FAQ: What is the Basque Country

***Note: To find Mark's Guidebook to the Basque Country, click here***

I’ve been talking about the ‘Basque Country’ in familiar terms so far, assuming that everyone knows exactly what it is.  Let me back up and better explain my subject of interest – the Basque Country and the Basque People.  

Welcome to Basqueland

The Basque Country is essentially an unrecognized country within a country. It is a collection of seven provinces wedged between France, Spain, the Pyrenees and the North Atlantic.  Four provinces are in Spain, three provinces are in France, but no single nation unites all seven.

The Basque Country is one of many sub-cultures within modern Spain, minority cultures that have gradually been dwarfed by the cultural dominance of their larger, more powerful neighbors - in this case, Spain.  Foreigners might not know much about the Basque Country, but the culture here is alive and strong.  

The Basques have a flag, a common language, and a extensive set of traditions distinct from the Spanish and French, but they have not been fully independent for over five hundred years.  Surrounded by the dominant powers of France and Iberia, the Basques have spent most of their history as self-governing subjects of greater powers.  

The Basque Country has always been difficult to define.  It has been described as a no-man's land between France and Spain and each language calls it something different.  The Spanish call it El País Vasco, and the French, Le Pays Basque, from which we get the English name, The Basque Country, or Basqueland.  Many Basques call it Euskadi, but the most accurate term is Euskal Herria - literally, The Land of the Basque Speakers.  

 

Euskera, the Basque language, unites all seven provinces on both sides of the Pyrenees.  I live in the province of Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa in Spanish), the coastal province squeezed between France and the westernmost province, Bizkaia (Vizcaya).  To my south are the interior provinces of Araba (Alava) and Nafarroa  (Navarra).

On the French coast we find Lapurdi (French: Labourd), home of Biarritz.  Following the Pyrennes inland we come across Benafarroa (Basse Navarre), and Zuberoa (Soule).  In total, seven provinces split into two countries, totaling only 8218 square miles.  

It extends from its upper limit at the Ardour River at Bayonne, France up over the Pyrenees to its natural southern boundary at the Ebro River in the dry Spanish wine region of La Rioja.   Unlike most of Spain, it is verdant, hilly, and wet, a land inextricably linked to both the secluded valleys of the hinterland and the open expanse of the North Atlantic.  

There you have the geographical description of the Basque Country, but a simple geographical definition does not do it justice.  For that, we must move to language.

***Click to read more about Mark's gastronomical guidebook to the Basque Country  ***

A Dream Come True

It still feels odd when I tell people I’m living in San Sebastian.

It’s a dream come true.   In my opinion this beachside town is the best in Spain, the elegant jewel of Spain’s verdant northern Atlantic coast. 


I have everything I need here.  Two exquisite beaches in the center of town, a great surfing beach, the charm of the fishing port and narrow warren of bars and restaurants in the old town, and a youthful population living aside the vanguards of arguably the oldest culture in Europe.  France is 30 minutes away, the Pyrenees are no farther, and a rugged coastline stretching from here to Portugal beckons me to explore her shores on a year's worth of surf trips. 

Still there is more here than meets the eye.  Nominally, this city is in Spain and nearby Biarritz is in France.  But these lands are disputed territories, home to a nationless people called the Basques.  I am fascinated by Basque culture - speakers of an ancient language unrelated to any other on earth, at once outward-looking explorers and innovators with a cloistered, conservative streak running through the hinterlands.  The Basques' desire for autonomy and independence has deteriorated into a terrorist war against the Spanish and French central governments, sadly overshadowing the rich culture for which they fight. 

I hope to use this blog both to chronicle my adventures and showcase the beauty I see in the Basque culture. 

Such beauty is often self-evident - look at the background picture of this blog.  Yesterday I walked up to this hill, one of two that guards the crescent-shaped beach, and beheld my new home.  From where I stood the sheltered bay stretched out before me, named Bahia de la Concha for it’s shell-like shape.  Its golden beach arced from there to a narrow peninsula where the Old Town huddles against the steep, fortified mountain at its tip.  Beyond this bay lies the surf beach, Gros and the northern foothills of the Pyrenees.  In the distant horizon I can see Biarritz, France.  To my left stormed the capricious Atlantic throwing waves and wind against the cliffs, ports, and beaches of the Basque Country.  Sea, wind, and the hills – this landscape lies at the heart of the Basques. 

It is in this landscape that I will make my home for the next year.  One year in this seaport, tucked between France, Spain and the Pyrnees.  A year in Basqueland.  

I came back to the moment and watched the sunset splash purple waves across the bay and the lights come on in the Old Town. For a moment I could see in the reflection in the water all the experiences waiting for me in the coming months.  I could not help but smile. 

It’s going to be a great year.