Politics and people: an immigrant's impressions of Spain's Basque region

Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Europe, France, Spain

One downside to being an immigrant is that you have to learn a whole new set of politics and social divisions. Since moving to Madrid six years ago, I've heard a lot of people talking about Spain's Basque region. Everyone has an opinion about it but most haven't actually been there.

I've recently returned from six days hiking in the Basque region with a group of Americans and two Basque guides. One guide, Josu, got elected mayor of his local group of villages on the night of our farewell dinner. This photo shows him at the moment a friend called with the news. In case you can't guess, he's the guy in the middle with the ecstatic look on his face. I think I detect a bit of surprise and relief too.

As is typical of locals showing around foreigners, our guides wanted to show us the best their region had to offer and leave us with a good impression of Basque culture. That wouldn't have worked with a Spanish tour group, by which I mean a group of Spaniards from other parts of Spain. Any mention of Basque culture, the Basque country, or the Basque language will often elicit a variety of reactions ranging from dismissive grunts to angry lectures.

The Basque people have a distinct identity yet have never had their own nation. At times they've been oppressed, most recently from 1936, the start of the Spanish Civil War when Franco's fascists bombed the Basque region, through Franco's dictatorship until his death in 1975. Basques often say they suffered the most under the dictatorship. Many Catalans say they suffered the most. I've heard Castilians say everyone suffered equally. I have no idea who's right and to be honest I don't care. The bastard has been dead for 36 years. Time to move on. To keep the ghost of Franco hovering over Spanish politics is to grant him a power he shouldn't have had in the first place.

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Politics and people: an immigrant's impressions of Spain's Basque region originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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