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INPRIMATU
1,500 people in Ezpeleta to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Basque Country
  • On Saturday, April 15, in Ezpeleta, the great popular feast of the local currency was celebrated: Eusko Eguna. After three years of absence, we were finally able to reorganise the Basque Day. In addition, this year we are celebrating the tenth birthday of Euskoa! So we wanted to turn this special day into a great popular party, with a rich program. Thus, during the day and night, 1,500 people participated in the Basque Day. Now Eusko Egun is part of the annual holiday program and the unavoidable dates of the territory!
Enbata 2023ko apirilaren 17a
Argazkia: Enbata.

The day began at 10:00 with a first intervention: Euskoak, 10 years: what impact and result?. The economists Mathilde Fois-Duclerc, Julien Milanesi and Oriane Lafuente Sampietro presented their research on the local currency and its positive effects on the territory. Specifically, we were able to know the strict relations of the Basque Country with other alternative dynamics of the territory. Furthermore, with the guarantees of the calculations, we were able to know that this currency makes local value work better than the euro, and that is what could be done at the weekend event.

Photo: Galerna.

Throughout the morning, the creators and producers members of Euskoa were able to present and sell their products. It was a perfect opportunity to strengthen, through the local currency, the direct relationship between consumers and producers. As the speakers of the second speech this morning, Amazon Vs. the local trade, point out, this encourages a dynamic of groups with multiple advantages, unlike globalization that destroys local employment and online trade.

Once intellectually satisfied with the goodness, people were able to settle in the covered market and its surroundings to eat. That tasty food was broken with farmers’ seasonal produce and with the food of producers of the local monetary network.

In the middle of the day there were two interventions to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Basque Country. Jean-René Etchegaray, president of the Association of Basque Urban Centers and neighbors of Baiona, recalled the support and involvement of local schools in this territorial project. Mendi Esteban, member of the Basque Currency Directive Commission, and Xebax Christy, president of the Basque Wallet, recalled the long history of these 10 years. Euskoa's success has been remarkable thanks to the collaboration of collaborators, employees, professional users or individuals, and participation in organizations.

Photo: Philippe Saint Martin

Today more than 4 million Basques are at hand. The local currency of the Northern Basque Country, which has become the largest local currency in Europe, has been deliberately returned about the future. Challenges and capacities are great. And there are no new projects, no new ideas, no new challenges! Thus, to begin this new decade, the aspect of the Basque Country will change rapidly. In fact, following a participatory process that will determine the aspect of future banknotes, new banknotes will be introduced into circulation so that these new banknotes continue to transmit the territorial values of the local currency.

Euskera and Basque culture also took place on holiday: what now? A wonderful show, a puppet show (the one that filled the room). ), encourage the Gaia associations to the popular games… children and adults were truly bored!

In the evening, the youngest, the irrigated lips, went home. Then they started the night concerts. In the covered market of Ezpeleta, three musical groups heated the atmosphere. The first thing he played was Willis Drummond, an inescapable group in the Basque rock scene. Four months after the last concert in Iparralde, the team once again gained the hearts of the people. Then the brothers Mouss & Hakim went on stage to convey their desire of the other and the militancy. They remembered their close relationship with Euskal Herria and offered an excellent concert performing the great successes of 35 years of musical career, such as Zebda, Les Motivés, 100% Collègues, etc. Finally, Le Bal du Samedi Soir, a group made up of music enthusiasts, pulled out his best stickers to spread a warm and popular atmosphere among the public.

For his return, Basque Day fulfilled all its objectives. It was a fruitful day. People concentrated multiple times, so people from different generations also gathered together. We will continue to organize celebrations for the tenth birthday of the Basque Country throughout the territory until the end of the year.

Thanks to the commitment of the users of the local currency, but also the collaborators who collaborated in the organization of this event, the 2024 spring date is consolidated! A new edition of the Basque Country has already passed next year, which will reunite the great family of Euskoa, on the occasion of this popular and friendly annual holiday that brings meaning and value.