Towns all over the area, including ours, have been involved in
dust-ups over the course of this
year in relation to a proclamation by Carlos Urquijo, a conservative Spanish delegate to the Basque Country. The proclamation was intended to enforce a 1981 law requiring all town halls to display the Spanish flag. Although it could be argued that Spanish political capital could be better spent
elsewhere, Urquijo has made a
career of defying Basque independentists. There was an ikurrina (Basque flag) festival in our town a couple weeks ago, with ikurrinas prominently displayed in front of shops and apartments along with some well-appointed (if not a little pointed, as well) singing and dancing. The first
running of the bulls during the festival of San Fermin was delayed by about 20 minutes when a large ikurrina (see news service photo at top) was placed over the balcony from which the
starter rockets are fired, thereby gaining international attention, or at least international annoyance.
The surprising thing about human beings is that we never seem to realize that nobody can be effectively forced to be who they are not, no matter how many generations you persist in telling them to stop asserting what they are.
On another note: wild parrots drinking dew from wheat plants. They have it figured out, way better than we do.
Our town celebrates Saint Anne's Day by holding an artisan fair. A knife maker presented one of his pieces to Pedro Subijana, proprietor of a 3 Michelin star restaurant in Donostia called Akelarre. There were plenty of delicious things to eat, including basque cake, and lots of jewelry. There was some especially impressive woodwork by Felix Larranaga, which strongly
sembled the trousseaux I have seen in older homes. Really stunning 
work.
Towns all over the area, including ours, have been involved in dust-ups over the course of this year in relation to a proclamation by Carlos Urquijo, a conservative Spanish delegate to the Basque Country. The proclamation was intended to enforce a 1981 law requiring all town halls to display the Spanish flag. Although it could be argued that Spanish political capital could be better spent elsewhere, Urquijo has made a career of defying Basque independentists. There was an ikurrina (Basque flag) festival in our town a couple weeks ago, with ikurrinas prominently displayed in front of shops and apartments along with some well-appointed (if not a little pointed, as well) singing and dancing. The first running of the bulls during the festival of San Fermin was delayed by about 20 minutes when a large ikurrina (see news service photo at top) was placed over the balcony from which the 
starter rockets are fired, thereby gaining international attention, or at least international annoyance.
