- On 6 September it was declared a holiday by the Basque Government in the Basque Autonomous Community to celebrate the tour that Juan Sebastián Elcano has given to the world. The Vitorian popular initiative has focused on Plaza General Loma. He pointed out that "with this mobilization that we want to carry out we want to question the story and discourse that both the Basque Government and the Government of Spain are opening around this character, with the impulse of a critical and constructive vision".
The Vitorian people's initiative has called for a rally on Tuesday at noon on the occasion of Juan Sebastián Elcano's festivity on 6 September. Countless people have gathered, especially members of the Saharawi community, and one of them has provided his testimony to explain the history of the Sahrawi people and their repression.
After the rally, one of the callers spoke to ARGIA and explained that they did not want to pass "without more" this day: "We don't want our story to focus on characters like Elcano. We want to unite and work for a decolonial Basque country," he said.
The Vitorian popular initiative, in its note to the media, has moved the following vision of the subject: "We are not few who believe that through this story invented by the Basque Government we want to persuade and legitimize the exploitation and oppression of the centuries, presenting Juan Sebastián Elkano as a cosmopolitan, sympathetic and adventurous Basque. We want to highlight the era of domination initiated by Colón, Elkano and others and which lasts to date".
At that time, in this era, we Basques have been and are both dominated and dominators. And in the same way that we want to get rid of the oppression that we suffer both from France and from Spain, we want to get rid of what we suffer and endure, or if only then can the free future of all we all dream."