Basque ethnography at a glance

Classical giants danced by the Zubira troupe together with the txikis (Portugalete, 07/09/2024) (Author: E. X. Dueñas).

The sound of the dulzainas-gaitas, the txistus… a group of adults, and little ones with captivating looks, swirl around and surround some figures with human but caricatured features… As the procession of these gigantic images, which sway in an exercise of singular balance, advances, the crowd accompanies them… Nobody wants to lose their place and proximity to such distinguished characters…

It is the boom of the giants that we have undoubtedly been experiencing for some years now. High characters that throughout history have had notable ups and downs: according to abundant written documentation, they were born, together with ‘dwarfs’, tarascas and other artefacts, with the Corpus Christi festivity around the 16th-15th centuries and, between deaths and resurrections, they have reached our days.

But are these giants, or erraldoiak, similar or identical to those drawings and texts that tell us of their origin? Yes and no. On the one hand, we have caricatures and styles of all kinds (kings and queens, representatives of continents, public figures, musicians or dancers, etc.) which, with notable changes in make-up and tuning, have been recreated in some towns. It is curious how, in certain situations, neighbours defend the antiquity of the same, despite the fact that their original structure is new; mainly due to the partial substitutions that have been conferred on them. Neglect or fire have taken their toll over and over again.

Dummies (Donostia, 2024), “Salva” and “Juan Carlos” (Deba, 2019), and “Alavés” renamed “Erromualdo” (Donostia, 2024) (Author: E. X. Dueñas).

Apart from the sexist or gendered nature of the giant, who is also called giganta, there is a wide variety of weights and sizes, which, in this case, refers to the names used in the general vocabulary: gigantona, gigante txiki or small giant, gigantilla, guiñol type, etc.

Leaving aside the xigantiak of the Kabalkadak from Lower Navarre and Luzaide, as well as the relative accompaniment of the buruhandiak and enanuak, fashions are being superimposed at a dizzying pace, such as the hanging of children’s dummies on the figures, with the intention that this is the last time they will be used. Or building figures of famous people in the immediate area, such as the recently deceased piper Salva Martínez, together with his inseparable companion Juan Carlos Doñabeitia in Deba. There are other examples such as ‘Pichichi’ in Bilbao, ‘Bihotza’ in Urduña or, among many others, ‘Casilda’ and ‘Nisio’, which opened this spring in Portugalete.

Giants of different heights of the BET troupe (Bergara, 15/09/2019). (Author: E. X. Dueñas)

Alongside these lofty images, more and more children, with or without help, are building their own ‘giants’, even if it sounds somewhat incoherent, ‘little ones’. They christen them, something that is becoming more and more common nowadays even with those of their usual height, with their own names: Nikolas, Bixente… And, as if this were not enough, they now go and disguise themselves in imitation of the giant.

Although until the 19th century they were, at most, carried around, with or without musical accompaniment, ‘dancing’ them has become so commonplace that it is now strange that the movements and wiggles, produced by the skill of giant porters, are not accompanied by melodies, played mainly by bands of dulzaineros-gaiteros, but also by charangas, trikitixa… and, as in the past, by bands of txistularis as well.

Emilio Xabier Dueñas – Folklorist and ethnographer