Giving names to houses used to be a fairly widespread custom here in the Basque Country. And a good many houses have, in turn, given their name to their inhabitants. As a matter of fact, the Basque word etxe ‘house, home’ has been an inexhaustible resource for the composition of countless Basque last names. (more…)
St James’ Square in Bilbao. Last Saturday of the month. 21:00 hours. Following the tradition of yesteryear, a dance would be held in this charming corner of Bilbao, were it not that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. Should we place our hundred-year-old grandmother in the middle of the square, what would she think? She would probably enjoy seeing so many people dancing, but would she know how to dance with them? I would say she would not. She might feel as if she were somewhere else, far from the dear city where she grew up. And with good reason. The Bilbao of today is not the Bilbao of her youth. The city has changed, just as the way its peoples dance and the music repertoire played in its squares have changed. That is what these lines are about. (more…)
It was 1892. José de Echevarría y Bengoa, an aristocrat, native of Bilbao, a well-known bull breeder and bullfight enthusiast, and sixth Marquis of Villagodio —a family title proudly held since 1764— bought 70 cows from the Duke of Veragua and 2 stallions from Jacinto Trespalacios. That is how his livestock farm in Coreses, near the Spanish town of Zamora, was founded. All well and good so far. (more…)
I welcome the invitation extended to me by Segundo Oar-Arteta to present Basque photographer Eulalia Abaitua (Bilbao, 1853–1943) to the readers of this blog.
You may or may not know her. Be that as it may, these words will hopefully help further disseminate the contribution she made through her photographs, taken between the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. (more…)