen them before?”

“So have you,” he said. “They are part of Ainhoa’s tattoos.”

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: My Great-Grandmother’s Home of Lekeitio

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Our next stop in our trek along the Basque Coast was Lekeitio, where we grabbed lunch. Since my first visit to the Basque Country in 1991-92, Lekeitio has always held a special spot. My mom’s grandmother, Ines Eiguren, came from that city. Her parents were the grounds-keepers for Mario Adán de Yarza, the man who brought pine trees to the Basque Country. During my first visit, I met her two, at the time very elderly, sisters who were still alive and had never married, instead taking care of their parents. I’ve visited several times since, particularly as my uncle Martin would often take me.

The basilica and beach in Lekeitio. Photo by Blas Uberuaga.
  • Lekeitio sits at the estuary that forms when the Lea river, which flows down from Mount Oiz, meets the ocean. The town boasts the beautiful Isunza beach, but the Carraspio beach, belonging to Mendexa, sits right across the estuary and is also used by the people of Lekeitio. Perhaps the most distinguished landmark in the city is the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady. Built in the Basque gothic style in the 15th century, it displays flying buttresses and marvelous sculptures all around its exterior.
  • The modern city is split between two centers, one that sits upon Mount Lumentxa and the other along the shore. Lekeitio was granted its fueros, or charter, in 1325 by D.ª María Díaz de Haro I, Lady of Vizcaya, daughter of Lope Díaz de Haro and wife of the Infante Juan de Castilla. In 1334, King Alfonso XI confirmed the charter and ordered the construction of walls around the city. Lekeitio is unique in the Basque Country in that it co-owns the assets of the local church, Santa Maria. It is also the first city in Bizkaia to establish city ordinances to govern the relations between the city’s inhabitants and to regulate fishing and other economic activities.
  • Fishing was so important to the city that the Cofradía de Pescadores de San Pedro – the Fishermen’s Association of San Pedro – had the right to elect their own mayor that served alongside the mayor elected by the rest of the town. Whaling was another important economic activity, as reflected in the city’s coat of arms. Ship building and navigation were also big parts of the Lekeitio economy and at least three sailors from Lekeitio were on Columbus’s voyage to the Americas. For centuries, Lekeitio was the second most important port in Bizkaia, until it was overtaken by nearby Ondarroa.
  • In fact, the rivalry between Ondarroa and Lekeitio goes back so far that its origins are lost in time. The lords of both towns participated in the War of the Bands, with rival families in each city. When the two cities were founded, there was ambiguity between their borders and that led to many disputes, such as whether Lekeitio could take wood from the nearby forest without taxation. The two towns also fought over which had the right for whaling in the nearby seas. The rivalry lasted for centuries and came to a head in 1926 when, after Ondarroa won a rowing competition, fights broke out between the two towns.
  • By the 20th century, however, fishing declined as local stock was overfished. Tourism has grown in its place, with the population of Lekeitio swelling during the summer.
  • Lekeitio’s history goes much further back. In the 1920s, several archeological sites were discovered that contained a child’s skull from post-Neolithic times (the Neolithic period was from 12,000 to 6,500 years ago) and flints. Axes and arrows were also found.
  • One of Lekeitio’s most notable sons was the scholar and priest Resurrección de Jesús María de las Nieves Azkue.
  • Lekeitio also stands out for the uniqueness of one of its fiestas. Those of San Antolín, the patron of the city, which are celebrated from September 1-8, include the Geese. Part of the local festivities for more than three centuries, this involves a goose suspended over the port by a rope. People have to hold on to the now-dead goose, greased in fat, as the rope is pulled and loosened so that the person is continuously dipped into the water, until either the person lets go or the goose’s neck breaks. While the origin of the strange event is lost, it possibly comes from ancient times.

Primary sources: Lequeitio, Wikipedia; Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa. Lekeitio. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/lekeitio/ar-79286/