The Basque Country or Euskadi (in Basque: Euskal Herria or Euskadi)
is a Spanish autonomous community, considered a historical
nationality,1 located at the eastern end of the coast of the
Cantabrian Sea, bordering France. It is made up of the provinces or
historical territories of Álava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya. The most
populated city is Bilbao, followed by Vitoria and San Sebastián. Its
population is 2.16 million people; About half live in the
metropolitan area of Bilbao. It borders to the east with Navarra and
the French department of Pyrenees-Atlantiques (region of New
Aquitaine), to the south with La Rioja and to the west with the
province of Burgos (Castilla y León). and Cantabria.
The
origin of the Basques is unknown; Although there are multiple
hypotheses in this regard, none has been definitively proven. Its
own language, Basque, is the oldest language in Europe still spoken
today and the only one isolated from the continent, which is why the
Basque Country has aroused the interest of linguists,
anthropologists and historians from all over the world. In 2016 ,
33.9% of the population aged 16 or over were Basque speakers, 19.1%
were passive Basque speakers and 47% were monolingual Spanish
speakers.
The Statute of Autonomy recognizes two official
languages, Basque and Spanish. Its basic institutions are the Basque
Parliament and the Basque Government, based in the city of Vitoria.
The Basque Country also has, for historical reasons, like Navarra, a
particular tax regime protected by the Spanish Constitution, which
attributes to the provincial councils the ability to collect taxes.
The industry represents 24% of GDP, eight points above the
national average. In 2020, the average salary was €2,278 gross per
month, the second highest in all of Spain. 61.7% of the population
has higher education, the highest percentage in Spain. A 2014 OECD
report places the country Basque as the Spanish region with the
highest quality of life. The Basque Country has followed a model of
industrial hyperspecialization inspired by the mittelstand. It has
a human development index of 0.922 in 2018 compared to the national
average of 0.893, and similar to countries like Finland.
Álava , whose capital is Vitoria-Gasteiz
Guipúzcoa , whose
capital is San Sebastián
Vizcaya , whose capital is Bilbao
San Sebastián Donostia: Capital of the province of Guipúzcoa, it
has about 175,000 inhabitants. Places of interest: Kursaal, La
Concha beach, old town...
Vitoria Gasteiz: Capital of the
province of Alava and in turn of the Basque Country, it has about
200,000 inhabitants. You can visit the old part, Plaza de los
Fueros, Palace of Ajuria Enea,...
Bilbao: Capital of the
province of Vizcaya and the largest city in the Basque Country, it
has about 350,000 inhabitants, you can visit the famous Guggenheim.
1 Vitoria-Gasteiz - the capital of the autonomous community
2
Bilbao (Basque: Bilbo ) – largest city in the region
3 Balmaseda :
small town nestled in the mountains, an excellent base for exploring
nature
4 Getaria : first class fresh seafood in this fishing port
5 Guernica ( Gernika ) - a thriving commercial city with great
historical and cultural significance for the Basques. In 1937 it was
devastated by the German air force under the command of the fascists.
The bombing was an experiment for World War II.
6 San Sebastián (
Donostia ): a provincial capital that curves around a spectacular
moon-shaped beach surrounded by cliffs.
7 Fuenterrabía ( Hondarribia
) – fishing village with a walled old town
1 Bermeo - the most important fishing port in the Basque Country
2
Portugalete - suburb of Bilbao with a beautiful old town and port
3
Treviño Enclave - abundance of prehistoric remains
4 Zumaya ( Zumaia
) and Zarauz ( Zarautz ) - wonderful sandy beaches, not far from San
Sebastian
By boat
The Southampton Ferry arrives at the town of Santurce, in
Bizkaia. From there there is a Renfe suburban train line that brings us
closer to Bilbao. A metro line to Santurce will be inaugurated shortly.
By plane
There are two main airports: Loiu in Bizkaia and Foronda
in Álava, and a third in Guipuzcoa: Fuenterrabía airport. In both there
is a bus service to the nearest capital.
By car
From the
central/southern part of Spain the best way will be to get to Madrid
and, from there, use the A1 to access Vitoria-Gasteiz. From Vitoria, the
A68 will take us to Bilbao and the A1 to San Sebastián. From the
West-South on the 620 to Burgos and from there the A1 to Vitoria. From
the West-North on the 120 to Burgos, or on the 634-A8 (along the coast)
to Bilbao. From the East, the A68 from Zaragoza takes us to Vitoria.
By train
In Bilbao there are two main stations, located next to
each other, right in the center (Circular Square). In them we can take
the metro or one of the numerous urban bus lines that connect with
almost all of Bizkaia. The Abando station (RENFE) receives trains from
almost the entire peninsula. La Concordia station (FEVE) receives trains
from the Bilbao-La Robla line.
By bus
In Bilbao, the central
bus station (Termibus), located next to the San Mamés stadium, has a
metro stop and a commuter train stop, as well as numerous urban buses.
By train
There is an extensive network of buses and trains.
By car
The roads are well signposted, but watch out for the
occasional monolingual signs in Basque.
Txakoli : white wine from the regions of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, now
also made in a part of Araba / Alava.
Rioja wines : made in La Rioja,
south of Araba / Alava and southwest of Nafarroa / Navarra.
Cider
(Sagardoa in Basque): it is not like British or Nordic cider, it is flat
and is more like wine. It is produced mainly in Gipuzkoa around Donostia
/ San Sebastián but also in some parts of Nafarroa / Navarra and
Bizkaia. In winter between January and March the cider houses are open
as restaurants where you can dine and drink all the cider you want.
Kalimotxo : low quality wine with coke. Typical drink for teenagers and
for parties.
Patxaran: sloe liqueur. Typical after dinner. It tastes
a bit like "Night Nurse" cough medicine.
Beer : if you want a draft
beer (usually cheaper) you can ask for a caña or half a caña called a
zurito . Normally the glass is not filled to the brim and depending on
the place, the bartender or your face it can be a big or small measure.
The Hotel Loiu is at Lastetxe kalea, 24 Loiu, 48180 BIZKAIA.
The Basques are divided between those who want total independence
from Spain, those who ask for more autonomy, and those who think that
the current union with Spain is fine. Add to this the usual dimension of
right and left, and you will find that Basque politics is complex, very
complex. As a visitor, you are advised to avoid discussing politics with
the locals to avoid the possibility of offense.
This diversity of
views can be seen, that with a population of only 2 million people,
there are now 7 different political parties in the Basque Parliament.
The emergency number is 112 in all of Europe.
In the Basque Country, two languages have been spoken for centuries,
Spanish and Basque or Basque, both of which originated in the region,
since the first arose in a wide area that also included territories in
the west of present-day Álava and Vizcaya. . Basque, unlike the rest of
modern Spanish languages, does not come from Latin nor does it belong to
the Indo-European family.
Spanish is the majority language in the
homes of the Basque Country: in 2001, it was the language spoken at home
by 83.0% of the population, while Basque was the language spoken by
11.8% and 5.2% used both languages equally at home. These percentages
vary from one province to another, with Guipúzcoa being where Basque is
spoken the most and Álava where the least.
The Gascon populations
settled in Guipúzcoa brought with them their language, Gascon Occitan
(already disappeared from the Basque Country, although some communities
were preserved until the 20th century).
The Spanish spoken in the
region presents certain differences with standard Spanish, which is why
it is considered a dialect: the Basque-Navarrese dialect.
Apart from the universities, in the Basque Country there are cultural institutions that research the country's own reality. The most important institution is the Society of Basque Studies, although it is an institution that transcends the limits of the Community. Also the Royal Basque Society of Friends of the Country and the Aranzadi Science Society are both dedicated to both natural and social scientific research on Basque issues. The Etxepare Basque Institute is in charge of promoting the Basque language and culture abroad.
In the Basque Country there are two lines of literary composition: in
Basque and in Spanish. Among the authors in Basque, Resurrección María
de Azkue, Bernardo Atxaga, Gabriel Aresti, Evaristo Bustinza, Manuel de
Lekuona and Gotzon Garate, among others, stand out. While in Spanish
authors such as Valentín de Foronda, Félix María de Samaniego, Ramiro de
Maeztu, Manuel de Larramendi, Antonio Trueba, Pío Baroja, Blas de Otero,
Ramiro Pinilla, Miguel de Unamuno and José María Mendiola Insausti stood
out.
In the field of essays, the philosopher and intellectual
Fernando Savater, author of several books on ethics and philosophy,
stands out.
Among the youngest authors in Basque, Kirmen Uribe,
Harkaitz Cano, Unai Elorriaga, Karmele Jaio and Katixa Agirre stand out.
It also has an important list of authors in Spanish, among whom it is
worth mentioning Álvaro Bermejo, Espido Freire or Toti Martínez de
Lezea. Fernando Aramburu is the most read Basque writer of all time.
There is a specifically Basque custom for popular poetic composition that calls those who practice it versolari; But in the literary field, important poets such as Gabriel Aresti, Lauaxeta, Blas de Otero and, more recently, authors such as Kirmen Uribe or Joseba Sarrionandia have stood out.
Among the Basque painters, we must highlight Néstor Basterrechea,
Agustín Ibarrola, Ignacio Zuloaga and Valentín de Zubiaurre. Eduardo
Chillida and Jorge Oteiza have also stood out in sculpture.
In
architecture, artists such as Ricardo Bastida, Manuel María Smith,
Ignacio de Ibarreche, Juan de Iturburu, Justo Antonio de Olaguíbel,
Alberto de Palacio and Secundino Zuazo stood out. Among the popular
architecture, it is worth highlighting the typical construction of the
farmhouse.
Among the classical composers we have to mention Juan Chrysostom de
Arriaga, nicknamed the Spanish Mozart, Jose Maria Usandizaga, Jose Maria
Iparraguirre, Sebastian Iradier, Francisco Escudero, Carmelo Bernaola,
Pablo Sorozabal, Luis de Pablo, Gabriel Erkoreka and Jesus Guridi.
More recently they have featured singers such as Luis Mariano,
Benito Lertxundi, Mikel Laboa, Kepa Junkera, Fermin Muguruza, Ruper
Ordorika, Amaia Montero, Mikel Erentxun, Maialen Lujambio and Alex Ubago
and groups such as Pantxoa eta Peio, Mocedades, Oskorri, Ken Zazpi,
Itoiz , The Ear of Van Gogh, Fito and Fitipaldis, Kortatu, S.A., Cult
cultivar, Chaotic, Trigger, Scurvy and In Tol Vine.
In this
context the San Sebastian Jazz Festival is quite well known, as is the
Vitoria Jazz Festival. It also features the San Sebastian Music
Fortnight and Bilbao’s Kobetasonic festival, and from that city too, the
live BBK.
In the field of lyricism the Orpheus Donostiarra and
the soprano Ainhoa Arteta have gained much fame. Also important is the
reputation of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra and that of Euskadi.
Sobresale highlights the importance of the San Sebastian Film Festival, which every year brings together international stars, as well as film directors of certain renown in the Spanish context, such as Antonio Mercero, Alex de la Iglesia, Julio Médem, Imanol Uribe, Mikel Rueda , Elias Querejeta, Borja Cobeaga or Juanma Bajo Ulloa, in addition to actors such as Ramon Barea, Marivi Bilbao, Imanol Arias, Anabel Alonso, Alex Angulo, Itziar Ituño and others. In addition, it is worth mentioning the FesTVal de Vitoria, the first festival dedicated exclusively to television and radio in all its formats: programs, contests, magazines, series ... that is held in the city every September since 2009 all that, with participation of all the generalist networks (EITB, TVE, Antena 3, Cuatro, Telecinco, La Sexta and Canal+) and with the different artists of interest.
Apart from some background in the daily press, the Basque comic developed in the heat of the comic book boom of the end of the last century, thanks to the publishing house Ikusager (1979) and magazines like Ipurbeltz (1977), Euskadi Sioux (1979) and above all Habeko Mik.90 Later, he has featured magazines such as TMEO (1987), La Comictiva (1994) and the Astiberri publishing house (2001).
They highlight institutions such as the Victoria Eugenia Theater in San Sebastian, the Main Theater in Vitoria or the Arriaga Theater in Bilbao within the historic theatres, but also modern installations such as the Kursaal in San Sebastian and the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao.
The Basque Country is home to the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, one of Spain’s most important cultural institutions, as well as the Artium museum in Vitoria, the Chillida-Leku Museum in Hernani (Guipúzcoa) in honor of the famous sculptor. More traditional museums are the Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts, with one of the most important pinacothecas in Spain, the Basque Museum, the Maritime Ría Museum in Bilbao or the Vizcaya Archaeological Museum, all also in Bilbao.
The most famous Basque designers are Cristóbal Balenciaga and Paco Rabanne. But in recent times young designers have appeared who have gained fame abroad such as Miriam Ocáriz, Ion Fiz, Fernando Lemoniez, Miguel Palacio or Devota & Lomba.
The gastronomy of the Basque Country enjoys great prestige both
nationally and internationally. According to the renowned British
publisher William Reed, which awards the San Pellegrino prize, in its
2007 classification, two of the 10 best restaurants in the world are
located in this region (Mugaritz and Arzak) in addition to Martín
Berasategui, which makes it in the most prestigious region in the world
at a culinary level.
In the 1970s, various chefs from the Basque
Country, including Juan Mari Arzak and Pedro Subijana, led a gastronomic
revolution, transferring the principles of the so-called French nouvelle
cuisine to Spain. The first Spanish restaurant to receive 3 stars in the
Michelin Guide was in fact Zalacaín, a Basque-influenced restaurant
although located in Madrid. Currently, the Basque Country, together with
Catalonia, is the Spanish region with the highest density of stars in
the Michelin Guide, being the destination of a large number of
gastronomic travelers, both national and foreign. Four restaurants have
3 stars, the highest possible award: Juan Mari Arzak (from the Arzak
restaurant), Martín Berasategui (from the Berasategui restaurant), Pedro
Subijana (cook at Akelarre) and Eneko Atxa (from the Azurmendi
restaurant). In the new generation of chefs, Andoni Luis Aduriz, from
the Mugaritz restaurant, stands out especially.
Another of the
most prominent chefs, although on a different gastronomic level, is
Karlos Arguiñano, who has made classic culinary programs on Spanish
Television and Telecinco and who enjoys enormous popularity.
A
typical form of meeting is the gastronomic societies or txokos, private
Basque societies that offer their members and guests the opportunity to
enjoy high quality dishes. Its creation dates back to the beginning of
the 19th century as a copy of the British meeting centers, where members
met, cooked, ate, sang bilbainadas or other songs typical of the land
and played cards (mus) and then went out to party. through the
respective old areas of the city to drink and eat more, pintxos. These
societies were, and in some cases continue to be, exclusively male,
where the role of women is prohibited in some cases (she cannot go
beyond being a guest) or cannot enter, but in no case become a member.
In the majority this circumstance has disappeared.
Pintxos are a
very popular and appreciated specialty; also any of the cod preparations
or kokotxas, which are some of the most popular Basque cuisine
specialties. The quintessential Basque regional dishes are probably
porrusalda, Bilbao-style ratatouille, marmitako and, above all, cod pil
pil, a complicated preparation of fish stew, accompanied by a
gelatinized emulsion of oil and garlic. The great varieties of cod
recipes that exist in the Basque Country are due to the first Carlist
War, where Bilbao was under siege for weeks with no other food than cod
and possible companions. We can also highlight other Basque delicacies
such as talo, Idiazábal cheese, pocha beans, Tolosa steak, Bilbao-style
elvers, scorpionfish pie or piperrada.
As desserts, we must
highlight goxua, a very popular sweet, but also Basque cake, curd, fried
milk and cream toast.
The most popular drinks in the country are
txakoli, cider, with sagardotegis, and Rioja Alavesa wine.
The Basques have historically stood out for being practitioners of
Catholicism. Its evangelization begins in the Lower Roman Empire. In the
first years of the 4th century, Diocletian's persecution already caused
martyrs in the Basque Calagurris, Celedonio and Emeterio. The spread of
Christianity is such that in the second half of the 4th century,
Prudentius can describe the paganism of the Basques as "past." In the
4th-5th centuries we have evidence of the existence of the headquarters
of Calahorra. The Pamplona headquarters will soon appear, whose
beginnings are unknown. The Visigoth councils will be attended by the
bishops of Calahorra and Pamplona, those of Oca who extended their
jurisdiction across native lands. These three dioceses will divide the
territory of the Basque Country for centuries. There is no evidence that
paganism existed in the country in Germanic times. This does not mean
that in the 6th to 8th centuries there were no remains of paganism and
derived superstitions, as they persisted for centuries after their
evangelization throughout Spain, France and Italy. The routes of
penetration of Christianity into the Basque Country were the Ebro
Valley, from where through Tarraco it was connected with Christian
communities in the Mediterranean, and from Aquitania via the XXXIV route
that connected with Burdigala.
During the Middle Ages, many
churches were founded that became centers of villages and cities for
meetings and assembly. We must not forget either that the Basque Country
was a passage of the Camino de Santiago in secondary sections and that
in this sense there are important remains of its cultural influence,
such as the sanctuary of Our Lady of Estíbaliz and the collegiate church
of Zenarruza.
The greatest Basque contribution to Catholicism
occurred with the founding of the Company of Jesus by the Guipuzcoan
Ignatius of Loyola. In 1540 the University of Oñate was founded by Paul
III, which was closed in 1901. The Basque Country was the center of
promotion for many clerics, some of them standing out in missionary work
such as Juan de Zumárraga, first bishop of Mexico, or Martín de la
Ascension and in the curia like Cardinal Gardoqui.
In the 19th
century, during the crisis of traditional society, Basque society
remained attached to religion, especially in rural areas. During this
stage, Catholicism was the backbone of the Carlist movement. In this
century, Valentín de Berriochoa, canonized by the Church, and Blessed
Rafaela Ybarra, founder of the Congregation of the Holy Guardian Angels,
stand out. The Concordat of 1851 decided to reunite the then called
Basque Provinces into a single episcopal see. In this way, the diocese
of Vitoria was established by Pius IX through the bull In Celsisima of
September 8, 1861. In 1886 the Jesuits inaugurated the University of
Deusto in Bilbao, the only Catholic university currently existing in the
community.
During the 20th century, Basque nationalism considered
Catholicism as the cornerstone of the identity of the Basque people.
According to the bull Quo Commodius of November 2, 1949, by Pius
Pamplona respectively. In this context, Basque popular religious culture
is very strongly evident in the great following of Marian devotions. In
Vizcaya the Virgin of Begoña stands out; in Guipúzcoa the sanctuary of
Aránzazu and in Álava the White Virgin. Today, Basque society presents
the same religious diversity as the entire European society,
experiencing a strong process of secularization.
According to
official data from the Basque Government, in 2020, 71.7% of the
inhabitants are Christians, with Catholicism being the predominant
denomination, with 69.1%. Evangelicals represent 1.4% of the population,
Orthodox 0.9%, Jehovah's Witnesses 0.2% and Mormons 0.1%. More than
89,000 people follow Islam, representing 4.1% of the population. Among
the other religions present are Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. 23.9% of
the inhabitants do not profess any religion.
Despite the intense Christianization suffered in the last millennium and the persecutions of the Inquisition, the Basque people have preserved numerous legends that speak of a mythology that is one of the richest in Europe. This Basque mythological culture has been collected throughout the 20th century by scholars such as José Miguel de Barandiarán and Julio Caro Baroja, and has survived until the 21st century at the hands of writers and artists who were born and raised with the magic of mythology between those of which we must highlight Néstor Basterretxea with the Basque Cosmogónica.
Basque ethnography was essentially studied by José Miguel de
Barandiarán, Telesforo Aranzadi, Koldo Mitxelena and Julio Caro Baroja.
Currently, among the most important popular festivals, it is worth
highlighting the celebration of the Semana Grande in Bilbao, the La
Blanca Festival in Vitoria with its Celedón, as well as the festival of
the Tamborrada of San Sebastián, the Alarde of Irún and that of
Fuenterrabía.
In addition, San Sebastián was European Capital of
Culture in 2016.
The Basques are known for having contributed important figures to
sports, both international and local and traditional.
The most
popular sport is soccer, in which the following teams stand out:
Athletic Club, Real Sociedad de Fútbol, Deportivo Alavés and Sociedad
Deportiva Eibar. Among the most important sports facilities are the San
Mamés stadium in Bilbao, known as "the Cathedral", as well as the Anoeta
Municipal Stadium in San Sebastián, the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria
and the Ipurúa stadium in Éibar.
The Fernando Buesa Arena
pavilion is another important sports facility because it hosts the Saski
Baskonia de Vitoria basketball games, which attracts a significant fan
base and in recent years has established itself as one of the main teams
in the ACB League and Europe. Bilbao Basket of Bilbao and Gipuzkoa
Basket Club of San Sebastián have been founded more recently but both
have also played in the ACB.
Cycling has a great tradition among
the Basques, contributing important cyclists to the professional peloton
and with its own important competitions such as the Vuelta al País Vasco
or the Euskal Bizikleta, in addition to a UCI Pro Tour event, the San
Sebastián Classic.
In boxing, José Manuel Urtain was one of the
most important Basque athletes in that discipline.
The
participation of numerous Basque athletes in the Olympic Games has been
important, such as the athlete Martín Fiz or the gymnasts Almudena Cid,
Lorena Guréndez, Estíbaliz Martínez and Tania Lamarca
Mountaineering has always been important in the Basque tradition.
Climbers who stand out greatly in this sporting tradition are Edurne
Pasaban, Juanito Oiarzabal or Alberto Iñurrategi.
Trawler rowing
could be considered a traditional sport due to its whaling origins.
There are numerous rowing competitions that take place in both Vizcaya
and Guipúzcoa, among which the La Concha Flag, known as the rowing
Olympics, stands out.
In Basque rural sports, Basque pelota must
be highlighted, a game with different modalities that has achieved
following and importance in several regions of Spain and Latin American
countries, with the Frontón Astelena in Éibar being one of its main
venues, known as the Cathedral of the ball at hand.
There are
also other traditional sports such as stone dragging, with different
modalities and practiced even beyond the Community of Euskadi. Likewise,
we must highlight the log cutters, called aizkolaris, or the act of
lifting heavy stones by strong men, called harrijasotzailes. It is easy
to see exhibitions or competitions of these sports at festivals in the
towns of the Basque Community.
There is evidence of settlement in the Paleolithic in several places
in the current Basque Country, as attested by the sites in Vizcaya of
the Santimamiñe cave (Cortézubi) and in Guipúzcoa of the Altxerri (Aya)
and Ekain (Deva) caves, whose paintings cave paintings have earned them
the declaration as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The presence
of several forts in the Basque Country from the Metal Age, such as those
of Arrola, Malmasín or Bolumburu, suggests an occupation of the
territory by Indo-European Celts. Current archeology thinks:
Culturally and architecturally, the cultural situation is parallel to
that known in any of the peripheral geographical regions of the Basque
Country, with the same differences and internal peculiarities that can
be found in them.
In Claudius Ptolemy's distribution of pre-Roman tribes, Vizcaya was occupied by Charistians and Autrigones, Álava by Autrigones and Berones, and Guipúzcoa by Várdulos and Vascones. In the works of Strabo, Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder, the Várdulos were the tribe that separated the Basques from the Cantabrians. The affiliation of vardulos, caristios and autrigones is unknown. Historians discuss their Cantabrian, Vascon, Indo-European, Celtic, Iberian or Celtiberian origins without there being conclusive evidence in favor of any of these hypotheses, the most plausible of which may seem, according to Wenceslao Heredia, that of a Cantabrian origin.
The Autrigones in Vizcaya would occupy the current territory of Las
Encartaciones. Strabo mentions them in his book Geographika, Book III,
chap. 3s. 7, with the name allotrygones, perhaps adapting his name to a
Greek word more familiar to him meaning strangers. Other Roman
historians such as Pomponio Mela and Pliny the Elder place them in the
interior, in the northern area of the current Burgos (Briviesca), Pliny
the Elder around the year 77 cited "among the ten cities of the
Autrigones Tritium Autrigonum (Tricio) and Virovesca (Briviesca) as
capital of the Autrigones.
Ptolemy places them bordering the
Cantabrians to the west and the Turmogos to the south, and the
Charistians and Berones to the east, and, according to this
distribution, they would extend between the Asón river and the Nervión
river. Its main city was Virovesca (Briviesca), one of the mints of the
Iberian horseman's coins. Other important cities were Tricio, in La
Rioja, Deóbriga (Miranda de Ebro) and on the coast Flaviobriga (Castro
Urdiales) – although Pliny assigns this city to the Várdulos – the last
colony founded by the Romans in Hispania. Other settlements were Osma de
Valdegovia, Poza de la Sal and it is possible that at the mouth of the
Nerua River (Nervión) they had a port since Roman coins were found in
the Portugalete bar and in Bilbao. Floro and Orosio say that they were
frequently attacked by the Cantabrians, so they possibly collaborated
with Augustus in the Cantabrian wars and as a reward obtained control of
new territories on the Cantabrian coast, reaching almost as far as the
Deva river.
Ethnicity of Celtic origin, the names of its cities
such as Uxama Barca or those with the ending -briga indicate an
unequivocally Celtic origin. Also the Indo-European place names of the
rivers such as the Nervión and the Cadagua, the anthroponyms, the
archaeological remains, utensils, weapons, containers, the remains of
their forts, homes, fortifications, burial systems, and the funerary
remains themselves, place them culturally as Celtic peoples.
They occupied the rest of Vizcaya, according to Ptolemy. They are not
mentioned by Strabo, nor by Pomponius Mela, but by Pliny the Elder, who
calls them Carietes and places them in the interior, in the southern
area of the current Basque Country.
Ptolemy places them between
the Deva River, in the province of Guipúzcoa and what is currently
Bilbao, reaching the Ebro in the south. Their territory bordered on
those of the Várdulos and that of the Autrigones. Its cities were
Tullica (perhaps Tuyo on the banks of the Zadorra), Suessatio (which
could be the current Zuazo) and Veleia (which could be the current
Iruña-Veleia), the last two were on the Roman road from Bordeaux to
Astorga.
In the Early Middle Ages they no longer appear; In its
place are the centers of Álava and Vizcaya. Some authors23 deduce from
certain data in the classical texts that there was an affinity or
solidarity, perhaps a political link, between Charistios, Autrigones and
Várdulos themselves, who would receive a common name, that of Várdulos,
which explains many historical facts. later in this region. For example,
why, when Caristios and Várdulos were absorbed or displaced by the
Vascones in the Early Middle Ages to the Autrigón territory, the
Caristios lost their name and remained with the common name of Várdulos.
The Várdulos are mentioned by Strabo, who calls them Bardyétai and
places them on the coast, between the Cantabrians and the Vascones, by
Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder who also place them on the coast
between the Cantabrians and the Vascones, Pliny saying that Portus
Ammanus (the Roman Flaviobriga, the current Castro Urdiales, from where
the current name would come, derived from Castrum Vardulies) was one of
its cities, and by Ptolemy who places them in current Guipúzcoa.
According to Ptolemy, they bordered the Caristians or Cantabrians to the
west, the Vascones to the east and the Berones to the south; On the
coast they reached the promontory of the Pyrenees, with the exception of
Oiasso (Irún) which was the Basques' exit to the sea, while in the
interior their borders were more confusing. Ptolemy tells us about
several cities that have not yet been located: Menosca, on the coast;
Gébala, Trutium Tubicorum, Thabuca, Alba and Tullonium, inside.
As in the case of the Charistians, their affiliation is also disputed.
As a group they could have been developing a nomadic culture since
the 4th century BC. C. until its final location. The Berones were of
Celtic or Celtiberian origin and were settled from the 2nd century BC.
C. in the area of current Rioja. Classical quotes refer to its presence
in the 1st century BC. C. already as a stable community (Strabo) and
faced Sertorius (Tito Livio) who defeated them. In Álava there are
remains related to the Berones such as the Santa Leocadia cave in
Marquínez (Álava), on whose walls a representation of Epona appears
engraved, this artificial cave being considered a place of worship for
this Celtic deity.
Its geographical limits of expansion coincide
with the Sierra de Cantabria to the north (and greater or lesser
penetration in that area according to sources), along with the Vascones
to the east near the current Calahorra, with the Tirón River to the west
and the Sierra de La Demanda and others in the area, and to the south
with the north of the current Province of Soria.
The main
settlements were Vareia (de facto capital located in the surroundings of
Logroño), Libia (current Herramélluri or Leiva), Tritium (current
Tricio) and Bilibium (later Bilibio) next to the Conchas de Haro where
the provinces of Burgos are separated. , Álava and La Rioja.
It
is possible that cities like Gracurris and Calagurris, after being
defeated by the Romans, were handed over to the Basques for their
collaboration, and that the same was done with the rest of their
territory.
The Vascones (or Vascones), who occupied what is now Navarra, northwest Aragon and northeast La Rioja, and, in the current Basque Country, the eastern part of Guipúzcoa, with Oiasso (Irún), one of their cities.
From the fall of the Western Roman Empire until around the year 1000,
there is very little historical news about the Basque Country. It
probably suffered the devastations of the Heruli, since the chronicler
Hydatius reports that 400 Heruli in seven ships attacked the Cantabrian
coast and Vardulia in the year 456.
Ad redeuntes own headquarters,
Cantabriarum et Vardaliarum loca maritima crudelissime deproedatio sunt.
Fontes Hispaniae Antiquae, IX, p. 74.
The latest archaeological
research seems to indicate a Franco-Aquitaine expansion starting in the
6th century, which contradicts historiographical proposals that are
based on a continuity of culture from protohistory to the beginning of
the Middle Ages:
In short, it is observed that between late antiquity
and the preceding world there is a rupture in settlement patterns. A
rupture that is nothing more than a reflection of the profound changes
that the social structure experienced, derived from the demographic
recession that affected all of Europe, but also from the political
events related to the Frankish expansion that, starting in the 6th
century, must have affected the Basque Country, as can be seen from the
characteristics of the archaeological record.
This is known as
the theory of late vasconization of the Basque autonomous community,
after a displacement and/or assimilation of the previous Várdula and
Charistia tribes into the territory of the Autrigones.
Neither
the invasions of the Visigoths nor those of the Muslims seem to have
reached Vizcaya or Guipúzcoa, although their coasts were probably
devastated by the Vikings, speculating with the possibility of a Viking
settlement in the vicinity of Mundaca, which could be the origin of the
legend of Jaun Zuria.
After the Muslim invasion, it is believed
that Vizcaya and Álava fell under the orbit of the kingdom of Asturias,
with some clashes whose reflection would be the also mythical battle of
Padura. In the chronicle of Alfonso III of Asturias, written in the 9th
century, and referring to the reign of Alfonso I, is where reference is
made to Álava and Vizcaya for the first time: «Álava, Vizcaya, Alaon and
Orduña had always been possessed by their inhabitants", saying at the
same time that there was no need to repopulate them.
Medieval Vizcaya was constituted in the Señorío de Vizcaya and
divided into three parts with their own government and jurisdiction:
The nuclear Vizcaya or flat land, understanding plain in the sense of
without walls, that is, the fields and hamlets in the core of Vizcaya,
with the Vizcaíno and infanzón jurisdiction, organized in merindades and
anteiglesias and that held their meetings in Guernica.
The
Encartaciones, with their own jurisdiction (encartaciones jurisdiction)
and government and who held their Meetings in Avellaneda.
The
Merindad of Durango, with the jurisdiction of Durango, who celebrated
meetings in the Campa Foral de Guerediaga in front of the hermitage of
San Salvador and San Clemente de Abadiano.
As the towns and the
city were provided with town charters and private charters during the
12th and 13th centuries, they stopped depending on the charters of
Vizcaya, Encartaciones or Durango, and began to hold their meetings
separately. The towns and the year of granting charters were: Balmaseda
(1199), Orduña (1228), Bermeo (1236), Lanestosa (1287), Plencia (1299),
Bilbao (1301), Ochandiano (1304), Portugalete (1322) , Lequeitio (1325),
Ondárroa (1327), Marquina (1355), Guernica (1366), Durango (1372) and
Ermua (1372).
The Villas and the City, the Encartaciones and the
merindad of Durango only attended the General Meetings of Guernica,
sending representatives when common issues that affected them were going
to be discussed.
The lordship or Brotherhood of Arriaga (approximately 40% of current
Álava) was governed by its own boards and rules and elected its lord,
until 1332 when it decided to fully integrate into Castile and adopt its
laws.
In the Ayala lordship the Fuero de Ayala (1373) was applied. In
1487 the Ayaleses decided to renounce their jurisdiction and adopt
Castilian legislation.
In Llodio the jurisdiction of Vizcaya was
applicable.
The charters of the towns.
The Ordinance Notebooks of
the Brotherhood of Álava from 1463.
Since its incorporation into the Crown of Castile in the year 1200,
it abides by the royal legislation of Castile.
Starting in 1463,
after several failed attempts, the Ordinance Notebooks of the
Brotherhood of Guipúzcoa were adopted.
The late medieval crisis affected the Basque Country, causing a
decrease in agricultural production, famines, etc. Added to this crisis
was the Black Death epidemic of 1348. Many peasants died, and others
took refuge in the towns, which affected the income of the feudal lords.
The attempts to maintain their prestige and the search for income
led the nobles to power struggles in which they were divided into two
sides, the Oñacinos and the Gamboínos. The names come from the dominant
lineages in Guipúzcoa, who were the lords of the house of Oñaz and that
of Gamboa. In Vizcaya the leaders of each side were those of
Urquizu-Abendaño and those of Mújica-Butrón and in Álava those of Ayala
and those of Calleja. The phenomenon was not exclusive to the Basque
Country, since there were similar confrontations between the nobles of
Castile, between the Castros and the Laras and, in Navarra, between the
Beamonteses and Agramonteses.
Thus began the flag wars that
devastated the Basque Country from the Late Middle Ages to the beginning
of the Modern Age. The lineages were assigned to one side or the other
depending on their interests, changing sides was normal. The lords did
not hesitate to rob the towns considered enemies, to loot and extort
their peasants, or to assault the convoys of the merchants of Burgos who
were heading to the ports to export their goods.
The
Encartaciones, in 1394, adopted the Fuero de Avellaneda, to fight
against the social conflict generated by the violence of the banderizos.
The farmers of the Tierra Llana and the towns went to King Henry III of
Castile, Lord of Vizcaya, to ask for authorization to form a Brotherhood
to protect themselves from the outrages of the jaunchos. The king, in
1393, commissioned the magistrate Gonzalo Moro to draft new Brotherhood
Ordinances, which was done in a General Meeting, but these ordinances
were not applied due to the opposition of some lords of the Oñacino
side. The newly formed Brotherhood, being made up of ordinary people, is
not currently an enemy for the warrior lords. But for the same reasons
the Brotherhoods of Álava and Guipúzcoa were formed.
The flag
wars ended at the end of the 15th century. The placing of the towns
under administrative control of the Crown, the strength of the
Brotherhoods of the towns and the recognition of universal nobility to
all Biscayans and Gipuzkoans were important elements in the loss of
power of the lords.
Las Bienandanzas e Fortunas by Lope García de
Salazar is one of the main written sources on this phenomenon.
The Brotherhood of the Villas de la Marina de Castilla con Vitoria
was a federation of the main ports of the Cantabrian Sea created on May
4, 1296 that formed a first-rate naval power at the service of the Crown
of Castile, maintaining autonomy in its commercial relations.
international affairs, and, in some cases, leading to wars with the
French and English. It was initially formed by Santander, Laredo, Castro
Urdiales, Bermeo, Guetaria, San Sebastián, Fuenterrabía and Vitoria. San
Vicente de la Barquera joined them in the year 1297. The headquarters
were established in Castro Urdiales.
As a consequence of the
Discovery of America, relations between Spain and Portugal worsened. The
King of Portugal considered that, by virtue of the Treaty of Alcáçovas,
the newly discovered lands belonged to him, and in the Spanish court
there were reports that an armada was being prepared in Lisbon, so the
Catholic Monarchs came to fear Portuguese attacks. to Columbus' second
expedition.
To remedy this situation, the kings commissioned Dr.
Andrés Villalón, mayor and member of the Royal Council of Their
Highnesses, from Barcelona to organize an oceanic navy. With royal
permission, Villalón, in July 1493, entrusted this task to Juan de
Arbolancha from Bilbao in Bermeo. The navy was known as the Armada of
Vizcaya, because it was formed in Bermeo with ships and crews from
Biscay (in the broad sense, that is, Basque). At the end of June Íñigo
de Artieta, appointed by the kings as captain general of this fleet,
gathers the ships in Bermeo. At the end of July, the armada leaves
Bermeo for Cádiz, where they arrive at the beginning of August.
This fleet was made up of a carrack of 1000 barrels, commanded by Íñigo
de Artieta, four ships, of between 405 and 100 barrels, commanded by
Martín Pérez de Fagaza, Juan Pérez de Loyola, Antón Pérez de Layzola and
Juan Martínez de Amézqueta, and a caravel for liaison and exploration
tasks commanded by Sancho López de Ugarte. He carried almost 900 men.
The carraca carried 300 men, the majority from Lequeitio, the ship of
Martín Pérez de Fagaza, 200, the majority from Bilbao, Baracaldo and
other places in Vizcaya, those of Juan and Antón Pérez de Layzola, 125
per ship, almost all of them from Guipuzcoa, and that of Juan Martínez
de Amézqueta 70. There were 30 men in the caravel. The cost of the fleet
was 5,854,900 maravedíes. The crews were made up of approximately one
man of the sea for every two men of war.
Although it was
considered that the mission of this fleet would be to escort Columbus'
ships from their departure from Cádiz until they were well into the
ocean, to protect them from Portuguese attacks and ready to head towards
the discovered lands, in August 1493, When the kings learned that
because of Columbus the Portuguese ships were not going to put to sea,
she was commissioned to transfer King Boabdil and his court from Adra to
the African coasts. Upon his return he is ordered to prepare a trip to
the Canary Islands, which he does not make.
After the signing of
the Treaty of Tordesillas with Portugal, the navy was no longer
necessary, so in the summer of 1494 its dissolution was ordered. But the
situation in Italy made it necessary again, so the dissolution did not
take place, and the fleet, augmented by 7 caravels, headed to Sicily to
join the 20 ships that were there.
During the Modern Age, the
Basques stood out above all for their nautical arts, being famous great
navigators and explorers such as Andrés de Urdaneta, Martín de
Bertendona, Domingo de Bonechea, Cosme Damián Churruca, Juan Sebastián
Elcano, Juan de Garay, Antonio Gaztañeta , Francisco de Argañaraz y
Murguía, Ignacio María de Álava, Blas de Lezo, Miguel López de Legazpi,
José de Mazarredo, Juan Martínez de Recalde and Antonio de Oquendo,
among others.
After the War of the Spanish Succession, only
Navarra, Álava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya preserved their charters of
medieval origin. This situation lasted until the 19th century, when the
provincial system entered into a deep crisis.
At the end of the
18th century, an enlightened movement emerged led by the Royal Basque
Society of Friends of the Country that sought to modernize the economic
and social structures of the Basque provinces. This phenomenon was
followed by a growing interest in the idea of unification of the sister
provinces (sometimes including Navarra), which was substantiated in the
19th century in the collaboration between the Provincial Councils and
the intensification of studies on Basque themes, which They received a
great boost after the Spanish War of Independence and the battle of
Vitoria and San Marcial.
The provincial system came into
collision during the 19th century with the Spanish constitutional
system. In the Basque Country, the traditionalist vision of the fueros
was defended by the dominant Carlism in rural areas, while the liberals
defended an integration of the fueros into the Spanish constitutional
model, which largely dominated urban areas. This confrontation ended
with three civil wars called the Carlist Wars. Two of the great names of
the Spanish Carlists and liberals were those of two Basque brothers.
Tomás de Zumalacárregui was a Carlist general, while his older brother,
Miguel Antonio de Zumalacárregui, a liberal, presided over the Cortes of
Cádiz and held, among other positions, that of Minister of Grace. Gaspar
de Jáuregui was a prominent Gipuzkoan guerrilla against the Napoleonic
invasion, later becoming a liberal military leader against the Carlists.
These wars ended when the fueros were replaced in the Basque
Provinces by economic agreements by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo after
the third Carlist defeat.
At the end of the 19th century, two
political and social processes of great magnitude took place in the
Basque Country: the birth of Basque nationalism, which encompassed the
entire feeling of fervent Basque identity in rural areas, and the labor
movement, capitalized by socialism. in cities and industrial areas.
It was the pact of these two sensitivities that made possible the
implementation of the first Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country in
1936, which led to the formation of the first joint Basque Government of
the three sister provinces in the midst of the Spanish civil war. This
statute only came into force in Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa, since they were
the only provinces loyal to the Spanish Republic. During the Franco
regime, Álava and Navarra retained part of their old jurisdictions for
having supported the coup d'état of 1936, since they were repealed in
the other two provinces by decree of June 23, 1937, as they were
considered "traitors" for not giving support for the military uprising,
suppressing the first Basque Statute of Autonomy. This decree was
partially modified on June 6, 1968, deleting the offensive paragraphs
for Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya, but preserving the rest of the articles. It
was finally repealed by a decree promulgated on October 30, 1976.
Currently, after the Franco regime and with the approval of the
Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country in 1979, Euskadi was
established as an autonomous community, with the three provinces that
make it up maintaining their regional rights. For this reason, since
2011, October 25 has been a holiday in memory of this first statute,
replacing March 19.
The terms Euskadi and País Vasco (in the version of the Statute of
Autonomy in Basque, Euskadi and Euskal Herria, respectively) constitute
the official name of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. It
is also unofficially called the Basque Autonomous Community (CAV; in
Basque, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa), to facilitate differentiation with
the concept of Euskal Herria in a broad sense.
The issue of
nomenclature has been a debated topic, since the names "Euskadi" and
"Euzkadi" have traditionally been used to designate a region larger than
the three provinces. On July 18, 2003, the Royal Academy of the Basque
Language (Euskaltzaindia) approved a document in which it stated its
position on the correct use of the word Euskal Herria, "territory with
well-defined cultural features, above political borders." administrative
and also above historical differences.
The topography of the Basque Country is mainly mountainous, it is
made up of the Basque Mountains and the Cantabria mountain range in the
south, with Larrasa (1453 meters) as the highest altitude, the foothills
of the Pyrenees arrive from Navarra. The highest point in the Basque
Country is Mount Aitxuri, with an altitude of 1551 meters, it is located
in the Aizkorri natural park.
In Euskadi, four climatic zones can
be broadly distinguished: the Atlantic slope to the north, a
sub-Atlantic climate zone (Western Valleys of Álava and the Llanada
Alavesa), a sub-Mediterranean climate zone and, the extreme south,
entering the depression of the Ebro and Rioja Alavesa, where we now move
to a climate with clearly dry and hot continental-type summers.
This region participated in UNESCO's World Water Resources Assessment
Program (WWAP), which is why more than 300 information centers have been
installed that have served to prepare a report on the current situation
in the region.
The Basque area (in Basque: Euskal Herria ) is divided into three
different legal and political entities, of which the first is what this
article is about:
Euskadi , the Autonomous Community of Euskadi
includes the territories or provinces of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa.
The capitals are Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián in
the same order.
Nafarroa, Foral Community of Navarre. The capital is
Pamplona-Iruña.
Iparralde ("the northern part") or mainland Euskal
Herria, the French Basque Country in the Atlantic Pyrenees, includes the
territories of Lapurdi (French: Labourd ), Zuberoa (French: Soule ) and
Behenafarroa (Baja Navarra; French: Baja Navarra ) . The capitals are
Baiona, Maule and Donibane Garazi (French: Bayonne , Maule and Saint
Jean Pied de Port , respectively).
Two of these administrative
regions (AC of Euskadi and CA of Navarra) are located in Hegoalde
(literally, the southern part in Basque) or peninsular Euskal Herria.
The south and north of the Basque Country are divided into two states:
Spain and France.
Euskal Herria is, therefore, the combination of
seven historical territories divided into these three administrative
regions.
Although today the term Euskal Herria defines a
historical and cultural entity rather than a unified political or
administrative region, it does share a significant amount of common
heritage, culture, language, history and identity.
Often the term
Basque Country is used to refer only to the autonomous zone ( Euskadi ),
but mostly refers to the entire Basque region ( Euskal Herria ),
including Navarra and the Basque territories in France
Thanks to being one of the initial centers of the industrial
revolution in Spain, the population of the Basque Country had great
growth from the mid-19th century to the early 1970s, receiving a large
amount of immigration from other Spanish regions. The first wave of
immigrants was a consequence of the industrial revolution in Vizcaya.
During the 50s and, above all, the 60s, coinciding with the stage of
Developmentalism, there was the second great wave of immigrants from the
rest of Spain who moved to the Basque Country in search of work. Their
high number and their mixture with the natives (some of whom came from
the first wave of immigration at the end of the 19th century) produced
the current Basque society.
However, the industrial reconversion
derived from the industrial crisis of the 1980s and the decline in birth
rates caused the Basque Country to decline demographically and become a
region with negative growth since the Transition, maintaining this trend
despite the economic boom experienced since the mid-1980s. of the 1990s
with GDP indicators higher than the European average.
Thus, while
in the period 1981-2006 the Spanish population grew by +18.46%, the
Basque Country presented a demographic recession of –0.05%. The province
of Álava, the province that grew the least in demographic terms with the
industrial revolution, is the only one that has not lost population
since the 1970s, while the one that has lost the most in percentage
terms has been Vizcaya, which was the one that grew the most in that
era. The population growth rate is currently 0.54%, and life expectancy
is 76.4 years for men and 83.7 years for women.
According to the
2017 INE census, the Basque Country has 6.5% foreigners, a figure much
lower than the average for Spain as a whole.
The Basque Country is the first autonomous community with the highest
percentage of spending on R&D activities over GDP, with 1.88%.54 The
province with the highest percentage of spending on R&D is Guipúzcoa,
which in 2017 was of 2.38% of GDP, above the European average (2.06% for
that same year).
The Basque Country concentrates a large volume
of industries, is one of the richest regions in Europe and has gone from
89.6% in 1990 to 117.1% of the European average GDP per capita in 2002,
to a 125.6% in 2005 and 137.2% in 2008 (industry and construction
account for 38.18% of GDP), according to Eustat data, growth only
surpassed in the European Union by Luxembourg and Ireland.56 Despite Due
to its relatively small area and a population of 4.9% compared to Spain,
the Basque Country contributes 6% of GDP, 10.45% of industrial GDP and
9.2% of exports.
In the mid-eighties, in the midst of the
economic crisis, industrial reconversion and deindustrialization
occurred, which produced a significant recession and, having recovered
from this situation for years, it is currently one of the most developed
regions in Spain. , being only behind Madrid in per capita income, with
34,079 euros (INE, 2018). According to a study by the Basque Institute
of Statistics following UN methodology, the region reached one of the
highest human development indexes in 2004. in the world. The Basque
Country had an unemployment rate of 3.5%, which it continued to maintain
until October 2008 despite the slowdown in the economy. The
unemployment rate according to the Active Population Survey in the
fourth quarter of 2022 It was 8.70%.
The Basque Autonomous
Community needs to import energy in the amount of 8,298 gigawatt hours,
according to reports from the Spanish Electrical System of Red Eléctrica
Española (REE), being the third community that imports the most energy.
Regarding the impact of ETA terrorism on the economy of this
autonomous community, in the book Economía de la secession. The
nationalist project and the Basque Country, directed by Mikel Buesa and
published in 2004, defends the hypothesis that «the Basque Country
currently obtains a gross product of the order of 8 percent lower than
that actually registered; and it does so because the size of its economy
is 25 percent smaller, in terms of GDP, than what it could have achieved
if violence had not become entrenched in Basque society” (p. 13). In the
same book it is stated that "it is not possible, in light of this
research, to draw reasonable conclusions about the effects of terrorist
activity on the investment made by multinational companies in the Basque
Country" (p. 171) and that the The Basque Country "received 40 percent
less (foreign direct investment) than it could have received taking into
account the size of its economy. Obviously, the enormous relative weight
of Madrid places most of the CCs below unity. AA.” (p. 177).
In
2021, 20% of the population is at risk of poverty in the Basque Country,
17.8% are in relative poverty, 6.1% live in severe poverty and there are
almost 3,000 homeless people.
The Basque Institute of Statistics calculated the human development
index for the Basque Country following the UN methodology, obtaining
0.964.
If the Basque Country and its provinces were compared with
the countries of the world (not with other sub-state entities), Álava
would obtain 0.975, which would place it first in the world. Guipúzcoa,
with 0.967 points, would be third, and Vizcaya, with 0.958 points,
seventh. The three provinces together would occupy third place behind
Iceland and Norway.
The institutional representation of Basque businessmen is held by the Basque Business Confederation (CONFEBASK) made up of Adegi (Association of Businessmen of Gipuzcoa), Cebek (Business Confederation of Vizcaya) and SEA Empresarios Alaveses.
Among the people who visit it annually, 71% come from the rest of
Spain, with the following autonomous communities representing the most
visits: Community of Madrid (14.2%), Catalonia (11.1%). International
visitors represent the remaining 29%, with France (7.2%) being the
country that visits the Basque Country the most. On the other hand, 62%
of the people who come to Euskadi visit one of the three capitals, 27%
visit the interior and 11% the Basque coast. The average stay of
visitors is 1.88 days, with Guipúzcoa being the province with the
longest stay, with an average of 2.01 days.
The Basque Country
is covered by what is known as the Camino de Santiago Vasco del
Interior.
The Basque Country has its own police force, the Ertzaintza, deployed
throughout the territory. Currently, all responsibilities for citizen
security, public order and traffic have been transferred, sharing the
anti-terrorist fight with the State Security Forces.
The two
State police forces (National Police Corps and Civil Guard) continue to
be present in the Community in anti-terrorist tasks and police services
of a non-community and supra-community nature.
The Civil Guard is
entrusted with the task of Fiscal Protection with the prevention and
prosecution of smuggling (illicit trafficking of goods) and other tax
infractions, management of weapons and explosives, surveillance of
ports, airports, coasts and borders, being the police force. which holds
the powers of citizen security in the territorial sea.
The
National Police Corps is entrusted with the issuance of the National
Identity Document and passports, the control of entry and exit from the
Spanish national territory and those provided for in the legislation on
foreigners, refuge and asylum, extradition, expulsion, emigration and
immigration.
The presence of the National Police Corps in the
Basque Country is reduced to 4 police stations, of which two are in
Guipúzcoa (San Sebastián and Irún), one in Vizcaya (Bilbao) and another
in Álava (Vitoria) and 1 barracks that are located in Basauri (Vizcaya),
while the Civil Guard has more than twenty barracks spread throughout
the Basque geography with a command in each capital.
The health system in the Basque Country depends fundamentally on the
public health service managed by the Basque Government called Osakidetza
- Basque Health Service, which is universal and free.
The most
important General Hospitals are:
Alava
Santiago Apóstol Hospital -
Vitoria (Part of the Álava University Hospital)
Txagorritxu Hospital
- Vitoria (Part of the Álava University Hospital)
Leza Hospital -
Laguardia
Guipuzcoa
Donostia University Hospital - San
Sebastián
Gipuzkoa Polyclinic - San Sebastián
Mendaro Hospital -
Mendaro
Bidasoa Hospital - Hondarribia
Zumarraga Hospital -
Zumarraga
Alto Deba Hospital - Mondragón
Biscay
Basurto
Hospital - Bilbao
Santa Marina Hospital - Bilbao
Cruces Hospital -
Barakaldo
San Eloy Hospital - Barakaldo
Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital
- Galdácano
Hospital of Urduliz Alfredo Espinosa - Urduliz
Guernica Hospital - Guernica and Luno
Gorliz Hospital - Gorliz
The Basque Country has the highest female life expectancy in Europe
and one of the highest in the OECD, with one of the oldest populations.
In addition, the birth rate in the community is one of the lowest in the
Union. European.
The Basque educational system is organized according to Education in
Spain, but according to linguistic models in Basque or Spanish:
Model
A: vehicular language: Spanish, the subject of Basque is taught.
Model B: part of the subjects in Basque and the other part in Spanish.
Model D: vehicular language: Basque, the Spanish language subject is
taught.
Model X: vehicular language: Spanish (without Basque
subject); vehicular language: other than Spanish and Basque (schools
with a foreign language as a vehicular language).
It can be seen
how the use of model A (everything in Spanish except the Basque subject)
in the studies is increasing and the use of model D (everything in
Basque except the Spanish subject) is contracting as the course
progresses. education. In the 2011-12 academic year, model A decreases
again in each academic year, while in model D the opposite occurs. Model
B varies depending on the cycle.
The Basque Country gained its autonomy with the approval of the Statute of Autonomy in 1979. This Statute is distinguished from the majority of the statutes of the Spanish autonomies not so much in the number of transferred or transferable powers, but in the fact that the Basque autonomy constitutes an update of the provincial regime of the three Basque provinces within the framework of the Spanish Constitution (according to the first additional provision of this). Thus, the Basque Country, in addition to receiving powers over education, obtains an exclusive financing procedure based on the updating of the economic agreements of the Basque Provinces established in the abolition of the charters of 1876 and which were preserved in Álava, but They were repealed in Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya by the Franco regime at the end of the Civil War. The Statute also allows for its own police force, the Ertzaintza, a comprehensive police force deployed throughout the territory. As this is an update of the provincial regimes, the provincial councils of each of the provinces that make up the Basque Country retain very broad powers and powers with respect to the Basque Government itself.
The majority political option since the democratic transition is that
of Basque nationalism, in its various variants from the most moderate to
the most radical and with its different conceptions for the
configuration of the current autonomous community (independence,
federalist...). This option disputes the electoral map with other
ideologies called "Spanish" or "constitutionalist", with greater
support, although declining, in the province of Álava.
All the
presidents of the Basque Government (lehendakaris) since 1980 belonged
to the Basque Nationalist Party, with the exception of Patxi López (from
2009 to 2012), belonging to the Socialist Party of Euskadi-Euskadiko
Ezkerra (PSE-EE), being the first non-Lehendakari. to Basque
nationalism. After the elections to the Basque Parliament in 2012, the
PNV recovered the lehendakaritza from the hand of Íñigo Urkullu.
Territorial organization
The Basque Country includes three provinces,
Álava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya, which are called historical territories in
the autonomous system. It is divided, in turn, into 251 municipalities,
51 in Álava, 88 in Guipúzcoa and 112 in Vizcaya, which are grouped into
20 regions. The territory of Álava is divided into seven regions
(cuadrillas, in Spanish; in Basque, eskualdeak). The regions of
Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya, however, do not form administrative divisions. On
the other hand, according to the Territorial Planning Guidelines of the
Basque Government, there are 15 functional areas in the Basque Country
that constitute the reference base for the harmonious and coordinated
development of the Community and are based on criteria of
interconnection and integration, in such a way that territorial and
sectoral plans, as well as municipal planning, are not prepared
independently of each other, but that they all pursue coherent
objectives.