argia.eus
INPRIMATU
An image to scare the imaginary
Mikel Asurmendi @masurmendi 0000ko ren 00a

I speak from Hendaia. I want to give shape to the social political landscape of the Basques. Which point of view do I talk about? North, naski. For the Iparralde Abertzales it is their political framework. Local militants or elected officials do not say Euskal Herria, say Iparralde. The French electorate, for their part, have chosen Pays Basque. In other words, this framework is for them the whole of the Basque Country. Although they are for them, Basque Country or La Navarre, but these are L’ Espagne d(ir). In the figure of some French politicians from the North there is also Le Royaume de Navarre. In the illusion of the Abertzales, the Kingdom of Navarre.

But those shapes or images are not collective. Neither in Iparralde nor in Hegoalde are there collective images from all over the Basque Country. The nationalists, who aspire to a complete Basque Country, the ones we have, have been building the image of Euskal Herria in the last 60 years – since the birth of ETA – but that period of years has not been enough for the illusion we have received from history to reach beyond being a “collective imagination”.

Those of Hegoalde – to be honest, only nationalists – use fuzzy concepts in shaping the image of Iparralde’s real political landscape. They know that the European Community Kosta has just been set up, but when they receive information about it they do not know the simplest basic statistics. Simple facts include:

Hendaia is the corner of Gipuzkoa. To enter a data in Hegoalde's frame image: Hendaia has 17,000 inhabitants – 4,000 accommodations are ‘second houses’ – and 40,000 in summer. Between Hendaia and Baiona we are 100,000 and in autumn around Lapurdi 500,000 people are housed. We are Côte Basque touristique. On the contrary, there are 28,000 inhabitants in Lower Navarra. In Zuberoa, EUR 17,000.

In Gipuzkoa (1,980 km2) there are 715,000 inhabitants, 373 people live in each km2. Zuberoa (815.5 km2) 17,000 inhabitants, 17 bzt. km2. In Hendaia (7.95 km2) We have the same population as in Zuberoa: 2,111 square kilometres.

In the city of Irun there are 62,000 inhabitants (42 km2), 1,453 in km²), in Zuberoa there are 17 inhabitants km2.

Towards a more spectacular image: In the Anaka district of Irun (05, km2) and throughout Zuberoa the population is the same.

These are data for the realization of the image of the local panorama, as well as data to help in the social political analysis. A frame of images to scare our imagination.