Tag Archives: gerrikaitz

Basque Fact of the Week: The Bombing of Munitibar

I’ve written about how towns in the Basque Country besides Gernika were bombed during the Spanish Civil War. After lunch at the txoko, we went to the plaza in Munitibar to meet my dad’s sister Begoña, her husband Javier, and my dad’s sister-in-law Rosario. While we were there, Beñat Zabalbeaskoa Zabala, one of the town […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Munitibar-Arbatzegi-Gerrikaitz

My dad, Pedro Uberuaga Zabala, was from Munitibar, Bizkaia. Or better said, Gerrikaitz. At least, he always referred to his home as Gerrikaitz, not Munitibar. This confused me when I went to visit for the first time because the signs for the town say Munitibar. It turns out that this little town, home to less […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Other Basque Cities Were Bombed During the Spanish Civil War

A couple of weeks ago, on the 84th anniversary of the bombing of Gernika, I posted about Picasso’s Guernica, and how it was inspired by those horrific events. Eneko Sagarbide and Jabier Aldekozea pointed out that Gernika was not the only, nor even the first, Basque city bombed during the Spanish Civil War. In fact, […]

Basque Fact of the Week: The Collegiate of Zenarruza

Just outside of Munitibar, not far from the baserri that my dad grew up in (only 3/4 of a mile as the crow, or crowned eagle, flies), lies the Monastery of Zenarruza, also known as the Collegiate of Zenarruza or Collegiate of Ziortza. It’s a beautiful spot on the edge of Lea-Artibai, a great place […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Gernika Was Not the Only, nor Even the First, Basque Town Bombed During the Spanish Civil War

One of the most infamous episodes in the Spanish Civil War is the bombing of Gernika, in which the German Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion attacked the Basque town on Monday, April 26, 1937, starting around 4:30pm in the afternoon. Monday was a market day, normally bringing thousands of people to the small town in the heart […]

Gernika, 1937: The Market Day Massacre

April 26, 1937. Market day in the Basque village of Gernika. Though the Spanish Civil War raged around them, villagers still gathered at the market. However, that day would come to live in infamy as the Condor Legion of Germany, at the behest of the Franco and his forces, bombed the symbolic Basque town. Not […]

72nd Anniversary of the Bombing of Gernika

Sunday, April 26, marks the 72nd anniversary of the bombing of Gernika.  When I posted on a previous anniversary, I wrote that the Wikipedia article on the bombing briefly mentions that, in addition to Gernika and Durango, Gerrikaitz was also bombed.  I was intrigued by this as my dad is from that town and I […]