Read in Berria in mid-August: “La Salve sin vuelta hoy en Azkoitia”. I did not mean that, after the crisis, the Christians of Azkoitia would not go out to take the stockings for the Salve, but that the solemn excursion that the Corporation made from the Consistorial House to the church every year, the day of Santa Maria, would be suspended this year.

Title of the internal article:Untie the knot of tradition. And then, the views of all parties, almost inevitably, link this tradition to religion. That is not the case. In tradition, when the Municipal Plenary decides to go somewhere as a corporation, it constitutes a ritual of accompaniment. The model that has come at least since the 18th century has been the following: before the group of txistularis and the clarines playing the Mayor, the municipal police and the maceros (all dressed in gala); behind the youngest councilor with the ikurrina of the City and following in two rows all the other councillors. Finally, the Deputy Mayor on the sides, with the ring of wicker or baton in his hand.

These courtship takes place in a wide variety of celebrations. For example, when the General Boards meet in a village. Some milestones: In 1918, it was held in Oñati la I. Editing of the Society of Basque Studies. Numerous municipal representatives also appeared in the International Congress or in the Assembly held in Estella on 14 June 1931 to approve the so-called “Basque Navarro Statute”. Most of them went to the demonstration and the concentration of the municipalities in which the Autonomy Statute was called for in Vitoria after Franco's death. Even when the invitation to civil, political or religious acts has been approved by the municipal plenary.

That is, these ritual manifestations are “civil and secular”. The question is different from what they are created or where. If the Municipal Plenary does not want to go to the Church, it is OK – although I think it is more courteous than a matter of secularism – but it seeks alternatives with the symbols of authority to explain to the citizens. Because it is very interesting that authorities appear before the people and that they have to keep the eyes of the people. They are forms of control and participation. Anthropologists have clearly shown their symbolic value: to remind the authorities – to make them feel – that the power they have comes from the citizens. Not only the power, but the shadow, the real authority. They are not mere managers, but something else, because they have a representative function. Not only have they been elected to defend their ideas, but their position has a public dimension. In addition to what has been said, citizens feel “their” and “closely” to those they have chosen, using an aesthetic code well integrated into the culture in which this group of people lives.

It is a profound issue and deserves a more comprehensive approach. People with ecological sensitivity should take into account that cultural contributions may also produce the Tximeleta effect. “Get out and don’t put our bag c’est fini.” Let us be clear, at least, that we are not talking about an alley. It takes foundation to untie the knot of tradition.