Euskotren Trena, formerly known just as Euskotren is a commuter, inter-city and urban transit train-operating company that operates local and inter-city passenger services in the provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the four commercial brands under which Euskotren operates, as a public company managed by the Basque government. The entire 181.1-kilometre (112.5 mi) network uses 1,000 mm narrow gauge rail tracks which have been owned by the Basque Government since their transferral from the Spanish government; the rail tracks and stations were part of the FEVE network until its transferral. Euskotren Trena also operates the Donostia/San Sebastián metro under the brand Metro Donostialdea.
Gipuzkoa is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques at the northeast, with the province and autonomous community of Navarre at east, Biscay at west, Álava at southwest and the Bay of Biscay to its north. It is located at the easternmost extreme of the Cantabric Sea, in the Bay of Biscay. It has 66 kilometres of coast land.
Akelarre is the Basque term meaning Witches' Sabbath. Akerra means male goat in the Basque language. Witches' sabbaths were envisioned as presided over by a goat.
Azpeitia is a town and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, Spain, located on the Urola river a few kilometres east of Azkoitia. Its population is 14,580. It is located 41 kilometres southwest of Donostia/San Sebastián.
Lazkao is a town and municipality located in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country.
Gipuzkoan is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in the central and eastern parts of the province of Gipuzkoa in Basque Country and also in the northernmost part of Navarre. It is a central dialect of Basque according to the traditional dialectal classification of the language based on research carried out by Lucien Bonaparte in the 19th century. He included varieties spoken in the Sakana and Burunda valleys also in the Gipuzkoan dialect, however this approach has been disputed by modern Basque linguists.
Zumarraga is a municipality and industrial town in Gipuzkoa province of the Basque Country autonomous community of northern Spain, approximately 35 miles (56 km) by road southwest of San Sebastián and 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Idiazabal. As of 2018 the municipality had a population of 9834 people. The Urola river flows through the vicinity. It is the birthplace of Miguel López de Legazpi, conquistador who explored the Pacific Islands and the East Indies, and of Iñaki Urdangarín, the husband of Infanta Cristina of Spain.
Bengoetxea, Bengoechea or Bengoetchea is a Basque surname which is common all throughout the Basque Country, especially in cities such as: Murelaga, Lizarza, Alkitza, Aizarna, Aulestia, Igeldo, Oiartzun, Aia, Olaberria, Lazkano, Berrobi (Tolosa) and Zizurkil in Gipuzkoa; Valley of Orozko, Mungia, Zeberio, Mundaka and Galdakao in Biscay; and in Arrieta and Baranbio (Amurrio) in Alava.
Etxeberria (Basque pronunciation:[etʃeβeri.a], modern Basque spelling) is a Basque language placename and surname from the Basque Country in Spain and France, meaning 'the new house'. It shows one meaningful variant, Etxeberri (no Basque article –a, 'the'), and a number of later spelling variants produced in Spanish and other languages. Etxebarri(a) is a western Basque dialectal variant, with the same etymology. Etxarri (Echarri) is attested as stemming from Etxaberri.
San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián, is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, 20 km from the France–Spain border. The capital city of the province of Gipuzkoa, the municipality's population is 188,102 as of 2021, with its metropolitan area reaching 436,500 in 2010. Locals call themselves donostiarra (singular), both in Spanish and Basque. It is also a part of Basque Eurocity Bayonne-San Sebastián.
The Oria is a river in the Basque Country at the north of the Iberian Peninsula. It's one of a series of Basque rivers flowing into the Bay of Biscay and the main river of the province Gipuzkoa in volume, length (75 km) and basin (882.5 km2), the main feature of these rivers aligned south to north being their shortness. The maximum elevation at the source is 1,260 m, while at its lowest height the tidal influence extends inland up to Usurbil (estuary). On this final stretch, many marsh and wetland strips dotted the banks of the Oria, although some of them have been drained for agricultural and building purposes.
A sagardotegi is a type of cider house found in the Basque Country where Basque cider and traditional foods such as cod omelettes are served. Modern sagardotegis can broadly be described as a cross between a steakhouse and a cider house.
Koldo Zuazo is a Basque linguist, professor at the University of the Basque Country and specialist in Basque language dialectology and sociolinguistics.
Tourism in the Basque Autonomous Community has increased considerably in recent years, and is a popular destination for tourists from Spain and France. According to data from the Eustat the number of tourists entering the region in the year 2009 was 1,991,790, with the final result still pending. 71% of the yearly visitors come from the rest of Spain; the greatest number from Madrid Autonomous Community (14.2%), and Catalonia (11.1%). International visitors make up the remaining 29% - the largest percent come from France (7.2%). 62% of the people who come to the Basque Autonomous Community visit one of the three capitals, 27% visit inland and 11% visit the coast. The average stay of the visitors is 2 days.
Ibilaldia, meaning trip, journey, or march in English, is a festival organized every year the last Sunday of May or first of June to help the ikastolak in Biscay, Basque Country in Spain.
Basque festivals, also known as Euskal jaiak, are festivals celebrating Basque culture, including Basque dance, Basque cuisine, Basque sports, and elements of Basque folklore. Basque festivals are organized in the United States of America in towns with an important population of Basque descendants, such as Elko, Reno, Winnemucca, Bakersfield, Chino, San Francisco, and Boise. The first Western Basque Festival was held in Sparks, Nevada, on June 6–7 1956. Elko hosts one of the largest Basque Festivals in the United States, second only to Boise's world famous Jaialdi, held roughly every five years around the 4th of July weekend. Similar festivals are celebrated in Argentina and other countries where Basque diaspora is set. Basque festivals are also celebrated in the Basque Country: Euskal Jaiak celebrations in September in Donostia and Zarautz are famous.
The autonomous community of the Basque Country within Spain contains several comarcas or eskualdeak in the Basque language, referring to local districts, grouped into its three long-established provinces.
Xabier Lete Bergaretxe was a Basque writer, poet, singer and politician. He started to write from an early age and he often published articles in the magazine "Zeruko Argia". In 1965 he created a band of Basque Music with Mikel Laboa, Benito Lertxundi, Joxean Artze, Jose Angel Irigarai and Lourdes Iriondo. The band, which was called "Ez Dok Amairu", disappeared in 1972, but Xabier Lete kept on singing with Lourdes Iriondo, who, by that time, had become his wife.
Araba Euskaraz is the festivity that ikastola-s of Álava celebrate. The Ikastola-s' Association organizes it annually in mid-June, and it was first organized in 1981 in Vitoria, capital of Álava.
Lourdes Iriondo Mujika was a Basque singer and writer from Spain known for helping to revitalize the Basque Language. She was born in San Sebastián on 27 March 1937 and lived in Urnieta, Spain. She is remembered as one of the most popular members of a singing group and cultural movement that renewed Basque songwriting.
