A short introduction

The Basque Country, where I live, consists of three provinces or historic territories called Alava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa that belong to Spain. It has an area of  7234 km2, and its geography is very mountainous. The official languages are Spanish and Basque.

In regard to economy, The Basque Country concentrates a large amount of industries. However, agriculture, fishing and livestock farming are still important too.

It has got three thermal power stations. Concerning transport, there are outstanding sea harbours in Bilbao and Pasajes, airports, trains and even the underground and the tram in some cities.

Osakidetza, the public Health System, which is universal and free, is managed by the Basque Government.

One of the most important laws is the Autonomy Statute (1979), which gives Basque people the chance of having their own institutions: the Basque Government, the “Lehendakari” (president) and the Basque police, called “Ertzaintza”.

The Basque Country is famous for its gastronomy and good cooks like Arzak, Berasategi and Subijana. Basque people often meet at the “txokos” or private gastronomic societies to taste high quality dishes. People are also fond of singing “bilbainadas”, playing “Mus” (a card game), eating “pintxos” (tapas) or going bar hopping (txikiteo).

Basque writers like Baroja and Unamuno, sculptors like Chillida or Oteiza and musicians like Arriaga or Guridi are well-known.

Nowadays we have to mention “La Oreja de Van Gogh”, a pop band, and Alex Ubago.

The international stars who came to the “Festival de S.Sebastián” and the people who visit the Guggenheim Museum and Artium praise the Basque Country and the people living in it. 

In the field of sports, we have important sportsmen in cycling (Indurain), climbing, athletics, water-sports, but the most important are football, played by the Athletic Club de Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Alavés and basketball with teams like Basconia and Bilbao Basket.

In addition, there are traditional and popular sports, which are really attractive. The list of them includes traineras (row boats races), trunk cutters (aizkolariak) and Tug of War (sokatira), most of which are related to the works that used to be done at farms (caserios).

In folklore, we have popular feasts, where people perform dances while traditional music instruments (trikitixa, tanboril, txistu, alboka and txalaparta) are played.

We can also boast of having “bertsolariak”, who sing their poems, and a rich mythology full of characters like “sorginak” (witches), “lamiak” (nymphs), “basajaun”, “Mari” (a good goddess) and “Olentzero” (similar to Santa Claus).