Basques around the world

Good day to you from an overcast Basque Country, that promises sun, sun, sun tomorrow.

Many of you will not realize that this is an important date for the Basque Country. Today – April 23^rd – marks 30 years since the autonomous parliament was set up. Activities have been organized for the rest of the year.

We’ve got a weekend packed full of culture starting today in San Sebastian. Firstly, the Rompeolas festival has already started.This is an initiative organised to drive the city’s candidacy to be European Cultural Capital in 2016 and its 2 main ingredients are culture and citizen participation. The bells of the city were rung earlier to day, calling the people to come along and join in the fun!

Meanwhile, the 8^th Human Rights Film Festival also kicked off today, with a week of feature lengths and shorts about current social issues from all around the world.

Don’t forget to read our Dos Paredes blog as Olaizola II, twice a former winner of the Manomanista Championship is the red hot favourite as he goes up on Saturday against Patxi Ruiz.

And if you like baseball, do you remember Mark Kurlansky, who famously wrote about Basques in his book “Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World”?  In his latest book, Kurlansky traces the origins of the sport to the Dominican Republic.

And as spring is fully upon us, the Basque Country once again promises to be a great destination for a long weekend this May and into the summer – and also one of the safest!

Have a good weekend.

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Good afternoon to you Basques.

Well, summer is definitely on its way. Skies here are blue and sunny and the atmosphere is gearing up to a season of festival and frolics.

Talking of frolics, don’t forget AC/DC are playing Bilbao again soon. If you’re nearby and are thinking of going, tickets are on sale from tomorrow.

One of the next musical events in the calender is Donostia-San Sebastian’s Musicial Fortnight, taking place this year between August 7^th and September 3^rd.  Find out what it got in store this year and get a glimpse at the official programme.

In Pelota, Olaizola I beat Bengoetxea VI in the first match of the Pairs Championship, while it looks like our home-grown mountaineer Edurne Pasaban may actually be the first female to scale all fourteen 8000ers.

Not such good news for Osasuna, unfortunately, who now find themselves in the relegation zone.

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Hello Basques!

Good afternoon from a rainy Bilbao, where forecasters are predicting waves of up to 4 metres later this evening.

Mugalari has given us another insight into Basque Tourism on our ‘Off the Beaten Track’ blog, this time about the port town of Algorta. Also, don’t forget to check out the brochures by Fresco Tours on the Basque Country.

Bea Echeveste wrote yesterday to tell us about Kepa Junkera’s article for local newspaper Deia, as he makes his way round the States: check out his blog and see what he makes of the place.

The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum has just announced an exhibition of works by Henri Rousseau opening this May. If you’re in the Biscay capital today and hoping to see some jazz, Charlie Haden and his quartet are playing the Teatro Campos Elíseos.

Enjoy the Easter weekend.

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Good afternoon Basques,

Due to some technical problems yesterday we didn’t send you our usual update of news from our Basques All Around the World group, so here’s a summary of events from the past couple of days:

The biggest news today is about Basque president Patxi López’s meeting with Brazilian President Lula da Silva. His trip of the South American country has brought some positive economic news.

The latest edition to our Basque Country Live Blog is Jess Soodeen, a Canadian with no Basque heritage except for the historical links between the Basque Country and her mother’s native Newfoundland.  Find out how this connection brought her to our shores.

Chef Najat Kaanache, born in the Basque Country to Moroccan parents, is currently in Chicago as part of a three-year trip to learn from the world’s best chefs. Read about her odyssey.

If you’re following the Basketball Euroleague, some bad news I’m afriad as Caja Laboral crash out against CSKA Moscow.

Lastly, if you happen to be in the Basque Country this June, AC/DC will once again be playing Bilbao. Not a few people were left disappointed last year when tickets sold out in minutes, so this year’s gig at the massive San Mames stadium hopes to cater for all.

That’s all for now.

Bihar arte-

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Today, 16^th March, it seems that Frederic Duhart discovered that our group can be a good way to know more about the Basque world. He told us that he has family in  Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. Nice to meet you Fred!

Another friend, Alexander Amor, sent us a picture from our loved Bilbao Guggenheim Museum but seen from the air. Once you have seen it, you’ll notice why many people used to call it the cauliflower.

Food and beverage matching is more relevant than we think. It is a movement which some US gourmets started in the 80s, according to Donostia-San Sebastián Basque Culinary Center’s head, Jose María Aizegoa.

Do you want to know which are the most important upcoming concerts in the Basque Country? Enjoy this photo gallery.

On the other hand, if you’re more interested in arts, here you have some pictures on the Anish Kapoor exhibition, the latest at the Guggenheim.

…don’t forget our news on sports: soccer (Osasuna) and our Basque pelota blog to keep you updated.

And lastly, an industrial event: the Machine Tool Biennial Fair at Bilbao Exhibition Centre is nearer: 30,000 trade specialists have already joined the initiative.

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Good day to you Basques from a beautiful sunny day in the Basque Country,

Some important news from the basketball court today, three matches to be precise. The good news is that Bizkaia BB managed a nail-bitingly close win over Murcia, though the same could not be said for Caja Laboral in their match against Asefa Estudiantes or Lagun Aro GBC against Xacobeo Blu:Sens.

An exciting new exhibition comes to Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, which is displaying the work of Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential sculptors alive today. Read about the exhibition and see images of some of his works here.

And if you’re feeling peckish, American Tamar Marino provides her latest installment on the Basque Fed blog. This time she tells us about the importance of peppers in Basque cuisine.

Lastly, a couple of items we forgot to mention yesterday: Firstly, Athletic Bilbao’s draw against Sporting Gijon and the Basque tuna boat ‘Txori-Argi’, which escaped a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean.

That’s all for now. See you Tuesday – Asteartera arte!

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Hi Basques, is everything Ok?

Our friend John Coffey has sent us a video showing a lot of pictures of Bilbao. He came from Ireland two years ago and, according to many viewers,  his work –which he uploaded on YouTube– really captures the city!

US singer-pianist Norah Jones will be presenting her latest album release, The Fall, at the Palacio Euskalduna (Bilbao) this 11th July, concert promoters Last Tour International have informed. Sooner, (this week) The Rumble Strips (UK) and The Answer (N. Ireland) will play in Bilbao, and Donostia-San Sebastián will be also receiving the British.

Our latest news on sports include, as usual, Basque pelota and more information on Athletic Club Bilbao soccer team, whose representatives have issued a press release announcing that the construction of the Basque team’s new stadium will start towards the beginning of May.

More entertainment news: our adored Guggenheim museum hosts Hip Hop at Art After Dark party on March 12th. Art After Dark is a successful nighttime programme which combines art with music from homegrown and international DJs, designed in collaboration with Bilbao’s Fever nightclub.

…and we take a look back through history:  in 1610, 31 neighbours from the Navarre town of  Zugarramurdi were accused of witchcraft and tried in Logroño. The Spanish Inquisition sent eleven of them to the stake, carrying out the execution in the capital of La Rioja. Today, March 9th, both towns have paid tribute to the victims.

That’s all for today… we’ll come back tomorrow!

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It’s Friday Basques!

Here we go with some news to welcome the weekend. We recommend you to pay a visit to the Bilbao BBK Live 2010 festival, a party which will be held in Kobetamendi, or Kobeta mountain in the Basque city. This edition features Paul Weller, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Faith No More, Skunk Anansie, Rammstein, Jet, Basque-Argentinean duo Capsula…

Bullfighting, which is still popular in Spain and the Basque Country, has an space in our Facebook wall. A movement to outlaw it has become entwined in Spain’s combustible regional politics, with Madrid calling for the traditional spectacle to be declared cultural heritage just as Catalonia debates a ban.

Don’t miss the opportunity of getting closer to the Basque pelota world in our blog Dos Paredes.

… and we have inaugurated a new blog on Tourism and the Basque Country. Welcome-Ongi Etorri!!!

Enjoy the weekend***

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Hey Basques, everything ok?

Today, Thursday, March 4th our Facebook group shows some information on Iparraldea XXI  (Iparraldea 21), a documentary based on the French Basque youth which has been produced by Euskal Kultur Erakundea, an association on Basque culture. The work is aimed to join young people from Iparralde and Euskadi, different and alike at the same time thanks to Basque idiosyncrasy.

Furthermore, a travel agent from Waterbury, Vermont (New England-USA), offers a packaged tour to the Basque Country in its website. The advertisement includes a review made by native Basques, actual guides of the initiative.

You can also enjoy some pictures and videos on Basque weather and bands such as Elkano Browning Cream and Oreka TX, a group who fusions tradition and modernity through the Basque instrument txalaparta. Besides, they have become nominees for the Independent Music Awards. Congratulations!

Separately, Athletic Club Bilbao was defeated on Wednesday in a match against Paraguay. And a Basque citizen was the mastermind behind one of the world’s biggest networks of virus-infected computers… it was a data vacuum that stole credit cards and online banking credentials from as many as 12.7 million poisoned PCs.

Cheers!

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