The Sanmartines are well known in our homes, as it is time to kill the pig. However, many people will not know that before St. Martin's day marked the end of the agricultural year. And that was no nonsense. In fact, at the end of the year, I had to pay an annual rent to my employer. The farmers then barely reached the end of the year and the payment was delayed. The last period ended St. Thomas's day and then they went down to the capitals to pay the rent to the bourgeois and love. Here is the origin of the fairs and festivities of the Santomasses today.

Therefore, the day we celebrate today in a festive atmosphere is a faithful reflection of the logic of exploitation of the Basque village. But to what extent did the Basque farmhouse function as a system of exploitation? Well, in the 19th century, of all the land that was cultivated in Bizkaia, only 36% were cultivated directly by the owners: the rest of the land was cultivated by the garrisons that were on rent. And the latter had to allocate between half and a third of the total production of the year to the payment of the rent, which was paid in kind. Apparently, at the origin of the dwellings, around the 15th century, it was more common for the landlords to own their houses and farms. But with the development of capitalism, the new bourgeoisie growing up in cities began to see the countryside as a safe and profitable investment asset. The buying and renting of farmhouses became a common practice among the rich.

There has been a great deal of talk here about the freedom of the Basque farmer and the mini-fund which has been characteristic here. Although caserío has undergone several phases, it seems that by the end of the nineteenth century it was a minority reality in our rural areas. The interests of the bourgeois and caciques of the time turned the Basque farmhouse into a system of exploitation of the peasants. In this sense, there are those who argue that in our country there was an expanded or dispersed latifundium. As an example, we have data from a study carried out in the Second Spanish Republic in 1933: In Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, 376 owners were located with more than 100 hectares of land, of which five had more than 1,000 hectares of land. These great properties were scattered in villages and lands of different villages. Do the math! The history of the Basque working people does not begin with the hammers of the factories, but with the scourges (and revolts) of the villages.