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167-486: Athletic Club ( Basque : Bilboko Athletic Kluba ; Spanish : Athletic Club de Bilbao ), commonly known abroad as Athletic Bilbao ( Spanish : Athletic de Bilbao ), or simply as Athletic domestically, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country , Spain. They are known as Los Leones (The Lions) because their stadium was built near a church called San Mamés , which

334-675: A Jewish community composed mainly of Sephardi Jews fleeing from the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions . There were also important Jewish and Muslim communities in Navarre before the Castilian invasion of 1512–21. Nowadays, according to one single opinion poll, only slightly more than 50% of Basques profess some kind of belief in God , while the rest are either agnostic or atheist . The number of religious skeptics increases noticeably for

501-461: A double in 1943 and retained Copa del Generalísimo in both 1944 and 1945 . They helped the club win another Copa del Generalísimo and a Copa Eva Duarte (the official precedent of the Supercopa de España ) in 1950 . In 1954, coach Ferdinand Daučík retired the team of second historic attack and gave way to a new generation of players. Daučík managed to form a new champion team that won

668-419: A 1–0 scoreline. By that time, Aduriz had finally retired from playing, Garitano had been replaced as coach by Marcelino , and the 2020–21 Supercopa de España originally intended to follow the delayed cup final was contested, Athletic defeating Real Madrid then Barcelona to claim the trophy. They also defeated Levante in the semi-final of the 2020–21 Copa del Rey to reach the final on 17 April 2021, making them

835-446: A 1–1 draw in normal time and Extra time. The campaign included some memorable victories, including a 4–2 win against Barcelona at home and a 4–0 aggregate win over Atlético Madrid. Athletic's shield has incorporated the escutcheons of Bilbao and Biscay. From the shield of Bilbao, it takes the bridge and the church of San Anton , and the wolves from the powerful Haro family , who were lords of Biscay and founders of Bilbao in 1300. From

1002-506: A Christian veneer to pagan worship have remained speculative. At any rate, Mari (Andramari) is one of the oldest worshipped Christian icons in Basque territories. Mari's consort is Sugaar . This chthonic couple seems to bear the superior ethical power and the power of creation and destruction. It's said that when they gathered in the high caves of the sacred peaks, they engendered the storms. These meetings typically happened on Friday nights,

1169-763: A deep interest in football, so when they returned they began to organize games with British workers at the Hippodrome of Lamiako , which at the time was the home of organized football in Biscay. In 1898, Juan Astorquia and 6 other Basque students belonging to the Gymnasium Zamacois, began to practice football in Lamiako. Three years later, in 1901, at a meeting held at the Café García , this group of football pioneers, now larger, began conversations to become

1336-409: A few decades ago the Basque language had all but disappeared. Nowadays, the number of Basque speakers is maintaining its level or increasing slightly. Traditionally Basques have been mostly Catholics . In the 19th century and well into the 20th, Basques as a group remained notably devout and churchgoing. In recent years church attendance has fallen off, as in most of Western Europe. The region has been

1503-631: A game against Real Sociedad, Iribar and Sociedad captain Inaxio Kortabarria carried out the Ikurriña (the Basque nationalist flag), and placed it ceremonially on the centre-circle – this was the first public display of the flag since the death of Francisco Franco . By then the Franco regime also ended and the club reverted to using the name Athletic . In 1977, the club reached the final of

1670-483: A geographical orientation or other locally meaningful identifying features. Such surnames provide even those Basques whose families may have left the land generations ago with an important link to their rural family origins: Bengoetxea "the house of further down", Goikoetxea "the house above", Landaburu "top of the field", Errekondo "next to the stream", Elizalde "by the church", Mendizabal "wide hill", Usetxe "house of birds" Ibarretxe "house in

1837-461: A goddess called Mari . A number of place-names contain her name, which would suggest these places were related to worship of her such as Anbotoko Mari who appears to have been related to the weather. According to one tradition, she travelled every seven years between a cave on Mount Anboto and one on another mountain (the stories vary); the weather would be wet when she was in Anboto, dry when she

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2004-651: A great many enterprising figures of Basque origin who went into the world to earn their way, from Spanish conquistadors such as Lope de Aguirre and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado , to explorers, missionaries and saints of the Catholic Church, such as Francis Xavier . A widespread belief that Basque society was originally matriarchal is at odds with the current, clearly patrilineal kinship system and inheritance structures. Some scholars and commentators have attempted to reconcile these points by assuming that patrilineal kinship represents an innovation. In any case,

2171-518: A legalized official football club, which they called Athletic Club , using the English spelling. Luis Márquez became the club's first president , while Astorquia and Alfred Mills (the club's only foreign-born founder) were named the team's captain and vice-captain, but in 1902, Astorquia replaced Márquez as president, ruling from 1902 until 1903. Under his presidency, Athletic and their city rivals Bilbao Football Club reached an agreement to combine

2338-417: A legendary people which explains the disappearance of a people of Stone Age culture that used to live in the high lands and with no knowledge of iron. Many legends about them tell that they were bigger and taller, with a great force, but were displaced by the ferrons , or workers of ironworks foundries, until their total fade-out. They were pagans, but one of them, Olentzero , accepted Christianity and became

2505-400: A limited area ( Gascony and Old Castile ) that corresponds almost exactly to areas where heavy Basque bilingualism is assumed, and as a result has been widely postulated (and equally strongly disputed). Substrate theories are often difficult to prove (especially in the case of phonetically plausible changes like /f/ to /h/ ). As a result, although many arguments have been made on both sides,

2672-535: A major concentration of Basques, most notably in the San Joaquin Valley between Stockton , Fresno and Bakersfield . The city of Bakersfield has a large Basque community and the city has several Basque restaurants, including Noriega's which won the 2011 James Beard Foundation America's Classic Award. There is a history of Basque culture in Chino, California . In Chino, two annual Basque festivals celebrate

2839-425: A match in which goalkeeper Carmelo had to play almost the entire match injured because substitutions did not exist at that time. The 1960s were dominated by Real Madrid, and Atlético went through a few years of transition in which the only figure that shone was goalkeeper José Ángel Iribar , who became one of the club's greatest legends along with Zarra. Due to the team's bad form, the fans used to constantly repeat

3006-622: A modest comeback. In the Spanish part, Basque-language schools for children and Basque-teaching centres for adults have brought the language to areas such as western Enkarterri and the Ribera del Ebro in southern Navarre, where it is not known to ever have been widely spoken; and in the French Basque Country, these schools and centres have almost stopped the decline of the language. Historically, Latin or Romance languages have been

3173-549: A period of institutional crisis and during that time it did not participate in the Copa del Rey. In 1920, with the return of Billy Barnes, Athletic once again participated in the national championship and in 1921 won the Copa del Rey again. The star of this team was Pichichi , a prolific goalscorer who scored the first goal at the San Mamés on 21 August 1913 and a hat-trick in the 1915 final . The last championship won by Pichichi

3340-812: A population of 2,634,800 over 16 years of age (1,838,800 in the Autonomous community, 546,000 in Navarre and 250,000 in the Northern Basque Country), 806,000 spoke Basque, which amounted to 30.6% of the population. Compared to the 1991 figures, this represents an overall increase of 266,000, from 539,110 speakers 30 years previously (430,000 in the BAC , 40,110 in FCN , and 69,000 in the Northern provinces). This number has tended to increase, as in all regions

3507-720: A province of France in 1620. Nevertheless, the Basques enjoyed a great deal of self-government until the French Revolution (1790) and the Carlist Wars (1839, 1876), when the Basques supported heir apparent Carlos V and his descendants. On either side of the Pyrenees, the Basques lost their native institutions and laws held during the Ancien régime . Since then, despite the current limited self-governing status of

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3674-459: A returning Clemente failed to reproduce his success. In 1998, coach Luis Fernández led the club to second in La Liga and UEFA Champions League qualification. Fernández benefited from the club adopting a more flexible approach to the cantera . In 1995, Athletic had signed Joseba Etxeberria from regional rivals Real Sociedad, causing considerable bad feeling between the two clubs. Etxeberria

3841-569: A row between 1930 and 1933 and they were also La Liga runners-up in 1932 and 1933. In 1931, Athletic defeated Barcelona 12–1, the latter's worst defeat and the biggest win in LaLiga history. Athletic's success under English coaches continued with William Garbutt . His first season in Spain was a massive success as he managed to win the Liga that year. He had inherited a talented squad that included one of

4008-510: A section of red-and-white stripes and a section of local motifs, is from 1922; this was a really simple version which was adapted several times, some of which closely resembled the crest of Atlético Madrid , originally a branch of the Bilbao club. Finally, in 1941 the first version of the current shield was created, but the name "Atlético Bilbao" was used when General Francisco Franco outlawed all non-Spanish names during his fascist reign. In 1972,

4175-546: A separate entity, called in present-day Basque Nafarroako Foru Erkidegoa , in Spanish Comunidad Foral de Navarra (the autonomous community of Navarre). The government of this autonomous community is the Government of Navarre. In historical contexts Navarre may refer to a wider area, and that the present-day northern Basque province of Lower Navarre may also be referred to as (part of) Nafarroa , while

4342-568: A single agglomeration community was established for the Basque Country in France . The Basque region is divided into at least three administrative units, namely the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre in Spain, and the arrondissement of Bayonne and the cantons of Mauléon-Licharre and Tardets-Sorholus in the département of Pyrénées Atlantiques , France. The autonomous community (a concept established in

4509-411: A sole mother tongue has decreased from 19% in 1991 to 15.1% in 2016, while Basque and another language being used as mother language increased from 3% to 5.4% in the same time period. General public attitude towards efforts to promote the Basque language have also been more positive, with the share of people against these efforts falling from 20.9% in 1991 to 16% in 2016. In 2021, the study found that in

4676-415: A sort of Basque Santa Claus . They gave name to several toponyms, as Jentilbaratza . Historically, Basque society can be described as being somewhat at odds with Roman and later European societal norms. Strabo 's account of the north of Spain in his Geographica (written between approximately 20 BC and 20 AD) makes a mention of "a sort of woman-rule—not at all a mark of civilization" (Hadington 1992),

4843-516: A source of missionaries like Francis Xavier and Michel Garicoïts . Ignatius Loyola , founder of the Society of Jesus , was a Basque. California Franciscan Fermín Lasuén was born in Vitoria . Lasuén was the successor to Franciscan Padre Junípero Serra and founded 9 of the 21 extant California Missions along the coast. A sprout of Protestantism in the continental Basque Country produced

5010-534: A written and printed one used in present-day forms of publication and communication, as well as a language spoken and used in a very wide range of social and cultural contexts, styles, and registers. Basques have a close attachment to their home ( etxe(a) 'house, home'), especially when this consists of the traditional self-sufficient, family-run farm or baserri (a) . Home in this context is synonymous with family roots. Some Basque surnames were adapted from old baserri or habitation names . They typically related to

5177-530: Is Jon Uriarte. The board of the Athletic Club is composed of the following directors: Athletic began playing in an improvised white kit, but in the 1902–03 season, the club's first official strip became half-blue, half-white shirts similar to those worn by Blackburn Rovers , which were donated by Juan Moser. Later, a young student from Bilbao named Juan Elorduy, who was spending Christmas 1909 in London ,

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5344-567: Is a Basque version of the Woodwose . There is a trickster named San Martin Txiki ("St Martin the Lesser"). It is unclear whether Neolithic stone structures called dolmens have a religious significance or were built to house animals or resting shepherds. Some of the dolmens and cromlechs are burial sites serving also as border markers. The jentilak (' Giants '), on the other hand, are

5511-527: Is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country , a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque is classified as a language isolate (unrelated to any other known languages) and the only language isolate in Europe. The Basques are indigenous to and primarily inhabit the Basque Country. The Basque language

5678-514: Is again on the rise due to favorable official language policies and popular support. Currently about 33 percent of the population in the Basque Autonomous Community speaks Basque. Navarre has a population of 601,000; its administrative capital and main city, also regarded by many nationalist Basques as the Basques' historical capital, is Pamplona ( Iruñea in modern Basque). Only Spanish is an official language of Navarre, and

5845-434: Is challenging since written material and documentation only is available for some few hundred years. Almost all hypotheses concerning the origin of Basque are controversial, and the suggested evidence is not generally accepted by mainstream linguists. Some of these hypothetical connections are: The region where Basque is spoken has become smaller over centuries, especially at the northern, southern, and eastern borders. Nothing

6012-402: Is derived from an ancient Basque verb enautsi "to say" (compare modern Basque esan ) and the suffix -(k)ara ("way (of doing something)"). Thus, euskara would mean literally "way of saying" or "way of speaking". One item of evidence in favour of that hypothesis is found in the Spanish book Compendio Historial , written in 1571 by the Basque writer Esteban de Garibay . He records the name of

6179-445: Is distinguished from atso "old woman". In the westernmost parts of the Basque country, only the apical ⟨s⟩ and the alveolar affricate ⟨tz⟩ are used. Basque also features postalveolar sibilants ( /ʃ/ , written ⟨x⟩ , and /tʃ/ , written ⟨tx⟩ ). Basque people The English word Basque may be pronounced / b ɑː s k / or / b æ s k / and derives from

6346-582: Is generally referred to as Aquitanian and is assumed to have been spoken in the area before the Roman Republic 's conquests in the western Pyrenees . Some authors even argue for late Basquisation , that the language moved westward during Late Antiquity after the fall of the Western Roman Empire into the northern part of Hispania into what is now the Basque Country . Roman neglect of this area allowed Aquitanian to survive while

6513-693: Is known about the limits of this region in ancient times, but on the basis of toponyms and epigraphs, it seems that in the beginning of the Common Era it stretched to the river Garonne in the north (including the south-western part of present-day France); at least to the Val d'Aran in the east (now a Gascon -speaking part of Catalonia ), including lands on both sides of the Pyrenees ; the southern and western boundaries are not clear at all. The Reconquista temporarily counteracted this contracting tendency when

6680-496: Is known of its origins, but it is likely that an early form of the Basque language was present in and around the area of modern Basque Country before the arrival of the Indo-European languages in western Europe during the 3rd millennium BC. Authors such as Miguel de Unamuno and Louis Lucien Bonaparte have noted that the words for "knife" ( aizto ), "axe" ( aizkora ), and "hoe" ( aitzur ) appear to derive from

6847-625: Is no conflict, I am proud of both. ... I have friends who are involved in the political side of things but that is not for me. My only interest is the culture, the Euskera language, the people, our history and ways." As a result of state language promotion, school policies, the effects of mass media and migration, today virtually all Basques (except for some children below school age) speak the official language of their state (Spanish or French). There are extremely few Basque monolingual speakers: essentially all Basque speakers are bilingual on both sides of

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7014-416: Is no need for import"), made sense during these early days. In 1922, a new English coach, Fred Pentland , arrived; in 1923, he led the club to victory in the Copa del Rey. He revolutionised the way Athletic played, favouring the short-passing game. In 1927, Pentland left Athletic but returned in 1929 and led the club to La Liga/Copa del Rey doubles in 1930 and 1931. The club won the Copa del Rey four times in

7181-639: Is one strong loanword candidate, ezker , long considered the source of the Pyrenean and Iberian Romance words for "left (side)" ( izquierdo , esquerdo , esquerre ). The lack of initial /r/ in Gascon could arguably be due to a Basque influence but this issue is under-researched. The other most commonly claimed substrate influences: The first two features are common, widespread developments in many Romance (and non-Romance) languages. The change of /f/ to /h/ occurred historically only in

7348-579: Is second only to Barcelona, having won it 24 times. It is also the most successful Basque football club in both league and cup titles won. The club also has one of the most successful women's teams in Spain, which has won five championships in the Primera División Femenina . The club is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division since its inception in 1929,

7515-460: Is spoken by 806,000 Basques in all territories. Of these, 93.7% (756,000) are in the Spanish area of the Basque Country and the remaining 6.3% (50,000) are in the French portion. Native speakers live in a contiguous area that includes parts of four Spanish provinces and the three "ancient provinces" in France. Gipuzkoa , most of Biscay , a few municipalities on the northern border of Álava and

7682-424: The 1939–40 season . Athletic Club did not win the title again until 1943 and by that time Garbutt had been exiled. In 1941, the club was forced to change its name to Atlético Bilbao, following a decree issued by Franco , who also changed the name of the Copa del Rey to Copa del Generalísimo, in reference to his own figure. A year before Telmo Zarra made his debut, who became one of the club's great legends and

7849-571: The 2012 UEFA Europa League Final at the Arena Națională in Bucharest . They also reached the 2012 Copa del Rey Final , losing again to Barcelona. After star midfielder Javi Martínez moved to FC Bayern Munich , Athletic were eliminated from the 2012–13 Europa League group stage , and were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Basque club Eibar of the third tier . Relegation was a threat until

8016-459: The 2019–20 season saw more consistent results. After the first five games of the season, the Lions sat at the top of the table, their best start in 26 years. That form could not be maintained, and by the halfway point they had slipped to mid-table after several draws. However, in the Copa del Rey , they survived two penalty shootouts against second-tier opponents and then defeated Barcelona to reach

8183-670: The Algonquian peoples in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Strait of Belle Isle . The Basque language features five vowels: /a/ , /e/ , /i/ , /o/ and /u/ (the same that are found in Spanish , Asturian and Aragonese ). In the Zuberoan dialect, extra phonemes are featured: There is no distinctive vowel length in Basque, although vowels can be lengthened for emphasis. The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ are raised before nasal consonants. Basque has an a-Elision Rule, according to which

8350-566: The Asturian Xíriga . Part of the Romani community in the Basque Country speaks Erromintxela , which is a rare mixed language , with a Kalderash Romani vocabulary and Basque grammar. A number of Basque-based or Basque-influenced pidgins have existed. In the 16th century, Basque sailors used a Basque–Icelandic pidgin in their contacts with Iceland. The Algonquian–Basque pidgin arose from contact between Basque whalers and

8517-633: The Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre as settled by the Spanish Constitution, many Basques have attempted higher degrees of self-empowerment (see Basque nationalism ), sometimes by acts of violence. Labourd , Lower Navarre , and Soule were integrated into the French department system (starting 1790), with Basque efforts to establish a region-specific political-administrative entity failing to take off to date. However, in January 2017,

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8684-417: The Basque flag (this was worn against Atlético Madrid in the 2012 UEFA Europa League final ). Between 2001 and 2009 Athletic also manufactured their own playing kit, under the brand 100% Athletic and utilising the small design from their centenary celebrations as a manufacturer's logo. Athletic were one of the last major clubs which did not have the logo of an official sponsor emblazoned on their kit. In

8851-587: The Ebro and Garonne rivers was known as Vasconia , a vaguely defined ethnic area and political entity struggling to fend off pressure from the Iberian Visigothic kingdom and Arab rule to the south , as well as the Frankish push from the north. By the turn of the first millennium, the territory of Vasconia had fragmented into different feudal regions, such as Soule and Labourd , while south of

9018-664: The French Basque Country , Basque was still spoken in all the territory except in Bayonne and some villages around, and including some bordering towns in Béarn . In the 20th century, however, the rise of Basque nationalism spurred increased interest in the language as a sign of ethnic identity, and with the establishment of autonomous governments in the Southern Basque Country , it has recently made

9185-640: The Iberian and Tartessian languages became extinct. Through the long contact with Romance languages, Basque adopted a sizeable number of Romance words. Initially the source was Latin, later Gascon (a branch of Occitan ) in the north-east, Navarro-Aragonese in the south-east and Spanish in the south-west. Since 1968, Basque has been immersed in a revitalisation process, facing formidable obstacles. However, significant progress has been made in numerous areas. Six main factors have been identified to explain its relative success: While those six factors influenced

9352-525: The Latin script is used for the Basque alphabet . In Basque, the name of the language is officially euskara (alongside various dialect forms). In French, the language is normally called basque , though euskara has become common in recent times. Spanish has a greater variety of names for the language. Today, it is most commonly referred to as vasco , lengua vasca , or euskera . Both terms, vasco and basque , are inherited from

9519-626: The Spanish Constitution of 1978 ) known as Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa or EAE in Basque and as Comunidad Autónoma Vasca or CAV in Spanish (in English: Basque Autonomous Community or BAC), is made up of the three Spanish provinces of Álava , Biscay and Gipuzkoa . The corresponding Basque names of these territories are Araba , Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa , and their Spanish names are Álava , Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa . The BAC only includes three of

9686-493: The Spanish language is the official language of the nation, but allows autonomous communities to provide a co-official language status for the other languages of Spain . Consequently, the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Autonomous Community establishes Basque as the co-official language of the autonomous community. The Statute of Navarre establishes Spanish as the official language of Navarre, but grants co-official status to

9853-516: The UEFA Cup after eliminating teams like AC Milan or FC Barcelona , among others, and only losing on away goals to Juventus . They also reached the Copa del Rey final, which they lost to Real Betis on penalties (Iribar missed the decisive one, which gave the Sevillians the victory), and reached third position in LaLiga. Despite these defeats, this is remembered as one of the best teams in

10020-854: The UEFA Cup and the Copa del Rey of 2004–05, the shirt sported the word " Euskadi " in green with sponsorship from the Basque Government . This policy was changed in 2008, when Athletic made a deal with the Biscay -based Petronor oil company to wear their logo in exchange for over €2 million. The Kutxabank logo now adorns the front of Athletic's kits. Pos. = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Institutional information: Best positions Goals records Basque language France Basque ( / ˈ b æ s k , ˈ b ɑː s k / ; euskara [eus̺ˈkaɾa] )

10187-401: The euskaldunak , singular euskaldun , formed from euskal- (i.e. "Basque (language)") and -dun (i.e. "one who has"); euskaldun literally means a Basque-speaker. Not all Basques are Basque-speakers. Therefore, the neologism euskotar , plural euskotarrak , was coined in the 19th century to mean a Basque person, whether Basque-speaking or not. Alfonso Irigoyen posits that the word euskara

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10354-445: The voiceless apicoalveolar fricative [s̺] is written ⟨s⟩ ; the tip of the tongue points toward the upper teeth and friction occurs at the tip (apex). For example, zu "you" (singular, respectful) is distinguished from su "fire". The affricate counterparts are written ⟨tz⟩ and ⟨ts⟩ . So, etzi "the day after tomorrow" is distinguished from etsi "to give up"; atzo "yesterday"

10521-466: The 14th century when a law passed in Huesca in 1349 stated that Item nuyl corridor nonsia usado que faga mercadería ninguna que compre nin venda entre ningunas personas, faulando en algaravia nin en abraych nin en basquenç : et qui lo fara pague por coto XXX sol —essentially penalising the use of Arabic, Hebrew, or Basque in marketplaces with a fine of 30 sols (the equivalent of 30 sheep). Although

10688-426: The 50 shirts bought by Elorduy, half were then sent to Atlético Madrid , where Elorduy was a committee member and a former player; it had originally begun as a youth branch of Athletic Bilbao. Before the switch, only one other team in Spain wore red and white: Sporting de Gijón , since 1905. Change colours have often been blue and/or white, or black. In 2011, Athletic released a green, white and red away kit inspired by

10855-565: The BAC" are commonly though not universally employed. In particular in common usage the French term Pays Basque ("Basque Country"), in the absence of further qualification, refers either to the whole Basque Country ("Euskal Herria" in Basque), or not infrequently to the northern (or "French") Basque Country specifically. Under Spain's present constitution, Navarre ( Nafarroa in present-day Basque, Navarra historically in Spanish) constitutes

11022-633: The BAC, when both parents were Basque speakers, 98% of children were only communicated to in Basque, while 2% were communicated to in both Basque and Spanish. When only one parent was a Basque speaker and their first language was Basque, 84% used Basque and Spanish and 16% only Spanish. In Navarre, the family language of 94.3% of the youngest respondents with both Basque parents was Basque. In the Northern Basque Country, however, when both parents were Basque speaking, just two-thirds transmitted only Basque to their offspring, and as age decreased,

11189-417: The Basque Country to settle in the rest of Spain, France or other parts of the world in different historical periods, often for economic or political reasons. Historically the Basques abroad were often employed in shepherding and ranching and by maritime fisheries and merchants. Millions of Basque descendants (see Basque American and Basque Canadian ) live in North America (the United States; Canada, mainly in

11356-412: The Basque Country, excluding the southern part of Navarre, the south-western part of Álava , and the western part of Biscay, and including some parts of Béarn . In 1807, Basque was still spoken in the northern half of Álava—including its capital city Vitoria-Gasteiz —and a vast area in central Navarre, but in these two provinces, Basque experienced a rapid decline that pushed its border northwards. In

11523-465: The Basque have been a major if not the strongest influence in the country's cultural and economic development. Basque place names are to be found, such as Nueva Vizcaya (now Chihuahua and Durango , Mexico), New Navarre (now Sonora and Sinaloa , Mexico), Biscayne Bay (United States), and Aguereberry Point (United States). Nueva Vizcaya was the first province in the north of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico) to be explored and settled by

11690-478: The Basque language as enusquera . That may, however, be a writing mistake. In the 19th century, the Basque nationalist activist Sabino Arana posited an original root euzko , which he thought came from eguzkiko ("of the sun", related to the assumption of an original solar religion ). On the basis of that putative root, Arana proposed the name Euzkadi for an independent Basque nation, composed of seven Basque historical territories. Arana's neologism Euzkadi (in

11857-403: The Basque language could be used—and easily understood by all Basque speakers—in formal situations (education, mass media, literature), and this is its main use today. In both Spain and France, the use of Basque for education varies from region to region and from school to school. Basque is the only surviving language isolate in Europe . The current mainstream scientific view on the origin of

12024-464: The Basque language in the Basque-speaking areas of northern Navarre. Basque has no official status in the French Basque Country and French citizens are barred from officially using Basque in a French court of law. However, the use of Basque by Spanish nationals in French courts is permitted (with translation), as Basque is officially recognised on the other side of the border. The positions of

12191-481: The Basque language is geographically surrounded by Romance languages , it is a language isolate that is unrelated to them or to any other language. Most scholars believe Basque to be the last remaining descendant of one of the pre-Indo-European languages of prehistoric Europe . Consequently, it may be impossible to reconstruct the prehistory of the Basque language by the traditional comparative method except by applying it to differences between Basque dialects. Little

12358-502: The Basque language is only co-official in the province's northern region, where most Basque-speaking Navarrese are concentrated. About a quarter of a million people live in the French Basque Country . Nowadays Basque-speakers refer to this region as Iparralde (Basque for North), and to the Spanish provinces as Hegoalde (South). Much of this population lives in or near the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz (BAB) urban belt on

12525-574: The Basque nationalists. A large number of regional and local nationalist and non-nationalist representatives have waged a campaign for years advocating for the creation of a separate Basque département , while these demands have gone unheard by the French administration. There are 2,123,000 people living in the Basque Autonomous Community (279,000 in Alava, 1,160,000 in Biscay and 684,000 in Gipuzkoa). The most important cities in this region, which serve as

12692-406: The Basque people than the " antioqueños ". Also, writer Arturo Escobar Uribe said in his book " Mitos de Antioquia " (Myths of Antioquia) (1950): "Antioquia, which in its clean ascendance predominates the peninsular farmer of the Basque provinces, inherited the virtues of its ancestors. ... Despite the predominance of the white race, its extension in the mountains ... has projected over Colombia's map

12859-564: The Basques and of their language is that early forms of Basque developed before the arrival of Indo-European languages in the area, i.e. before the arrival of Celtic and Romance languages in particular, as the latter today geographically surround the Basque-speaking region. Typologically, with its agglutinative morphology and ergative–absolutive alignment , Basque grammar remains markedly different from that of Standard Average European languages. Nevertheless, Basque has borrowed up to 40 percent of its vocabulary from Romance languages, and

13026-587: The Basques is called Basque or Euskara , spoken today by 25%-30% of the region's population. An idea of the central place the language has in cultural terms is given by the fact that Basques identify themselves by the term euskaldun and their country as Euskal Herria , literally "Basque speaker" and "Country of the Basque Language" respectively. The language has been made a political issue by official Spanish and French policies restricting its use either historically or currently; however, this has not stopped

13193-424: The Bilbao native was sanctioned with 17 games without playing (although the match referee did not show him any card for this fact). In 1985 and 1986, Athletic finished third and fourth respectively. During the 1985–86 season Clemente was fired due to a bad relationship with the team's star, Sarabia. A succession of coaches that included José Ángel Iribar, Howard Kendall , Jupp Heynckes and Javier Irureta and even

13360-779: The Bilbao team won the match 2–0 with goals from Arieta and Mauri , and lifted the Cup in Chamartin Stadium. From that moment on, this was remembered as el equipo de los once aldeanos (en:  the team of eleven villagers ), since club president Enrique Guzmán shouted during the title celebration: "With eleven villagers, we have beaten them!" , in allusion to the club's tradition of playing only with players from its homeland. The classic team lineup was: Carmelo ; Orue , Garay , Canito ; Mauri , Maguregui , Marcaida ; Arteche , Arieta (whom they considered Zarra's successor), Uribe and Gaínza . Thanks to their league title triumph,

13527-474: The Christian lords called on northern Iberian peoples — Basques, Asturians , and " Franks " — to colonise the new conquests. The Basque language became the main everyday language , while other languages like Spanish , Gascon , French , or Latin were preferred for the administration and high education. By the 16th century, the Basque-speaking area was reduced basically to the present-day seven provinces of

13694-545: The French Basque ( French: [bask] ), itself derived from Gascon Basco (pronounced [ˈbasku] ), cognate with Spanish Vasco (pronounced [ˈbasko] ). Those, in turn, come from Latin Vascō (pronounced [ˈwaskoː] ; plural Vascōnēs —see history section below). The Latin / w / generally evolved into the bilabials / b / and / β̞ / in Gascon and Spanish, probably under

13861-519: The Latin ethnonym Vascones , which in turn goes back to the Greek term Οὐάσκωνες ( ouáskōnes ), an ethnonym used by Strabo in his Geographica (23 CE, Book III). The Spanish term Vascuence , derived from Latin vasconĭce , has acquired negative connotations over the centuries and is not well-liked amongst Basque speakers generally. Its use is documented at least as far back as

14028-678: The Mexican/Texan border, many Basque surnames can be found. The largest concentration of Basques who settled on Mexico's north-eastern "frontera", including the states of Chihuahua , Durango , Coahuila , Nuevo León , and Tamaulipas , also settled along Texas' Rio Grande from South Texas to West Texas . Many of the historic hidalgos , or noble families from this area, had gained their titles and land grants from Spain and Mexico; they still value their land. Some of North America's largest ranches, which were founded under these colonial land grants, can be found in this region. California has

14195-603: The Pyrenees the Castile , Pamplona and the Pyrenean counties of Aragon , Sobrarbe , Ribagorça (later Kingdom of Aragon ), and Pallars emerged as the main regional entities with Basque population in the 9th and 10th centuries. The Kingdom of Pamplona, a central Basque realm, later known as Navarre , underwent a process of feudalization and was subject to the influence of its much larger Aragonese, Castilian and French neighbours. Castile deprived Navarre of its coastline by conquering key western territories (1199–1201), leaving

14362-497: The Spanish Basque Country, Basques that don't have a sense of Spanish identity make up an important part of the population. As with many European states, a regional identity, be it linguistically derived or otherwise, is not mutually exclusive with the broader national one. For example, Basque rugby union player for France, Imanol Harinordoquy , has said about his national identity: "I am French and Basque. There

14529-521: The Spanish. It consisted mostly of the area which is today the states of Chihuahua and Durango (the original Durango is a known city in Biscay). In Mexico most descendants of Basque emigrees are concentrated in the cities of Monterrey , Saltillo , Reynosa , Camargo , and the states of Jalisco , Durango , Nuevo León , Tamaulipas , Coahuila , and Sonora . The Basques were important in the mining industry; many were ranchers and vaqueros ( cowboys ), and

14696-759: The United States is in the area around Boise, Idaho , home to the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, host to an annual Basque festival, as well as a festival for the Basque diaspora every five years. Reno, Nevada , where the Center for Basque Studies and the Basque Studies Library are located at the University of Nevada , is another significant nucleus of Basque population. Elko, Nevada , sponsors an annual Basque festival that celebrates

14863-638: The Western half of Europe, especially along the Western fringe of the continent. Basque tribes were mentioned in Roman times by Strabo and Pliny, including the Vascones , Aquitani , and others. There is enough evidence to support the hypothesis that at that time and later they spoke old varieties of the Basque language (see: Aquitanian language ). In the Early Middle Ages , the territory between

15030-416: The age group most likely to speak Basque was those between 16 and 24 years old. In the BAC, the proportion in this age group who spoke the language (74.5%) was nearly triple the comparable figure from 1991, when barely a quarter of the population spoke Basque. While there is a general increase in the number of Basque speakers during this period, this is mainly because of bilingualism . Basque transmission as

15197-493: The best players of both sides to form a team known as Club Bizcaya , which was created to compete in the Copa de la Coronación (forerunner of the Copa del Rey which officially began a year later) held in Madrid ; Bizcaya returned to Bilbao with the trophy after beating Joan Gamper 's FC Barcelona 2–1 in the final . On 24 March 1903, Bilbao FC and its associates were officially and definitively absorbed by Athletic Club. In

15364-412: The best strikers in the club's history, known as Primera delantera histórica ( en :  First historic attack ), formed by Lafuente , José Iraragorri , Bata (top scorer of LaLiga in 1930–31), Chirri II and Guillermo Gorostiza (top scorer of LaLiga in 1929-30 and 1931–32). Goalkeeper Gregorio Blasco also stood out, who was the most unbeaten goalie in LaLiga on three occasions. Garbutt promoted

15531-414: The border. Spanish or French is typically the first language of citizens from other regions (who often feel no need to learn Basque), and Spanish or French is also the first language of many Basques, all of which maintains the dominance of the state tongues of both France and Spain. Recent Basque Government policies aim to change this pattern, as they are viewed as potential threats against mainstream usage of

15698-454: The cider is in season. At the end of the 20th century, despite ETA violence (ended in 2010) and the crisis of heavy industries, the Basque economic condition recovered remarkably. They emerged from the Franco regime with a revitalized language and culture. The Basque language expanded geographically led by large increases in the major urban centers of Pamplona, Bilbao, and Bayonne, where only

15865-743: The club added full colour to the design and recovered the original English "Athletic Club" name. In 2008, the shape of the shield was slightly altered and a new "Athletic Club" typeface was introduced. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. The current club president (elected in June 2022, following Aitor Elizegi )

16032-971: The club's history, further Basque league derbies have been contested against Alavés , Eibar and Osasuna. The club is known for its cantera policy of bringing young Basque players through the ranks, as well as recruiting players from other Basque clubs. Athletic's official policy is to sign players native to or trained in football in the greater Basque Country , which includes Biscay , Gipuzkoa , Álava and Navarre (in Spain), as well as Labourd , Soule and Lower Navarre (in France). Since 1912, Athletic has played exclusively with players meeting its own criteria to be deemed Basque. It has gained Athletic both admirers and critics. The club has been praised for promoting home grown players and club loyalty. The rule does not apply to coaching staff, with several examples of non-Basques both from Spain and abroad having coached

16199-585: The coast (in Basque these are Baiona , Angelu and Miarritze ). The Basque language, which was traditionally spoken by most of the region's population outside the BAB urban zone, is today rapidly losing ground to French. The French Basque Country's lack of self-government within the French state is coupled with the absence of official status for the Basque language in the region. Attempts to introduce bilingualism in local administration have so far met direct refusal from French officials. Large numbers of Basques have left

16366-446: The corresponding fricatives [β] , [ð] , and [ɣ] . Basque has a distinction between laminal and apical articulation for the alveolar fricatives and affricates. With the laminal alveolar fricative [s̻] , the friction occurs across the blade of the tongue, the tongue tip pointing toward the lower teeth. This is the usual /s/ in most European languages. It is written with an orthographic ⟨z⟩ . By contrast,

16533-577: The dance, cuisine and cultures of the Basque peoples of Spanish, French and Mexican nationalities who have arrived in Nevada since the late 19th century. Texas has a large percentage of Hispanics descended from Basques who participated in the conquest of New Spain . Many of the original Tejanos had Basque blood, including those who fought in the Battle of the Alamo alongside many of the other Texans. Along

16700-659: The dance, cuisine, and culture of the peoples. The surrounding area of San Bernardino County has many Basque descendants as residents. They are mostly descendants of settlers from Spain and Mexico. These Basques in California are grouped in the group known as Californios . Basques of European Spanish-French and Latin American nationalities also settled throughout the western U.S. in states like Louisiana , New Mexico , Arizona , Utah , Colorado , Wyoming , Montana , Oregon , and Washington . The identifying language of

16867-539: The day of historical akelarre or coven . Mari was said to reside in Mount Anboto ; periodically she crossed the skies as a bright light to reach her other home at Mount Txindoki . Legends also speak of many and abundant genies, like jentilak (equivalent to giants ), lamiak (equivalent to nymphs ), mairuak (builders of the cromlechs or stone circles, literally Moors ), iratxoak ( imps ), sorginak ( witches , priestess of Mari), and so on. Basajaun

17034-538: The debate largely comes down to the a priori tendency on the part of particular linguists to accept or reject substrate arguments. Examples of arguments against the substrate theory, and possible responses: Beyond these arguments, a number of nomadic groups of Castile are also said to use or have used Basque words in their jargon, such as the gacería in Segovia , the mingaña , the Galician fala dos arxinas and

17201-468: The different interpretations of what is considered Christianisation. Early traces of Christianity can be found in the major urban areas from the 4th century onwards, a bishopric from 589 in Pamplona and three hermit cave concentrations (two in Álava , one in Navarre ) that were in use from the 6th century onwards. In this sense, Christianity arrived "early". Pre-Christian belief seems to have focused on

17368-566: The double in 1956 and two other victories in the Copa del Generalísimo in 1955 and 1958 . The latter is remembered as one of the club's most important achievements, because Athletic managed to beat Di Stefano 's Real Madrid , which had just won the European Cup and LaLiga, and the Spanish federation also ignored Athletic's request to play in a neutral field and forced the final to be played in Chamartin (Real Madrid stadium). However,

17535-491: The earliest modern humans who colonised Europe. Partly for these reasons, anthropological and genetic studies from the beginning and the end of the 20th century theorized that the Basques are the descendants of the original Cro-Magnons . But although they are genetically distinctive in some ways due to isolation, the Basques are still very typically European in their Y-DNA and mtDNA sequences, and in some other genetic loci . These same sequences are widespread throughout

17702-468: The end of the season, and the final league game at the "old" San Mamés ended in defeat. Athletic would soon move to a new stadium, albeit in a partially completed state. Bielsa promoted young defender Aymeric Laporte into the side, while striker Fernando Llorente completed a free transfer to Juventus . After Bielsa, Ernesto Valverde returned for a second spell as manager, and he signed or brought through several new players as Athletic came fourth in

17869-490: The first Copas del Rey in 1903 , both times under Juan Astorquia who was president and Captain. In 1904 , they were declared winners after their opponents failed to turn up. In 1907, they revived the name Club Vizcaya after entering a combined team with Union Vizcaino . After a brief lull, they won again in 1910 , with Luis Astorquia as the new captain and goalkeeper. In 1911, former team captain Alejandro de la Sota ,

18036-461: The first leg of the 2015 Supercopa de España at San Mamés, Athletic defeated Barcelona 4–0, with Aritz Aduriz scoring a hat-trick. In the return leg at Camp Nou , Athletic hung on with a 1–1 draw to win their first trophy since 1984. Aduriz finished with 36 goals in all competitions. Athletic advanced to the quarter-finals in the Europa League where they were only defeated on penalties by

18203-615: The first team. Despite the implications of the name 'Athletic Club' in English, and unlike some of the other major Spanish teams which have several departments, it is not a multi-sport club , participating only in football, although sections for cycling and other sports existed prior to the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Football was introduced to Bilbao by two distinct groups with British connections: British workers, and Basque students returning from schools in Britain. In

18370-478: The first translation of the new Testament into Basque by Joanes Leizarraga . Queen Jeanne III of Navarre , a devout Huguenot , commissioned the translation of the New Testament into Basque and Béarnese for the benefit of her subjects. By the time Henry III of Navarre converted to Catholicism in order to become king of France, Protestantism virtually disappeared from the Basque community. Bayonne held

18537-683: The history of Athletic Bilbao, which included historical players of the club such as Iribar, Rojo, Guisasola , Alexanko , Goikoetxea , Irureta , Dani or Carlos (last player to win the Pichichi Trophy with the club). In 1981, Javier Clemente became manager. He put together one of the most successful teams in the club's history, the main lineup of this team was: Zubizarreta ; Urkiaga , Goikoetxea , Rocky Liceranzu , De la Fuente ; De Andrés , Sola , Urtubi ; Dani , Sarabia and Argote . In 1982–83 season, Athletic became LaLiga champion after surpassing Santillana 's Real Madrid in

18704-423: The holders and eventual repeat winners Sevilla FC . Valverde left his position at the end of the 2016–17 season after four years. It was confirmed that his successor would be former player José Ángel Ziganda , moving up from Bilbao Athletic. On 29 November the club suffered a shock defeat to SD Formentera in the domestic cup . At the conclusion of a poor season overall, Ziganda was dismissed and Eduardo Berizzo

18871-419: The influence of Basque and the related Aquitanian (the Latin /w/ instead evolved into / v / in French , Italian and other Romance languages ). Several coins from the 2nd and the 1st centuries BC found in the Basque Country bear the inscription barscunes . The place in which they were minted is not certain but is thought to be somewhere near Pamplona , in the heartland of the area that historians believe

19038-403: The influence of the neighbouring Romance languages on the Basque language (especially the lexicon, but also to some degree Basque phonology and grammar) has been much more extensive, it is usually assumed that there has been some feedback from Basque into these languages as well. In particular Gascon and Aragonese , and to a lesser degree Spanish are thought to have received this influence in

19205-558: The kingdom landlocked. The Basques were ravaged by the War of the Bands , bitter partisan wars between local ruling families. Weakened by the Navarrese civil war, the bulk of the realm eventually fell before the onslaught of the Spanish armies (1512–1524). However, the Navarrese territory north of the Pyrenees remained beyond the reach of an increasingly powerful Spain. Lower Navarre became

19372-523: The late 19th century, Bilbao was a leading industrial town, thus becoming the home to a large British colony, mainly made up of migrant workers, including shipyard workers and miners from the northeast of England, such as Southampton , Portsmouth , and Sunderland . Along with coal, they brought with them (as in so many other parts of the world) the game of football. Meanwhile, sons of the Basque educated classes, such as Juan Astorquia , went to Britain to complete their studies, and while there, they developed

19539-513: The league , meaning a UEFA Champions League campaign. Ander Herrera transferred to Manchester United for €36 million deal at the end of the season. Athletic had a triumphant first full-capacity match in the new San Mamés as they defeated Napoli to qualify for the Champions League group stage, however they could only finish 3rd in the group. Athletic reached the 2015 Copa del Rey Final , but once again lost to Barcelona, 3–1. In

19706-469: The main political parties of Navarre, divides Navarre into three language areas: Basque-speaking, non-Basque-speaking, and mixed. Support for the language and the linguistic rights of citizens vary, depending on the area. Others consider it unfair, since the rights of Basque speakers differ greatly depending on the place they live. The 2021 sociolinguistic survey of all Basque-speaking territories showed that, of all people aged 16 and above: In 2021, out of

19873-672: The minority tongue. The Basque language is thought to be a genetic language isolate in contrast with other European languages, vast majority of which belong to the broad Indo-European language family . Another peculiarity of Basque is that it has probably been spoken continuously in situ , in and around its present territorial location, for longer than most other modern European languages, which are typically thought to have been introduced in historic or prehistoric times through population migrations or other processes of cultural transmission. However, popular stereotypes characterizing Basque as "the oldest language in Europe" and "unique among

20040-599: The most divergent Basque dialects. Modern Basque dialectology distinguishes five dialects: These dialects are divided in 11 subdialects, and 24 minor varieties among them. According to Koldo Zuazo , the Biscayan dialect or "Western" is the most widespread dialect, with around 300,000 speakers out of a total of around 660,000 speakers. This dialect is divided in two minor subdialects: the Western Biscayan and Eastern Biscayan, plus transitional dialects. Although

20207-464: The neighboring communities and produce from the sea and the land. A 20th-century feature of Basque culture is the phenomenon of gastronomical societies (called txoko in Basque), food clubs where men gather to cook and enjoy their own food. Until recently, women were allowed entry only one day in the year. Cider houses ( Sagardotegiak ) are popular restaurants in Gipuzkoa open for a few months while

20374-571: The northern area of Navarre formed the core of the remaining Basque-speaking area before measures were introduced in the 1980s to strengthen Basque fluency. By contrast, most of Álava, the westernmost part of Biscay, and central and southern Navarre are predominantly populated by native speakers of Spanish , either because Basque was replaced by Spanish over the centuries (as in most of Álava and central Navarre), or because it may never have been spoken there (as in parts of Enkarterri and south-eastern Navarre). In Francoist Spain , Basque language use

20541-618: The official languages in this region. However, Basque was explicitly recognised in some areas. For instance, the fuero or charter of the Basque-colonised Ojacastro (now in La Rioja ) allowed the inhabitants to use Basque in legal processes in the 13th and 14th centuries. Basque was allowed in telegraph messages in Spain thanks to the royal decree of 1904. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 states in Article 3 that

20708-567: The only team to take part in the showpiece event twice in as many weeks; however, Athletic lost that final as well, to Barcelona by a 4–0 scoreline. In October 2021, a report from the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) showed that Athletic Bilbao and Desna Chernihiv (Ukraine) were the only teams in European continental competitions without foreign players.They ended the season on 10th place. The next two seasons saw

20875-467: The others being Real Madrid and Barcelona . These three clubs, along with Osasuna , are the only four professional clubs in Spain that are not sports corporations; instead they are owned and operated by club members. Athletic's main rivals are Real Sociedad , against whom it contests the Basque derby , and Real Madrid, due to sporting and political identity ; a minor rivalry also exists with Barcelona due to historical significance . At various points in

21042-614: The past. In the case of Aragonese and Gascon, this would have been through substrate interference following language shift from Aquitanian or Basque to a Romance language, affecting all levels of the language, including place names around the Pyrenees. Although a number of words of alleged Basque origin in the Spanish language are circulated (e.g. anchoa 'anchovies', bizarro 'dashing, gallant, spirited', cachorro 'puppy', etc.), most of these have more easily explicable Romance etymologies or not particularly convincing derivations from Basque. Ignoring cultural terms, there

21209-475: The phrase Juegan Iribar y diez más ( en : Iribar and ten more are playing ). The situation improved when in 1969 Atlético won a Copa del Generalísimo and was runner-up in LaLiga in the 1969–70 season. The main stars of this team −in addition to Iribar− were the scorer Fidel Uriarte (winner of a Pichichi Trophy ) and the winger Txetxu Rojo . The 1970s were not much better, with only another single Copa del Generalísimo win in 1973 . In December 1976, before

21376-515: The prototype of its race; in Medellín with the industrial paisa , entrepreneur, strong and steady ... in its towns, the adventurer, arrogant, world-explorer. ... Its myths, which are an evidence of their deep credulity and an indubitable proof of their Iberian ancestor, are the sequel of the conqueror's blood which runs through their veins". Bambuco , a Colombian folk music, has Basque roots. The largest of several important Basque communities in

21543-632: The provinces of Newfoundland and Quebec ), all over Latin America, South Africa, and Australia. Miguel de Unamuno said: "There are at least two things that clearly can be attributed to Basques: the Society of Jesus and the Republic of Chile ." Chilean historian Luis Thayer Ojeda estimated that 48 percent of immigrants to Chile in the 17th and 18th centuries were Basque. Estimates range between 2.5 and 5 million Basque descendants live in Chile ;

21710-518: The provinces' administrative centers, are Bilbao (in Biscay), San Sebastián (in Gipuzkoa), and Vitoria-Gasteiz (in Álava). The official languages are Basque and Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is compulsory under the Spanish constitution (article no. 3), and knowledge and usage of Basque is a right under the Statute of Autonomy (article no. 6), so only knowledge of Spanish is virtually universal. Knowledge of Basque, after declining for many years during Franco's dictatorship owing to official persecution,

21877-410: The public use of Basque was suppressed, with people fined for speaking it. Public use of Basque was frowned upon by supporters of the regime, often regarded as a sign of anti-Francoism or separatism . Overall, in the 1960s and later, the trend reversed and education and publishing in Basque began to flourish. As a part of this process, a standardised form of the Basque language, called Euskara Batua ,

22044-470: The regularized spelling Euskadi ) is still widely used in both Basque and Spanish since it is now the official name of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country . The distinctiveness noted by studies of classical genetic markers (such as blood groups ) and the pre-Indo-European of the Basque language has resulted in a popular and long-held view that Basques are "living fossils" of

22211-568: The rest of the family (unlike in England, with strict primogeniture, where the eldest son inherited everything and often did not provide for others). Even though they were provided for in some way, younger siblings had to make much of their living by other means. Mostly after the advent of industrialisation, this system resulted in the emigration of many rural Basques to Spain, France or the Americas. Harsh by modern standards, this custom resulted in

22378-627: The rest opened small shops in major cities such as Mexico City , Guadalajara and Puebla . In Guatemala , most Basques have been concentrated in Sacatepequez Department , Antigua Guatemala , Jalapa for six generations now, while some have migrated to Guatemala City . In Colombia, a large number of Basques settled mainly in Antioquia and the Coffee Axis . In 1955, Joaquín Ospina said: "Is there something more similar to

22545-487: The revitalisation process, the extensive development and use of language technologies is also considered a significant additional factor. Many linguists have tried to link Basque with other languages, but no hypothesis has gained mainstream acceptance. Apart from pseudoscientific comparisons , the appearance of long-range linguistics gave rise to several attempts to connect Basque with geographically very distant language families such as Georgian . Historical work on Basque

22712-522: The same results, narrowly missing out on the Europa Conference League by finishing in 8th and consecutive Copa del Rey Semi final exits although they did finish as Supercopa de Espanã Runners-up in the 2021–22 season, defeating Atlético Madrid and losing to Real Madrid. In the 2023–24 season however, saw Athletic Bilbao end their 40-year Copa del Rey drought by winning the 2023-24 Copa del Rey against RCD Mallorca 4–2 on penalties after

22879-424: The same year, Basque students also formed an affiliated team, Athletic Club Madrid , which later evolved into Atlético Madrid , after watching Athletic's epic triumph in the 1903 Copa del Rey Final . The club itself declares 1898 as its foundation date. The club featured prominently in early Copas del Rey. Following their triumph at the Copa de la Coronación by Club Bizcaya , the newly formed Athletic Bilbao won

23046-500: The semi-finals. The club then defeated Granada CF in the semi-final on away goals to meet local rivals Real Sociedad in the final – which was then postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain , both clubs happy to delay in the hope of supporters being able to attend the historic Basque derby occasion. This did not come to pass, and the final was eventually played in an empty stadium on 3 April 2021, Real Sociedad emerging winners by

23213-708: The seven provinces of the currently called historical territories. It is sometimes referred to simply as "the Basque Country" (or Euskadi ) by writers and public agencies only considering those three western provinces, but also on occasions merely as a convenient abbreviation when this does not lead to confusion in the context. Others reject this usage as inaccurate and are careful to specify the BAC (or an equivalent expression such as "the three provinces", up to 1978 referred to as "Provincias Vascongadas" in Spanish) when referring to this entity or region. Likewise, terms such as "the Basque Government" for "the government of

23380-465: The shield of Biscay, it takes the Gernikako Arbola (Guernica's tree) and the cross of Saint Andrew ( saltires ). Its first documented use dates from 1922. The first official club crest was a blue circle surrounded by a belt with the letters A and C in the centre in white (as the club colours were at that point). The second was from 1910, consisting of a red-and-white flag (newly adopted as

23547-475: The shirt colours) with a red square in the top left corner, containing the initials of the club in white. The third, from 1913, involved the same flag, but in this case shown on a pole wrapped around a football (this is very similar to the Real Sociedad crest still in use today, ignoring the crown of royal patronage). The first version of the current crest, roughly an inverted triangular shield shape with

23714-415: The social position of women in both traditional and modern Basque society is somewhat better than in neighbouring cultures, and women have a substantial influence in decisions about the domestic economy. In the past, some women participated in collective magical ceremonies. They were key participants in a rich folklore, today largely forgotten. Basque cuisine is at the heart of Basque culture, influenced by

23881-470: The standings on the last round. The following year they won a LaLiga and Copa del Rey double. In that cup final they beat Maradona 's FC Barcelona 1–0; the Argentine player did not take the defeat well and attacked an Athletic player, which caused a brawl between both teams. Months earlier, Goikoetxea had injured Maradona after a hard tackle from behind, from which it took him several weeks to recover, and

24048-400: The teaching, speaking, writing, and cultivating of this increasingly vibrant minority language. This sense of Basque identity tied to the local language does not only exist in isolation. For many Basques, it is juxtaposed with a sense of either Spanish or French identity tied with the use of the Spanish and French languages among other Basques, especially in the French Basque Country. Regarding

24215-417: The team represented Spain in the 1956 Latin Cup , where they reached the final and lost to AC Milan by a score of 3–1. In the same year the club also made their debut in the European Cup , where they reached the quarterfinals after eliminating FC Porto and Ferenc Puskás 's Honvéd FC . They then beat Manchester United Busby Babes 5–3 at San Mamés Stadium , but were defeated 3–0 at Old Trafford , in

24382-668: The term "High Navarre" ( Nafarroa Garaia in Basque, Alta Navarra in Spanish) is also encountered as a way of referring to the territory of the present-day autonomous community. There are three other historic provinces parts of the Basque Country: Labourd , Lower Navarre and Soule ( Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea and Zuberoa in Basque; Labourd, Basse-Navarre and Soule in French), devoid of official status within France's present-day political and administrative territorial organization, and only minor political support to

24549-464: The top Spanish scorer in the championship). During the 1940s and early 1950s, the club featured the legendary forward line formed by Rafa Iriondo , Venancio García , Telmo Zarra, José Luis Panizo and Agustín Gaínza , which was nicknamed Segunda delantera histórica (en:  Second historic attack ); midfielder Nando González and goalkeeper Raimundo Lezama (most unbeaten goalie in LaLiga on 1946-47 ) also stood out from this team. This squad won

24716-402: The top scorer in its history with 335 goals. He won six Pichichi Trophies for being the top scorer in LaLiga (a record only surpassed by Messi in 2020), and his 38 goals in the 1950–51 season stood as a record for 60 years. He was also the top scorer in LaLiga history since 1950 with 251 goals, until in 2014 he was surpassed by Lionel Messi and later by Cristiano Ronaldo (however, he is still

24883-441: The topic of some discussion. There are, broadly speaking, two views. According to one, Christianity arrived in the Basque Country during the 4th and 5th centuries but according to the other, it did not take place until the 12th and 13th centuries. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Basques were not Christianized until the tenth century, however, and that their earlier animism survives in their folklore. The main issue lies in

25050-401: The transmission rate also decreased. Basque is used as a language of commerce both in the Basque Country and in locations around the world where Basques immigrated throughout history. The modern Basque dialects show a high degree of dialectal divergence, sometimes making cross-dialect communication difficult. This is especially true in the case of Biscayan and Souletin, which are regarded as

25217-596: The valley", Etxeberria "the new house", and so on. In contrast to surrounding regions, ancient Basque inheritance patterns, recognised in the fueros , favoured survival of the unity of inherited land holdings. In a kind of primogeniture, these usually were inherited by the eldest male or female child. As in other cultures, the fate of other family members depended on the assets of a family: wealthy Basque families tended to provide for all children in some way, while less-affluent families may have had only one asset to provide to one child. However, this heir often provided for

25384-453: The various existing governments differ with regard to the promotion of Basque in areas where Basque is commonly spoken. The language has official status in those territories that are within the Basque Autonomous Community, where it is spoken and promoted heavily, but only partially in Navarre. The Ley del Vascuence ("Law of Basque"), seen as contentious by many Basques, but considered fitting Navarra's linguistic and cultural diversity by some of

25551-518: The vowel /a/ is elided before any following vowel. This does not prevent the existence of diphthongs with /a/ present. There are six diphthongs in Basque, all falling and with /i̯/ or /u̯/ as the second element. In syllable-final position, all plosives are devoiced and are spelled accordingly in Standard Basque. When between vowels, and often when after /r/ or /l/ , the voiced plosives /b/ , /d/ , and /ɡ/ , are pronounced as

25718-578: The word for "stone" ( haitz ), and have therefore concluded that the language dates to prehistoric Europe when those tools were made of stone. Others find this unlikely: see the aizkora controversy . Latin inscriptions in Gallia Aquitania preserve a number of words with cognates in the reconstructed proto-Basque language , for instance, the personal names Nescato and Cison ( neskato and gizon mean 'young girl' and 'man', respectively in modern Basque). This language

25885-406: The world's languages" may be misunderstood and lead to erroneous assumptions. Over the centuries, Basque has remained in continuous contact with neighboring western European languages with which it has come to share numerous lexical properties and typological features; it is therefore misleading to exaggerate the "outlandish" character of Basque. Basque is also a modern language, and is established as

26052-445: The young Ángel Zubieta to the first team, a player who at 17 years of age went on to become the youngest ever to play for the Spanish national team at the time. In the final game of the season, the title was decided when Athletic defeated Oviedo 2–0 at home on 19 April 1936, winning the title just two points clear of Real Madrid. In July 1936, football halted due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War . The league did not restart until

26219-400: The younger generations, while the older ones are more religious. Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in Basque Country . In 2019, the proportion of Basques that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 60%, while it is one of the most secularized communities of Spain: 24.6% were non-religious and 12.3% of Basques were atheist . The Christianisation of the Basque Country has been

26386-561: Was a prominent member of the 1997–98 squad, along with Ismael Urzaiz and Julen Guerrero . The club narrowly avoided relegation during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, the latter being the worst in the club's history. In the Copa del Rey , they reached their first final in 24 years, losing 4–1 to Barcelona . Prior to the 2011–12 season , Athletic's new president, former player Josu Urrutia , brought in coach Marcelo Bielsa ; Athletic advanced to their first European final since 1977, losing 3–0 to Spanish rivals Atlético Madrid on 9 May in

26553-461: Was appointed. However, his spell was even less fruitful and in December 2018, having won just two of his fifteen matches at the helm and with the team in the relegation zone , Berizzo was dismissed. B-team coach Gaizka Garitano took over and oversaw an improvement in results, with the club moving well out of danger and narrowly missing out on a Europa League spot on the last day. The beginning of

26720-520: Was charged by the club to buy 25 new shirts, but was unable to find enough. Waiting for the ship back to Bilbao and empty handed, Elorduy realised that the colours of the local team Southampton matched the colours of the City of Bilbao, and bought 50 shirts to take with him. Upon arriving in Bilbao, the club's directors decided almost immediately to change the team's strip to the new colours, and since 1910, Athletic Club have played in red and white stripes. Of

26887-464: Was developed by the Euskaltzaindia in the late 1960s. Besides its standardised version, the five historic Basque dialects are Biscayan , Gipuzkoan , and Upper Navarrese in Spain and Navarrese–Lapurdian and Souletin in France. They take their names from the historic Basque provinces, but the dialect boundaries are not congruent with province boundaries. Euskara Batua was created so that

27054-402: Was discouraged by the government's repressive policies . In the Basque Country, "Francoist repression was not only political, but also linguistic and cultural." Franco's regime suppressed Basque from official discourse, education, and publishing, making it illegal to register newborn babies under Basque names, and even requiring tombstone engravings in Basque to be removed. In some provinces

27221-475: Was elected as the 7th president of the club, and he was the driving force behind the construction of the San Mamés Stadium (whose architect was Manuel María Smith), which opened in 1913 and soon become one of the symbols of Athletic's dominance in the 1910s, winning the Copa del Rey three times in a row between 1914 and 1916 , with Billy Barnes as coach. Between 1917 and 1919 the club went through

27388-473: Was in Aloña , or Supelegor , or Gorbea . One of her names, Mari Urraca possibly ties her to an historical Navarrese princess of the 11th and 12th century, with other legends giving her a brother or cousin who was a Roman Catholic priest. So far the discussions about whether the name Mari is original and just happened to coincide closely with the Christian name María or if Mari is an early Basque attempt to give

27555-402: Was inhabited by the Vascones . Some scholars have suggested a Celtic etymology based on bhar-s- , meaning "summit", "point" or "leaves", according to which barscunes may have meant "the mountain people ", "the tall ones" or "the proud ones", and others have posited a relationship to a Proto-Indo-European root *bar- meaning "border", "frontier", "march". In Basque, people call themselves

27722-524: Was named after Saint Mammes , an early Christian thrown to the lions by the Romans . Mammes pacified the lions and was later made a saint . The team plays its home matches at the San Mamés Stadium . Its home colours are red and white-striped shirts with black shorts. Athletic are the fourth most successful club in La Liga with eight titles to their name. In the table of Copa del Rey titles, Athletic

27889-642: Was the 1921 Copa del Rey, before dying aged just 29 in 1922. Today, the La Liga top-scorer is declared the Pichichi in his honour. Along with fellow Basque clubs such as Real Unión , Arenas Club de Getxo and Real Sociedad , Athletic was a founding member of La Liga in 1928 and by 1930 they were joined by CD Alavés ; five of the ten clubs in the Primera División were from the Basque Country. The saying " Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación " ( en : "With home-grown teams and support, there

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