Basque rural sports
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Basque rural sports are competitions rooted in the traditional lifestyle of the Basque people.
Each Basque rural sport stems from two different Basque lifestyles, the farmer (baserritarra) and the fisherman (arrantzale). Although the largest variety of Basque rural sports comes from the life on the farm. The dying out of the need for farmers and fishermen has led to the dying out of many of these sports.
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[edit] Regattas
A very popular competition played along Basque coast lines.
This game was played back in the days when fishermen had to get to the fishing-grounds, where fish was abundant, and return to port in the least possible time, to deliver the goods after a hard day's work.
The crew is made up of thirteen oarsmen and the cox, who faces them at the stern. In the course of the regatta, he is in charge of directing the boat, as well as boosting the morale of his oarsmen; very often a whole town owes its joy to his skill at winning the town flag (la bandera), a prize awarded to the winner of the regatta.
The most important competition in the Bay of Biscay in summer takes place the first two Sundays in September; the best rowing boats then compete with each other in La Concha Bay, following a tradition over a hundred years old. There is a regatta in almost every seaside town between July and October.
[edit] Wood Cutting
An inland game, the wood-cutter is called "aizkolari" in the Basque language because "aizkora" is axe in Basque. It is a very popular sport. Its origin is to be found in the wood-cutter's and charcoal burner's daily activity, while working in the many forest up in the mountains.
A less common variant is called trontzalaritza (wood-sawing).
The use of large quantities of charcoal as fuel for the many foundries in the Basque Country in the 18th century together with the use of wood for shipbuilding, led to large areas of woodland being cut down. In time, those country towns and valleys that were famed for their top wood-cutters turned out to be those that have safeguarded the wealth of their forests.
Beechwood from beech forests in the north of Navarre is the type of wood generally used in the wood-cutting event.
In this competition, the wood-cutter has to cut a number of tree trunks arranged on the ground in rows; the winner cuts them up in the shortest possible time.
In summer, one can often see a couple of wood-cutters with their assistants (the "botillero" and the "enseñador") performing at the many local festivities and open-air dances, held in the small towns all over the country.
[edit] Stone Games
Stone Lifting has certainly been the most videly known Basque rural sport outside the country, thanks to the prowess of Iñaki Perurena, a stone-lifter (harrijasotzaile) from Leiza, in Navarre, the first and so far the only competitor able to lift a 300 Kg stone.
There are usually two stone-lifters competing in each event, taking turns in one or several attempts, to perform the greatest possible number of lifts; a lift is considered complete, when the stone has been properly balanced on the shoulder.
In the course of time, the shape of the stone to be lifted has varied a great deal. The four types of stone most frequently used that is rectangular, cylindrical, spherical and square, were established at the beginning of the 20th century.
Stones are traditionally made of granite, and their weight goes a little under 100 Kg to the already mentioned 300 Kg.
Together with wood-cutting, stone lifting is another example of the Basque rural sports most widely performed at local festivities, all over the Basque Country.
Stone Dragging either by animals, usually by oxen (idi probak), or by human traction, takes place on especially built trial grounds. The aim is to cover, within a given time, a distance called "plaza" or "clavo" (literally "square" or "nail" in English).
[edit] Other Games
Sheep dog trials and ramfights are a lively example of pastoral life. The former takes place in Oñati, in September, where the shepherd's skill at controlling his flock with the dog's help is judged.
Another sport, "peleas de carneros" (rams' fight) is very popular around the Urola basin, in Azpeitia, Arroa, etc., testing the strength and endurance, following the rams' natural instinct to batter and clash horns. The winner is the one which succeeds in driving its opponents away from the confrontation.
Two very well known Basque sports are tug-of-war (sokatira), where an eight-man team tries to drag along the other team by pulling the rope, and pelota. There are many ways of playing pelota: with the hand, with a wooden bat, a curved wicker basket attached to a leather glove, "share", "bounce" "long", "joko-garbi",... the last types mentioned are played in Gipuzkoa, only in Villabona, Zubieta and Lasarte, while they are common practice in the French Basque Country. We can find here too other very interesting and colourful examples of rural sports.
And it is in this part of the Basque Country known as Iparralde (literally the "north side"), where some kinds of highly interesting and colourful rural sports, closely related to the agricultural world, are practised.
Hay-bale lifting involves raising that load with the aid of a pulley, as many times as possible in three minutes, without the bales touching the ground.
Sheaf tossing is a related sport that consists in throwing the hay-bales over a height with the help of a pitchfork.
Scytheing (segalaritza) competitions consist in cutting equal parcels of grass with a scythe before the rival does.
Races with bags full of corn. Here participants need both speed and stamina to carry the weight on their shoulders.
The milk-can carriers competition is very similar to the "txingas" competition, but this time the load carried (the milk) is more related to farming activities.
Oxcart lifting is a display of strength. Contestants have to lift the back of the oxcart rotating it on its front side, which is fixed to the ground
