About one month ago, in the middle of July 2004, I visited my dad's family in Euskal Herria. They live in the heart of Bizkaia, that part of Bizkaia where you are more likely to hear Euskara than Spanish. I stayed in Munitibar, where my dad grew up and where his brother still lives. As always, it was a wonderful time, full of good food, good drink and good conversation.

My uncle has a small apartment in Munitibar on the edge of the main part of the town. When I visited a couple of years ago, I stayed at his apartment. The view from the front door was marvelous: a scenic vista of the surrounding mountainsides, covered in trees and meadows in which grazed horses and donkeys with bells around their necks. The bells would ring as the animals wandered the meadow. It was an idyllic setting, the kind of thing most of us can only dream about.

This time, things are changing. My uncle's view is being broken by the construction of a number of apartment buildings and houses. This doesn't upset him at all, it's just the way things are. To me, it was just one example of the changes occurring all over the country. Munitibar is just one small town in the center of Bizkaia, where there is no industry or any real source of jobs. Since my grandfather's time, the residents of this town have had to travel to the bigger cities nearby to find work. They traveled to Durango, for example, to work in the paper factory. Some, like my dad, left to the United States. Out of 8 total siblings, only one remains in Munitibar, running one of the local restaurants. There hasn't been much to keep the people there.

In spite of this, a block of new apartment buildings is going up near the town center, along with some small chalets, or duplexes. And Munitibar is by no means unique. Everywhere I went, I saw the same thing. From Gernika to Deba, tall construction cranes were all I could see. It felt like the entire country was under construction. The streets near the fronton in Deba were closed to traffic because they were so close to the construction zone of a set of apartment buildings there.

There are various other aspects to the changes occurring in the Basque Country. One of the most remarkable is in Bilbao, a city which continues to reinvent itself as an industrial wasteland to one of the most interesting cities in Spain. Beginning around the time of when the Guggenheim museum was built, Bilbao has been in the process of transforming itself, shedding the industrial past and embracing a future of tourism. The rivers have been cleaned up, the riverfront, including the area around the Guggenheim, has become one of the hottest parts of town, and the process is still continuing. Apartments which once faced the river and were thus not the most desirable now have a view of this spectacular part of town and are being renovated to reflect their new status.

Other changes are apparent in the country as well. The most visible is the presence of many immigrants from Africa. From African families strolling in the streets to poor immigrants trying to sell bootleg DVDs in the bars of Gernika, more and more immigrants from Africa are pouring into the Basque Country. Immigrants from other parts of Europe are likely coming as well, they just aren't as visible.

That these immigrants have come to the Basque Country is not a surprise. People from the poorest parts of the world have always gone to the wealthier parts to look for work. But, this is a new phenomenon in the Basque Country. Many parts of the world have already had to deal w with the kinds of issues these changes lead to, to varying degrees of success, but the Basque Country has arrived relatively late to this kind of internationalization. In the past, the country has seen a lot of immigration from southern Spain, but even some of those immigrants have had a hard time adapting to life in the Basque Country. And Gypsies are still the object of scorn in some circles. Whether or not this new wave of immigrants can find happiness in the Basque Country will depend both on their willingness to integrate into the communities as well as the willingness of their hosts to accept them.

There are a lot of changes happening in the Basque Country. From a continued revitalization of old industrial areas, to the further urbanization of even the smallest of towns, to the recent wave of immigrants from outside Spain, the next generation of Basques will see a Euskal Herria much different than that of their parents. It will be very interesting to see how the people react to these changes.

I would be most interested in hearing what other people think about these changes. Please leave your comments.

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ellisredfish at sbcglobal dot net 17-Apr-2005 21:36 #1443 I read your article concerning the changes taking place in the Basque Country. At the time I did not know what to comment. Your article reminded me about growing up in West Texas during the 50's and about the prejudices we endured because we were different. Most of the Hispanics immigrated to my home town during the Mexican Revolution. Our parents took what jobs were available at very low wages. We were not allowed to speak Spanish on school grounds and we would hide to eat the lunches our parents had packed for us. The Anglos were afraid of race mixing and our changing the culture. However, it was mostly a question of economics. Who would want their daughter to marry a sheep herder? Well things have changed for the good. Many of the Hispanic offspring have gone on to become professional people. We are now welcomed with open arms when we go back to town reunions. What is sad to me is that most of the Hispanics in my home town have Basque family names and don't even know it. Their families have been in this part of the world so long that they have forgotten from where their ancestors first came. I myself did not know until someone told me when he saw my family name while paying for a book with a check. I knew that some of us in my home town tended to group together for some reason but why? When a Guevara fell ill the Mendiolas, Zertuches and Arriagas to name a few were always there to help. So maybe change is not all that bad. English is still spoken in my home town. Although we do have our own "Barrio Reunion", eat our chorizo, drink our beer and dance the night away to accordion music. At our next reunion I will place the Basque flag in the hall so everyone can see what is ours. Cheers, Ellis
carola at csah dot demon dot co dot uk 28-Sep-2004 16:50 #755 Hi Blas, have just come back from Mutriku(near Deba) and would share your opinion about the transformation in life,highways and anything else.Filled me with some sad thoughts as the cultural identity which was always very special seems slowly to give way to urbanisation and developments like in the rest of Europe.
amalur at free dot fr 06-Sep-2004 9:43 #705 hello pedro, you know, i live in iparralde, here as well, the thing are changing, but no so faster than in hegoalde. But for us, the more important what is it ? to offer these houses or flat to the basques in priority (to prepare a real politic linguistic). Now we have also some laws to protect the cost side (ouf...), but now they start building in the moutain side. But there as well, they can't do what they want, because of the population, the way of living (far away from the supermarkets, hospital...)and us basques of iparralde we are sometimes like bears... agur bero bat iparraldetik pedro etcheverry benoit 8 probintziak elkartea
tstarr at earthlink dot net 03-Sep-2004 11:12 #700 Hello Blas, I read your article about the changes in Euskal Herria. As I told you before, I was there last April in Donostia. I saw some immigrants from Africa and China while traveling to Guipuzkoa. I didn't witness as much construction as you did, for I was traveling on the backroads through the mountains.  I think it is very sad and alarming that Africans and other immigrants are living amoungst the Basque in Euskal Herria. I think that will upset and disrupt the culture of Euskadi. Spain has already made these changes in their society. There are many immigrants from South America living in cities like Barcelona and Madrid.Word has it, that the Spaniards resent South American immigrants. For one thing, there are social problems . Gang violence is becoming a problem in Spain because of the social economic problems these people bring with them. The former President Aznar allowed massive immigration from these third-world countries.  As for the Africans, I have found them to be respectful and courteous, however, I don't think it's a good idea for people to integrate. This could really pose a threat to the Basques and their culture. I have talked to an African shop owner, who stated that there are millions and millions of people living in Nigeria. One could understand why some immigrate. It's not a good idea for Euskal Herria to mimic Spain's political ideology. If this trend continues, Euskal Herria can become nothing more than another European melting-pot.  All and all, I think culture is too important to compromise just to meet the demands of globalization.
ebas59 at msn dot com 28-Aug-2004 22:20 #687 It was very interesting to hear your perspective on the changes taking place in Euskalherria. I also just returned after spending 3 weeks with my family in Markina (about 6 miles from Munitibar). In addition to the changes you mention, I also noticed a huge improvement in roads. The trip to the airport from Markina used to take almost one and a half hours when I lived there in the 70s. Now you can be there in 35 minutes thanks to a series of tunnels and expressways. Many people now live in Markina but work and study in Bilbao, where they commute daily. This would have been unthinkable 30 years ago. Regarding construction, it is becoming very normal for people to get into the housing market by getting a mortgage from the bank. The interesting thing is that all my friends have a very low (~2%)but variable rate mortgage. If interest rates go up this could mean a huge problem. More comments another time. Regards Eduardo Bascaran
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