Situated on the Bay of Biscay, and bordering France to the east, the Basque Country is a region where green hills meet Atlantic beaches. Visitors can enjoy the varied coastline, historic inland towns, avant-garde art and architecture, excellent cuisine and the unique culture of the Basque people. Basque customs and traditions – very much alive today – add a richness and colour to the region.
The Basque Country is divided into three provinces – Vizcaya, Álava and Guipúzcoa – with the capital in Vitoria. Little is known about the origins of the Basque people, except that they are the oldest pre- Indo-European ethnic group on the Iberian peninsula.
Secure in their mountain homeland, the Basques lived in isolation from the rest of Spain for centuries, and so retained their distinct traditional language (Euskera) and laws (fueros). When, in the 19th century, Spain started to become more centralized, the Basques felt threatened and began to fight to maintain their privileges. With the onset of industrialization and the influx of thousands of people in search of work, nationalist sentiment took hold.
At the end of the century, during the Second Republic, the Basque Country was granted autonomy, though this was later repealed by the Franco regime. In the 1960s, the ETA organization began an armed struggle against Franco's repression, demanding complete Basque independence. When democracy returned to Spain in the 1970s, the Basque Country was again granted autonomy, which was accepted by most moderate Basque nationalists.
As a holiday destination, the Atlantic coast offers a tempting variety of sandy beaches, rías and cliffs. In the larger cities, museums give visitors the chance not only to learn about the history of the Basque lands, but also, in Bilbao for instance, to admire fantastic modern art. Those wishing for a more lowkey experience can head inland to the region's historic towns, such as the former university town of Oñati.
The cliffs of the Basque Country are broken by rocky coves, rías and wide bays with beaches of fine yellow sand, interspersed with fishing villages. Inland, minor roads wind through wooded hills, valleys and gorges past lonely castles and isolated homesteads. Apart from its beautiful landscapes and numerous hist monuments, the region is known for its wo famous cuisine based on fish and seafoo vibrant street and bar life, and the dis tive cultural life of the Basques, both in cultural festivals and spectacular fiestas.
For centuries, Basque leaders met in democratic assembly under an oak on a hillside in Gernika-Lumo. In the garden of the Casa de Juntas, inside a pavilion and closely guarded, is the petrified trunk of the Gernikako Arbola – the oldest of the oak trees preserved here – symbolizing the ancient roots of the Basque people. It was already over 300 years old when it caught fire in 1860. Subsequent oaks at the site have all been grown from acorns taken or descended from the original oak, most recently in February 2005.
The Basques are devoted to sports, excelling at conventional games, and inventing many of their own. In football, Basque clubs have always played near the top of their leagues, despite many sticking to a rule of fielding only local, Basque-born players. First among indigenous Basque sports is pelota, played between two or four players with bare hands, bats or a long basket. Enormously popular, it's a fast-moving game that's spectacular to watch.
The Basques also have a whole range of often outlandish traditional country sports – wagon lifting, sheep fights and tugs-of-war – many of which originated as tests of strength and skill between villages, fishermen and mountain farmers. They can be seen at the annual town and village fiestas, together with performances of the equally distinctive Basque poetry, music, dance and folklore.
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