Harribola is the Ipurterre crew, or they are part of the Harribola association. Luis Colina (Portugalete, 1960) and Iñaki Alcedo (Bilbao, 1960) are the witnesses and partners. They began their journey eight years ago with the idea of turning the supply market of Portugalete into a café theater, a building that no one used at all for some time. “We did a good job, we designed an architectural project, we developed a viability plan... And when we went to town hall, nothing, they sent us to bury our bikes.”

However, despite not having achieved its purpose, the fire of the work survived. From Ilinti, they founded the Harribola association. Since then, the association has acted on this and that until they had the idea of popular theater.

Luis Colina saw the light three years ago. “I brought the idea from Ibarrangelu. There I saw the pastoral Domingo Zulueta, a true pastoral ministry on which she was healed. They talked to Harribola’s friends and, as they are crazy, they took it very well.” When they began to hold the assemblies, they began to concretize the issue. Periko Solabarria, Ignacio Ellakuria -- they had possibilities. “But we didn’t know if we would be able to get enough information about them or if they would be quite attractive to people.” In the end, they realized that the Bizkaia Bridge of Portugalete this year is 125 years old and they decided to focus on it.

Popular theatre rather than pastoral

The script is written by Aitor Etxebarria (Lekeitio, 1959), the author of a play. He says that, if the subject is decided, he quickly organized the text, and immediately completed the scheme. “Build the bridge, inaugurate it, war, postwar, dictatorship and today. That’s how I split the script.” However, it is nothing more than the story of the bridge, personified. They've put a woman in a hanging bridge, and she's going to count what she's seen with her eyes over time. “At first, he walks a lot of elements. In the village there is a magazine, The Mareometer, and in it, since they built a bridge over several stories to this day, historical characters and other events, so I've used these elements to complete my initial scheme. I also went to the archives of the people and to Tasio Munarriz, who knows a lot about the history of the people.” The documentary directed by Etxebarria was made by each other until it had its last script.

With the script staging, they realized that they had to reduce the first idea. They wanted an hour and a half, two hours long, with palliative elements like theater, music or dance. Iñaki Aurrekoetxea (Bilbao, 1970) has been the bertsolari in charge of putting the script of Aitor Etxebarria in the coplet and has worked on the fact that this pastoral ministry in Portugalete could not stop needing it shorter than usual. “There is not enough basis here to do a pastoral care for Zuberoa, nor to see it. Looking forward to pastoral care or three- or four-hour theatre is not possible here.” Aurrekoetxea understood this and adapted Etxebarria’s text. Aurrekoetxea has written about 110 coplas, and so will the vascospeakers of Portugalete, as they are more than expected in the town of Portugalete. “Among those under the age of 30, more than many know Basque in the town. And among their parents there are also few who know Euskera.” The population of Portugalete is 50,000 and the percentage of the population of Euskaldun is 20%. “The use is lower, as it is in the Basque Country. However, in Portugalete the Basques walk around the same places, they are easily found,” they say.

Carried out by the people

They wanted a popular pastoral care, made by the citizenry, not an initiative dependent on concrete associations, entirely in Basque... and they started to work. In order to be able to do pastoral care, however, it takes a lot of people. According to Luis Colina, 60 people participated in the pastoral care of Ibarrangelu. In the case of Portugalete, the figure shall be 200: 20 women make their suits, 40 are musicians, 60 singers and about 120 actors and figurants. “We knew we needed people, but, for example, we gathered 200 people around the call for consultations of CincEsku Dago. That told us that people were eager.” Iñaki Aurrekoetxea also knows that. “In Portugalete there is a great tradition of dance, there are also choirs... In case of pastoral work, they are a strong point.” And so they talked to the directors of the dance groups of the village, with the heads of the choirs, with the guides of the theater schools ... “And in that, the artistic direction of this pastoral ministry was taken by three local dancers, Iker Gil, Eneritz Mantzisidor and Mikel Uranga. They have done a great deal of work and a great drive for dynamisation. It is them, together with Jabier Ituarte, director of the music band, who have done the design of the acts and the complete step of the work. They have been in charge of seeking the actors and also of all the essays.” Of these, therefore, merit, as Aitor Etxebarria stressed.

However, they have not had to create infrastructure to be able to do pastoral care. They have created the Harribola association, even though they are deeply asleep, and they have acted on behalf of the association. “At one time, we also created a group in favor of the Basque Country, with the aim of pressuring the city council to implement the Basque Revitalization Plan. And we did. Currently, the Municipality of Portugalete works with the Aise association in the implementation of the Plan for the Promotion of the Use of the Basque Country”. Once the goal was achieved, Harribola members dismantled the pressure group and joined other roles. On this occasion, it has been the turn of the popular theatre. Or pastoral care? “At first, our intention was to do pastoral care properly. We have also put it on Afixa: Pastoral bridge. Popular theater of Portugalete. It took us a lot to get there,” said Luis Colina... Iñaki Alcedo, for his part, was in Zuberoa at the end of July, and he has no doubt that he attended the pastoral Zaldüna of Belako. “I saw what was there, and I came very convinced: this is not a pastoral theatre, but it has many elements of pastoral care.” Iñaki Aurrekoetxea: “We have done this pastoral care with respect. After all, this work is also a tribute to the pastoral care of Zuberoa. We have brought it to us, we have done it with our own elements.” And the shot of Aitor Etxebarria, after one left on the floor, has been decided. “I spoke to Pier Paul Berzaitz, who asks for rigor before the popular theater is appointed pastoral. Since the time of Etxahun Iruri, attempts have been made to adapt pastoral care to the present time, but zuberotarras fear that in the adjustments made outside Zuberoa the essence of pastoral care has been preserved.” Undoubtedly, they have invented in Portugalete: although their work is called Zubia pastoral, they have given it the name of “popular theater”...