In the sixteenth century it was Basque between 70 and 80% of the population of Nafarroa Garaia. Thus came to the conclusion El iceberg navarro, published in 2017 by historian Peio Monteano. Basque and Spanish in 16th-century Navarra. The Basque and the Spanish in the 16th century Navarre). According to calculations made by Monteano, the Crown of Castile during the hundred years following the conquest of the Kingdom of Navarre, 7 out of 10 of the population lived in territories where Euskera predominated and the majority of its inhabitants were monolingual and illiterate Euskaldunes, while 2 out of 10 of the population lived in the southern Castilian extreme and 10% lived in municipalities where the romance was rather mixed.

However, despite the fact that the majority of the population at the time was Euskaldun monolingue, the cultured and cultured language, that is, the one used in the administration (we would say it was the official day) was Castilian (by then Castilian had assimilated medieval Navarro romance). Consequently, the officials and writers who worked in the administration at the time should be bilingual, as they had to work as translators, because what they received in Basque was written in Spanish and what was written in Spanish had to be communicated in Basque.

Normally, how has social history taught us? The voice of the plain people goes unnoticed in the written documents, but the rigorous investigator can detect and conceal remains of humble people. Here is the metaphor of the title: in those documents analyzed by Monteano you can read the summit on erdaldune water, but under it you can see the existence of a hidden Vascophony reality.

More recently, last March, VII. Publication of the results of the Sociolingusítica Survey. It appears that 14.1 per cent of Navarros are full vasco-speakers and 10.6 per cent are Vascophones. The socio-linguistic situation has radically revolutionized over the sixteenth century, from 80% to 14%, what has happened along the way? The great regression of the Basque Country in the old kingdom began in the nineteenth century, as a consequence of the development of the modern State, the proliferation of the economy and exchanges, the post-carlist trauma, prejudices and contempt for language…

Today, Euskera and Basque culture seem to be at an important turning point. The globalized and virtual world has posed a great challenge to the old language of Aitor. We will be able to give the right answer!