That is what the Basques are most attracted to us. I lived there for 7 long and sweet years in San Isidro de Heredia and once came to mind that I had a responsibility to spread what I saw there on our land, commissioned by a small inner voice.

This small country of about six million inhabitants, well tightly placed in the narrow American war, and which we have considered as a holiday destination, is one of the oldest democracies in Ibero-America, a small corner where the rights and needs of the majority are not yet the privileges of a few marginalized. The country guarantees a public and dignified education system to all citizens, with its own clashes with Social Security Fund such as Osakidetza or our Osasunbidea, in addition to meeting the needs of domestic water supply and electric power, services available to the majority. The people have just become a benchmark for the use of sustainable energy sources, as the energy they use comes from the total share of renewable energy. By the way, a quarter of its area (51,100 km2) is protected through the National Parks network, and many say it is the happiest country in the world.

But things aren't always cool or always hot, they have a thousand color suits. That is why we say that within this small town that has the breadth of Aragon, the Comarca of Pamplona (587.3 km²) or the Duranguesado (298.8 km²) and Busturialdea (220 km²), or the Costa Rica has planted Piñaz (Ananas comosus) an area similar to that generated jointly by the upper Urola and the Goierri. If we immerse ourselves in the old rags spread by the precipices, we will also see how these lands are no longer under government, but under the control of the most terrible job insecurity and ecogenicide.

Behind what we consider to be a tropical and exotic dessert for Christmas the hardest and most violent influences that we do not want to imagine hide. To give a few numbers, let no one be frightened. Between 1990 and 2009 there has been an increase of 675% in the extension of the land occupied by this industrial activity for its growth, having poured 50,000 hectares of fertile and wild soil at present. More than half of these lands are in the hands of two huge corporations, Del Monte and Pindeco, if you can say, leaving only 4% of the production in the hands of some 1200 small farmers. The workers engaged in this work, in exchange for miserable wages under a scorching sun, with twelve hours of work and continuous exposure to the dangerous agrochemicals used, in the illegality portfolio. It is known (State of the Nation, Report XV, 2008) that “Entrepreneurs do not take any measure of social welfare”, on the other hand, the countries where the monoculous pineapple (HDI) is located Human Development Index, according to that Human Development Index, the lowest places and the places where these companies are located always coincide. In addition (Official Gazette, Exp 19.371) these corporations do not tax any kind of responsibility for the production of Piña. In other words, the Government does not know what to do with these gigantic corporations that manage this monodangerous activity that it has taken over the country in recent years.

Two of the three fruit specimens that come to our houses originate in Costa Rica and before reaching our homes it has had to travel more than 8,000 km away, which has caused it a great pollution. But if it were only by the way, the MD2 “Golden” variety that has been cared for the most since 2006 takes two years to achieve its growth, will give two fruits throughout its life, then the plantation is burned, once again creating a second plantation on that flown and sterile land, gradually until the total exhaustion of the land and until the total destruction. In many places it is dedicated to launching the Jungle at night and at dawn there is no trace of the extensive forest that has been completely buried.

It is not fair, but who cares that in the very modest supermarket we pay EUR 1.89 of this tasty and tasty fruit forgets us. Is the real price of this destructive fruit possible? And the missing Selva, and its animals, and the people who have been forced to move, and the waters and lands of the poisoned rivers, and the thousands and thousands of workers who have remained on the road. What's the price of all that? We are prepared to accept it in exchange for a quick and delicate whim that we do not need. That's what we buy every time we buy a pineapple. Don't ask me.

How many times the inhabitants, groups and movements of Costa Rica have managed to raise their voices so that noise could be heard around the world; many domestic water sources were already banned in Europe more than ten years ago, denouncing that they are contaminated with chemicals. In 2007, a European Commission Directive prohibited the use of Paraquat venom around the world, through the application of the moratorium its use was banned. One company in Costa Rica refused to allow open land use and is still being used. The last issue has been to place America on the largest wetland of the Center, that monoculture and monoculture coward, called the Terraba Sierpe wetland, which is protected as Urdaibai, but which in the long run does not seem sufficient. When money is thirsty, there is no drink that can satiate it.

Listen! We've also begun to get things out of place, but to forget about these very troubling data that can make us lose our sleep, the next time we start looking for a tropical paradise, we may not find it anywhere and we will have no choice but to go up to Aralar. Do not offend anyone! But go ahead with our own decisions, with open mouths and closed eyes, as the world spins!

Gorka Artizar Izurzu Zabraises

Environmental Educator

(Lived in Costa Rica)