According to political experts, a nation cannot establish its own identity until the capital or metropolis of that nation maintains its own national identity.

In connection with this topic I have just read the interesting interview that Jon Maya made in Gara to the well-known dancer and choreographer, and among many other interesting things, Jon Maya says about the lack of cultural projects here: “If we talk about articulating a people, cultural projects must also be put on the table.”

What, then, is the cultural project proposed to us by the authorities for our people, or starting with Bilbao?
I have also launched myself to study it in recent times and, at least in the whirlwind of municipal elections, hoped that the candidates for mayor, and especially those who intend to remain in power, would be able to give more light on this issue.

The Mayor of Bilbao has made ten commitments for the next legislature, and those related to culture are not among the priorities; the commitments that are made in paragraphs 8 and 9 in relation to this subject: to attract major international events and the vague intention of “that in this modern city the Basque country should listen more and become more Basque”, without further details.

However, the mayor of Bilbao is able to feed concrete projects in other areas, such as tourism. Although we are accustomed to this in Bilbao, I was surprised by the information I have found these days in the Central Tourist Office of the city: I have read in a very elegant magazine, sponsored by the city council and the strong private companies, which have published in Japanese a special magazine with the title Bilbao Essential, which invites infected foreign tourists to visit Bilbao in 212 pages. Copies of the luxurious illustrated magazine will be distributed free of charge at 200 points on the island of the Far East, giving priority to Tokyo, Osaka and Niigata. Regarding the content, the presentation of the journal states the following: The event explained the “best experiences” that can be lived in Bilbao, and in order to give more details, there is talk about gastronomy, museums and shopping.

I read all of this and I came straight away, because I have often seen, in the Old Town, Japanese walking tourists, well equipped with cameras, who were constantly moving. Also in the area of gastronomy, there will be guides in Japanese at the level of walking tourists. I will not forget that in the well-known bar Zazpi Kale I saw the young Japanese couple, taking a small notebook out of pocket and teaching a note to the shocked waiter of the bar, asking for “chipirones in black salsa” and “snails in Biscayan salsa” and, greasing hands well and splashing around, before all the enthusiasts, they did not eat but swallowed.

What was the need, then, for Bilbao’s top command to send those small and insignificant luxury invitations to the Far East? What are you going to think of us in distant Japan, when they are also suffering in a violent way from the clash of identity and global uniformization?Once again I will ask the first Japanese rich I found in the Guggenheim atrium or in the “gold fashion” stores.