“Euskaraldia? What is that, grandmother?” asked the sobrino.Campaña of promoting the use of Euskera, which was done every two years and which lasted fifteen days as.El rapporteur told us that this year was the fifth Euskaraldia, and although in those fifteen days people were ten percent more, at the end of the use they were coming down quickly, and the latest measurements show that ten years ago we heard less Euskera. That's everyone's fault, this, this and the other.

I knew that without the speaker telling me. I was tired of hearing the same sheet every two years and putting the same sheet on my chest. Suddenly I got a little light on. I spent the absorbed conversation in my thoughts. The days that follow, almost as if I didn't live in this world. I told my dear and dear friend Equíne what I thought. We agreed. We both liked mystery a lot. Our specialty was the secret societies: Templars, Masons, Club Bildebig, Illuminatias (we knew some of them, haha). We had read the Da Vinci Code and all novels of this kind. Throughout the weekend Ekiñe and I organized the plan.

“What plan? “Tell them!”, I was making your sobrina.Espera nervous, don’t be the siete.Pero with a condition, I will tell you that you will keep the secret. The plan, you see, was very simple. If someone started in Spanish in our group of friends, and that was happening at any time, we would always answer him in Basque. But we wouldn't say, "Do it in Basque! and so on. And we had to contact a person from another group of friends at the institute, the Euskaltzales. I had to convince her and do the same with her team. But secretly, no one had to know anything about that plan. Like everyone who has been there needs a name, we put Ixo… to the secret society.

“Calla? Joo, what nice; you tell me many times.” What seemed like a teenage game at first began to bear fruit. The next year's measurement showed that usage increased by 20% in our institute and by 10% in the municipality. The increase was attributed to the Basque Country, although it was not observed in the surrounding villages. But gradually, as a drop of oil in the water, or as a plague that tore us apart at one time, the Ixokides network spread, and throughout Euskal Herria there was an upward trend that was attributed to Euskaraldia.

“What had to be done to be Ixokide?” asked the nephew with his upright ears. Some member of the silence network had to contact and ask him to pass by and swear he would keep the secret. And of course, always the first word in Euskera, and the others will try to channel the Spanish-language conversations.

Ixokides. The congress was convened the following year. San Juan a night in the campas of Legaire, where in 1978 the great festival Bai Euskarari was celebrated. There was a full moon, I remember it perfectly. There we were Ekiñe and I, accompanied by some five hundred friends. No photos, no cameras, no mobiles. After the public presentation, Ekiñe said: “Please raise your hand those who know who Txillardegi was.” Silence. People looked at each other. Few hands rose, at most one in ten. For us it was the thermometer of the situation. The meeting was very fruitful, many new ideas were published and important decisions were taken. It is useless to paint the house elegantly, if there is nothing inside. It is not enough to encourage the use of the language if content is conveyed with little substance in that language. We had to know and consume our history, our literature, our music, our art, our bertsolarism, our theater and our cinema. Knowing and consuming products from our farmers, craftsmen, industries… Caring for mother earth. We strongly committed ourselves to delving into these issues, respecting the hobbies and limitations of each nosotros.Lo first we had to do was decorate and fill the rooms of the house. Yes, with windows open to the four winds to get rich with the air from everywhere.

The five hundred Ixokides of Legaire became five thousand years later, the use of the Basque Country increased as the milk in flames, and years later the organizers of Euskaraldia ended the initiative, after congratulating the citizens and themselves.

“Does the secret society Ixo still exist? I want to get in.” His nephew followed with the greatest attention. Shhh! If you hide the secret from me, I will introduce you when I am older.

And if this was the case, if not, there was no need for Euskaraldia anymore.