MEETING IN SPAIN -Bilbao Edition

6

SPORTS

Basque sports developed from daily work on farms and in other labor activities, where workers displayed their skills and laid bets to see who the best was. Examples include regattas (fishermen rowing back to get the fish to market first); aizkolari , (cutting logs); segalaria (mowing with a scythe) or barrenadores (men in the mining area of Bizkaia who bored into stones with steel bars). They competed in strength, lifting stones or with animals (oxen, horses or donkeys to haul stone blocks), or for the ability of dogs to care for flocks of sheep. However, the most widespread internationally is Basque pelota , the generic denomination for games consisting of throwing a ball against a ‘ fronton ’ wall.

Basque Pelota is the most popular, international Basque sport. Most Basque villages have their pelota court or fronton , often attached to the church.

BASQUE PELOTA

Rowing races, using boats called traineras , are one of the Basque sports that have attracted the most fans since they began in the late nineteenth century. The teams consist of 13 crew-members and a cox who steers the boat.

TRAINERAS

The most popular and spectacular of the “ herri kirolak ” (Basque rural sports) is perhaps the aizkolaritza , which come from wood chopping, where bark-stripped beech trunks are usually used by teams or singles.

AIZKOLARITZA

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