How did you come from Bilbao to Lakabe?

I came with my mother at the age of 10. When the mother decided she wanted life on the mountain, we went to the area of Matavjanuary, at the Bierzo de León. After two years there, we learned that there was a similar project in Navarre, in the town of Arizkuren. We were there for a year, because there were no more children. The mother already knew Lakabe, because her cousin and a neighbor friend of Bilbao had been here, so we came here and stayed. When my mother told me they were leaving Bilbao it was bad news, because there I left my friends and everything, but I got used to it and I was very happy here, free and comfortable.

Life here is very satisfying for me. Now I don't imagine living in the city. When I went out to study, I didn't want to do high school in the city, and I looked for something I learned in some village. I went to Elizondo and for two years I studied studies related to mountain biking, horse riding and leisure activities. Living on the mountain and in a community project is what is in my soul.

At the time of children I went to school to Aoiz?

In my times, yes. I ended there in 2002, and a couple of years later, we decided to move to Garralda by the swamp of Itoiz. We don't want children to be in Aoiz because it's dangerous. Until the age of six, the kids are here, in the small and alternative school here, and then we take them to Garralda. We have to take them with us and we don't even get help for the dining room, because in theory that's not what belongs to us. Although Aoiz and Garralda are at the same distance, a quarter of an hour from here, Aoiz is our duty by law.

How many people now live in Lakabe?

40 people. Of these, 13 are boys and girls. When I was little, we were more children than adults. Then there was a very short streak of children and now the number is increasing again. They belong to the third generation of Lakabe.Salior here at
the age of 16, but with the intention of remaining attached to nature, right?
That's what I wanted. After studying Vocational Training at Elizondo, I did internships at Otsagabia in a small company. There I worked as a Nordic ski monitor for seven years in winter.

Did you leave and come from Lakabe?

Yes, but there was a time when all the young people came out of here. Some of them tried to create some other project and I wanted to live like me. I traveled across Europe for three and a half years. I lived for a year in the Ibiltzis in the Salazar Valley, but I came back here, because I wanted to participate in this project.

What is a community people?

There are no two equal projects. This, for example, was an abandoned town since the last inhabitants left in the 1960s. In 1980, a group of young people came. Most of them were part of a conscientious objection team in Bilbao and sought a lifestyle outside the city, on the mountain. Two years earlier, they had come to a very small town that was close to here, to a house that they had rented there, until they found it. In 1980, on March 21, it was occupied and the houses were rebuilt. Then there was only one house with a roof and all those who at first lived there. Today it is a communal house. However, it took a few years for the people to become a community. Living in community means living in the village and managing everything in it. Decisions are taken in assembly, and all adults participate in it. Houses, cars, money and all things belong to everyone. Everyone makes the decisions that correspond to the house in which they live, but the property belongs to everyone. In addition, a distribution of responsibilities and tasks is carried out in the groups: vegetable garden, animals, bakery, etc.

Are there no incidents?

There may always be different views, but we work very hard on this issue. We hold many meetings to manage emotions, we bring people ready to facilitate and teach us how to manage the differences we have. Let diversity of opinion not become a problem to move forward. That is what we want to achieve and it works.

So isn't there a mayor?

There is a formal mayor, simply because administratively we are a council within the City Hall of Artzibar. The people were evicted, but the Government of Navarre did not dissolve the council when it came to making a new order, because by then there were people already living here.

The Government of Navarra bought the people and the growing fields. They planted pines and gave us permission to live here and to do the management of common lands and wood. We mark with forest guards the trees to be thrown to make wood and clean the forest. Then we took care of cutting the trees and bringing them to the village. It's normal operation. Now, among all of us, we are trying to replace pines with native species, especially art and beech.

People might think that this is totally different and has nothing to do with the life of another people. Our organization is different, but many other things are very similar.

Is it a question of restoring the solidarity and boldness of the peoples of the past?

One of the goals is to recover that part of ancient life from the very beginning.

For many people Lakabe is known for your bread.

The bakery is a product that we take out. It took us a long time to take it forward and to do good bread, but after learning a lot, this activity has been strengthened. He was a pioneer in organic food in Navarra and today we sell it in Pamplona, Logroño, Jaca… In addition, we do many fairs in Navarra, Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. We participate in the Biokultura association that organizes these kinds of fairs and we move a lot in this circuit.

Are you vegetarian?

In the early years, they were all vegetarians, but mostly because of the need, because they had only one garden. Now there is everything and most of us are omnivores.

What is the importance of sustainable architecture in Lakabe?

At first the houses were built in a conventional way and with the materials that were here, but in the last ten years we have been following the principles of bioclimatic architecture. A young man here did studies on this subject and recently built a bioclimatic house. It has a much lower energy consumption than other households. It needs less wood, hot water and heaters all over the house also work with solar energy, for example. In the village there is another house with straw walls. These contributions are being used gradually in other households.

Do you only use renewable energy?

Yes. We have an isolated, autonomous energy system: solar panels, windmill and water turbine. We store the energy through a battery system, and if necessary, we have a generator to generate electricity, but it's almost never used. This has been the case since 1999. It used to be more precarious, but now we have a normal electricity stream in every house.

Can you be self-employed by law?

Yeah, because the cables don't get here. There is no connection and the law cannot force you. Otherwise, you must connect to the main network and sell and buy energy.

And the Internet?

The internet came a few years ago, but at first we had a very bad connection. For four years now, together with Iberbanda, we have a company that broadcasts the signal by radio in rural areas and a computer from here has spread the signal across the people.

What is your daily work?

I am mainly dedicated to orchard and fruit trees. I also work in bakery and often do outdoor workshops. In addition, I carry out the tasks that I am responsible for in the organization.

And how did you start writing?

When I was a kid, I wrote stories. When I was young, I read a lot of fantastic literatures, and we used to play roles. I started writing my first novel at the age of 17. It was the creation of the saga. I left the book unfinished and for a while I was unwritten, but when I was 21, I started again, and because I didn't like what I had written before, I started again. In the end, I finished it and published it two years ago. With pleasure, I wrote nonstop the second and third of the saga and now I am with the fourth.

What subjects do you discuss?

I started to move around in the world of imagination when I was very young, but over time I've seen that I don't want to write just about that fantasy world. In addition to battles and stories of elves, I want to give a touch of criticism to my texts. I am referring to the management of land and the resources that big business does in a globalised world and its influence on our lives.

How has the editorial (H)uts been created?

Inés Muñoz, Vero reza and I are the ones who have had the idea, but it is a project driven from Lakabe. I've been working on literature for a while, and I've learned a lot about editing. When the idea came up, we saw that we had the possibilities and the forces to get it going. INES proposed the reissue of a book sold out and discontinued six years ago: The poetry of the trees, a collection of poems by Ignacio Abella and watercolors by the illustrator Leticia Ruiz Fernández de Cáceres. We explained to the authors of the work what our intention was and immediately they said yes, very happy.

Then I passed my second book to the other two members of the editorial. An editorial was interested in my book, but Vero and Inés saw that it was very interesting and that it was perfectly in line with the objectives of the editorial.

I published my first book in self-publishing and it seems to us a very interesting path, so we also want to make that offer to those who want to publish their work in self-publishing. To do so, we have created a seal called Amaigabe.

What kind of books are you going to publish?

It was hard for us to define the editorial line. We didn't want to confine ourselves to just one gender. Small publishers tend to specialize, and we look at our particularity in an idea or concept: that you can make another world. We want to publish books that claim social transformation, whether it's novels, poems, art books or essays. In addition, we want to promote the relationship with nature and works of art. We want jobs that excite people. We'll make collections by ideas. Now the poems of the trees will be published in the collection Arte objtua, basoaren isilasuna and in the collection of the critical narrative A lost people.

When you talk about a lost people, do you mean Lakabe?

I've been asked a lot of times, but no, it's not Lakabe. I take the people in their broadest sense. It's not a specific population nucleus.

Why Lost?

Because he lives oppressed and seeks new solutions. The countries and facts that appear in my books have full equality with those that are in reality. It's easy to realize which country I'm talking about every single moment. USA, Africa, China…

(H)uts name why?

Because in the void, the possibilities are endless. Everything is possible. We wanted to put the name in Euskera, for respect and adherence to language. The H is in brackets, because being mute is a symbol of emptiness.

Do you intend to publish works in Basque?

We will publish it when appropriate work appears. At the moment, I do not think I am going to write the novel in Euskera, because I have no level. I have a few squares, one of every day and a few poems, but nothing else.

Do you have more projects (H)utsek?

The following could be a book to help manage the problems that may arise in the groups, elaborated by a member of the people.