Why do they call you “Pintxe”?

I started working on the works of the Motorway of Navarre when I was young and I was not yet a young man. That's why they named me "Pintxe."

Working from a young age?

Yes. I started at age 14 in a well-known clothing store. “Numancia, the house of elegance.” Then, among other things, I worked as a collector on the Burundesa buses, until I started building. Then I've done a lot of other things, like organic wine.

What prompted him to learn Basque?

In my youth, the Basque Country was always there in one way or another, even if it was not at the foundation of our house. My grandfather and my mom were from Pamplona, and they were Basques, but I barely had time to meet them. In addition, there was not much talk at home, among other things, about the Basque country. Aitatxi and amatxi were binding, they worked in the well-known company Arantzadi, and that's why we've always had many books at hand in our house. Since I was a child, I really liked reading. Two of them have been very important writers: Sarrionandia and Itxaro Borda I'm passionate about them, and I've learned a lot with them. I love how they handle language. They gave me hope to learn Basque.

When I was young I often went to the mountain, like many of our generation, and when you've walked around you realize that many names of mountains, valleys and villages are in Basque. In Pamplona too. The Basque country has always been close.

On the other hand, during the transition, the construction project of an Euskal Herria Euskaldun was very strong. I have been a member of Herri Batasuna, I am a member of the Pro Amnesty Commission and a member of LAB. Politics marked us and I am glad of it, although many of us have been arrested for political ideas. I am quite clear that I am a worker. That kind of staff identifies me.

I have ever heard you say that you have studied in the Basque Country and in the University of the Pyrenees...

Yes. I started studying at HABE, at a boarding school in Hondarribia. For the four or five months I was there, I was able to lay a solid foundation. Then I spent a year at the Language School of Pamplona with Mikel Taberna and studied something extraordinary. Some and others, the professors of that time were, in my opinion, militants in favor of the real Basque. I kept the illusion that they gave us.

Then it has touched me to work a lot for Lapurdi, Sakana, Baztan, Nafarroa Beherea, Zuberoa… I have learned the Basque language on both sides of the Pyrenees. After finishing the job, I picked up the notebook and on the same day I would listen to or point to what I had learned. In Pamplona I speak little because my friends do not know. They're Basque, but they haven't learned. Not having someone to talk to in Basque in the nearby environment has forced me to retain other options.

What was the rock manager like?

I always liked rock and roll, traditional song and bertsos. In the 1980s the Basque Rock Radical emerged and a friend from Pamplona invited me to accompany him as a manager. I said yes, why not? I didn't think too much. So I met La Polla Records, Kortatu and Scar. During those two or three years there were two special campaigns: “March and fight” against NATO. There were also few demonstrations against Lemoiz. I was a member of the Pro Amnesty Commission and I found it very interesting to be able to reconcile militancy with such a different kind of work. We form a triangle with music, the fight for prisoners and politics. It was a very intense time. Gaztetxes were being created everywhere, and every week there were many concerts. With La Polla Records, at least in the Basque Country, more than a thousand people gathered in each concert. I don't think I've known her. We also went to Spain and Catalonia. We were in Germany and in Italy. They were truly intense and fruitful years. It was a great time.

How did the idea of making a Jonqui's book of trajectories come about?

It was purely personal. Here in Pamplona, I wanted to express what happened to me in different areas. It's a narrative. Elaboration in verse, but narration. I wanted to make a special mention of the friends I have lost because of the drug, and I think I managed to do so. I had to express the feelings I felt. It's a work of great value to Eneko and at the same time an essay to see how I managed to do it in writing.

The beginning is when we started going to Francoist school and the end, in the late 1980s, when most of my friends and acquaintances died. The same is true of women as men.

Has the drug made you suffer a lot?

Yes. Especially in the 1980s. Here, in the Old Town of Pamplona, dozens of young people died. Above all, the influence of heroin was evident. I am not a sociologist but more than 40 young people died in the Casco Viejo de Pamplona. By making a simple calculation, we could say that in Pamplona 300 young people died easily. In Euskal Herria we can speak calmly of the death of 3,000-4,000 young people in the period of 10-15 years.

Did you also fall into your hands?

No. I don't. I have used drugs and alcohol, like many people, but without falling into the claw, precisely because I saw and lived very close to this tragedy.

Anyway, I'm not an anti-drug. The drugs are there, and everyone decides what to do. It's a personal choice. By force of violence, nobody does. Not being able to get out of there is something else, but getting everyone to do whatever they want.

Is your drug now Basque?

Yes, it is. Today I am completely tied and pastoral is my passion.

How did you fall in love with pastoralists?

In Zuberoa, Pagola, I saw for the first time a pastoral ministry. It was Pete Basaburu, in 1982. That day I loved pastoral care and I loved it. In this show the dance, the bertso, the theater and the auzolan were mixed. Wonderful. Since then I have seen everything I have been able to. And then, at home, read the flyer over and over again. My Basque was very fair to understand everything, so I had to make a great effort to understand everything. And I've learned a lot from them. If there's any sign of beauty in my language, it's what I've learned in pastoralists.

Why the pastoral Karmen Etxalarkoa?

Before I have to say that writing pastoral care is not that difficult. If you have a clear idea in your head, you can do anything. It didn't cost me that much. One winter afternoon, just after reading the work of Mérimée, I started thinking about why not give this tragedy as a pastoral one. I started writing as a distraction, and I did it after about four months.

After writing, I thought about what I could do with it, and I went to Etxalar and I went to Etxalar to see Pastor Peio Apezetxea. He put me in touch with the mayor and with the people who move in the culture. Apparently, they liked the idea and after several meetings they decided to make it young and adult.

How many people in auzolan?

More than 160 people among all the people who work in the world of the Modisto, Modisto and Collaborator. The Etxalar plus the members of the Castillo de Amaiur group. About twenty people from Baztan. I went to them as a support because the novel mentions that Joxe Lizarragabengoa was from Baztan, from Elizondo.

Redemption, the director, is barkoxtarra Pantxika Urruty. We've been friends for a long time and I asked for help. She has been immersed in the pastoral world for years and has participated on several occasions. The first was in Etxahu and then came the Ximena Pastoral Care. In 2014 he participated in the pastoral Gerezien denbora and the Katalina Erauso project. In the latter, he serves as director. She immediately told me that it was a subject, among other things, because she is a woman. He's the creator of the show.

I can't believe it. I know this will only happen once and I have to enjoy and take advantage of it.

What does this pastoral care look like from the point of view of language?

It's batu, because I don't know but unify, but I've tried to collect lexicon from all the Pyrenean valleys. That's been my career, and when it comes to writing, I've also taken advantage of it. Some endangered words can be recovered and used. We have to try to beautify our ever-poorer Basque with those words.

It can be said that it is a small sample of Pyrenean languages. I believe that the Navarros are the Pyrenees Indians, perhaps the last Indians. I think so.

What about the duration?

Three long hours. I know that pastoralists have a bad reputation, but I want to say that in pastoralists you don't have to look at whether it's long or short, but if it's fun and interesting. If it is spectacular, the duration is not the most important, as happens with football, ball games or rock festivals.

Does it have a classical structure?

Pastoral care has its “legislation”, a way of doing. This will be classical pastoral care, the first to be carried out in the South. The pastoral Joxemiel Bidadores, created to pay tribute to the deceased writer and researcher, but who did not have the structure of classical pastoral care, was recently celebrated in Pamplona. That is why I say that ours is the first and, in that sense, I tell the participants that we are making history. Karmen has 240 verses or coplas, seven singers, dances, battles… There are red and blue, bad and good, but not Turks and Christians. There are singing kids, but they're not angels. They are very important, because in a tragedy we must also explain innocence and hope. As for the songs, they are all new, except for some of the Xalbador bertsos they have sung.

In all the mustraks we are speaking only in Basque, there has been no other language and that is important.

What's Karmen like?

He's a character with a lot of skylights. Karmen is evader and smuggler. He's married, but he lies with dozens of lovers. It knows very well to encourage others to commit murder. He defends himself and his status as a woman until death. I'm surprised that in a 19th century novel, a woman like this appears. At that time, this novel was also shocked, and it received harsh criticism.

Jose is also a very smart character. It's a work written by a romantic, and it has nothing moralistic about it. We want to bring this work to the stage as it is. Look at Olaetxea will be the etxalartarra Karmen and Jose the baztandarra, Miel Joxe Ariztia will be the amaiurtarra. We wanted to respect it, as a particularity.

The text of Mérimée contains interviews in Basque, right?

Yes. Many references to the Basque Country, as well as to the Navarre legislation of the time. He knew the Basque Country well, and especially Navarre. He always talks about Spain on the one hand and Navarre on the other, not just one. It's a very interesting job in many ways.