Guernica, officially Gernika in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo, whose population is 16,224 as of 2009.
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Vascongadas, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
Fuero, Fur, Foro or Foru is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin forum, an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms for and foire, and the Portuguese terms foro and foral; all of these words have related, but somewhat different meanings.
On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica was aerially bombed during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name Operation Rügen. The town was being used as a communications centre by Republican forces just behind the front line, and the raid was intended to destroy bridges and roads. The operation opened the way to Franco's capture of Bilbao and his victory in northern Spain.
José Antonio Aguirre y Lecube was a Basque politician and activist in the Basque Nationalist Party. He was the first president of the Provisional Government of the Basque Country and the executive defense advisor during the Spanish Civil War. Under his mandate, the Provisional Government formed the Basque Army and fought for the Second Spanish Republic.
Durango is a town and municipality of the historical territory and province of Biscay, located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is the main town of Durangaldea, one of the comarcas of Biscay. Because of its economical activities and population, Durango is considered one of the largest towns in Biscay after the ones that compose the conurbation of Greater Bilbao.
The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979, widely known as the Statute of Gernika, is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The Statute was named "Statute of Gernika" after the city of Gernika, where its final form was approved on 29 December 1978. It was ratified by referendum on 25 October 1979, despite the abstention of more than 40% of the electorate. The statute was accepted by the lower house of the Spanish Parliament on November 29 and the Spanish Senate on December 12.
The University of the Basque Country is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community.
The Urdaibai estuary is a natural region and a Biosphere Reserve of Biscay, Basque Country, Spain. It is also referred as Mundaka or Gernika estuary.
The Southern Basque Country refers to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.
The current Basque coat of arms is the official coat of arms of the Basque Country, Autonomous community of Spain. It consists of a party per cross representing the three historical territories of Álava, Gipuzkoa and Biscay, as well as a fourth, void quarter. The arms are ringed by a regal wreath of oak leaves, symbolic of the Gernikako Arbola. The fourth quarter constituted since the late 19th century the linked chains of Navarre; however, following a legal suit by the Navarre Government claiming that the usage of the arms of a region on the flag of another was illegal, the Constitutional Court of Spain ordered the removal of the chains of Navarre in a judgement of 1986.
The General Assemblies is the name of the legislative body (legislature) of the Spanish Basque territories of Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Alava and Navarre, and the elected assemblies to which the Government of each territory is responsible. The northern, French Basque Country, had its own regional assemblies until the Napoleonic period.
Basque civil law is the civil law partially applicable in the Spanish part of the Basque Country.
"Gernikako Arbola" is the title of a song in bertso form presented both in Madrid (1853) and by the shrine of Saint Anthony at Urkiola (1854) by the Basque bard José María Iparraguirre, celebrating the Tree of Gernika and the Basque liberties. The song is the unofficial anthem of the Basques, but only the first stanza is sung as the Basque anthem. In 2007, the General Assembly of Biscay declared it the district's official anthem.
Alejandro María Daniel Irujo Urra (1862-1911) was a Spanish lawyer. In popular discourse he is known as father of Manuel Irujo Ollo, a Basque political leader. In scholarly historiographic realm he is acknowledged mostly as defense attorney of Sabino Arana during his trials of 1896 and 1902. Politically Irujo is considered a typical case of an identity located in-between Carlism and emerging Spain's peripheral nationalisms, in this case the Basque one.
The Gamazada is the popular reaction in Navarre in 1893 and 1894 to when the Spanish finance minister of the Liberal Party under Prime Minister Sagasta, Germán Gamazo, tried to suppress the fueros that had been established in the Compromise Act of 1841. It caused a huge uproar among the people and institutions of Navarre, with demonstrations and petitions.
The Tree of Gernika is a personal account of the Basque campaign of the Spanish Civil War by London Times correspondent G. L. Steer. The book is known for its description of the 1937 bombing of Guernica. The author was previously known for his reportage on the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The book includes photographs and maps. Its photographs were especially powerful in spreading news of the event. Steer was one of four foreign journalists in the area and was partially responsible for spreading news of the attack contrary to Franco, who at first denied that the attack had occurred. The book's criticism of Franco Nationalism, particularly the 1937 bombing of Guernica, prevented its publication within Spain. The book's Basque translation was published by exiles in Caracas in 1963. Foreign Affairs called The Tree of Gernika a "reportorial masterpiece in its vividness, insight and authenticity" and recommended it for Franco adherents.
José María Iparraguirre, (1820–1881) was a Spanish poet and writer in the Basque language, bertsolari and musician.
The Cross of the Tree of Gernika is a civil medal awarded in the Basque Country, Spain. It is awarded by the Basque Government to people "who have distinguished themselves in their services to the Basque Country in defense of its identity and the restoration of its personality; and generally in social, economic and cultural fields". It is the highest distinction awarded by the Basque Government.
Juan Tomás de Gandarias Durañona was a Spanish businessman and politician. He founded some of the most important industrial, mining, and financial companies in Spain, such as Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, Banco Urquijo, Talleres de Guernica, and many others; all of which seeded in Biscay. He is thus widely regarded as the fundamental head behind the industrialization and industrial development of Biscay and the Basque Country, being present in practically all sectors, and subsequently in the social identity of those regions from the 20th century onwards.
