Image of Xabier Mina, a few days before his departure from England. The name Martín Xabier Mina means little to most Navarrese. When referring to the full name of this historical figure, he is often called Francisco Xabier Mina, as in this engraving or in Mexico itself. In the preparations of the Mexican expedition, both in England and in the United States, several people mistook our Xabier Mina with Uncle Francisco Espozo, already known as Espoz y Mina de Fantzis throughout Europe, and this one did not feel bad for the confusion, for the sake of obtaining resources and help; however, in many of his claims in Mexico, he signed the Xabier Mina, more specifically, Xavier Mina.
They confuse him, and often confuse his homeland: As if he were born in Idotzin (Ibargoiti), the town where his uncle was born. But it was in Otano (Elorcibar) that Xabier Mina was born on July 1, 1789, 13 days before the Bastille of Paris was taken by the French revolutionaries. You can still see the ruins of his house, which fell a few years ago, on the left side of the street leading to the church of Otano. At the entrance of this village, in a cultural information panel, the Student or Boy Xabier Mina is mentioned as the son of the village, but with a different error, which is the date of his birth: The year 1789 was replaced by 1798.