Riot in Basque Country

Mention the Basque country in northern Spain, and many will think of ETA, maybe bombs, liberation movements, and strange language. Fewer will think of the beautiful scenery, the great food, and the extremely friendly and hospitable people. A shame. But it’s not without reason the area is associated with violence.

For years and decades, groups from this region have fought for independence from Spain. Many times using violence. In the highly unlikely event I’ll ever start writing politics, I might cover this interesting topic of who are the righteous and who are the villains here, but for now I’ll leave this up to others to decide.

Demonstrations are regular occurrences in San Sebastian. The demonstrations are highly exposed and receive a lot of attention. Which I suppose is the purpose of a demonstration. Wouldn’t be worth the trouble making a statement without an audience, would it?

Sunday afternoon, and I’ve been warned by my local friend that there’ll be a big one that will close off some streets and public transport. Turns out she’s right. The police are following every step of the demonstrating people, as well as the audience. Not sure what the statement of this particular demonstration is. I move closer, towards the demonstration. The procession is moving rather fast, so I speed up.

All of a sudden there are bangs in the air. Gunshots. People start running, almost panicking, towards me. Most of them seem to be tourists. Scared tourists. A stampede. I look in the faces of the running people as they pass me. What was initially terror in their eyes have now changed to nervous laughter, as they realize that they are now at a safe distance from the action. I don’t know where the shots came from, but would imagine that the police shot a few in the air. Maybe someone came too close. Maybe they saw a threat. Or maybe they wanted to please the audience, adding to the myth of the Basque land. The demonstration carries on, but now in front of a smaller and more alert crowd. Maybe this is standard procedure for the locals. But for the bewildered tourist a few seconds of action. Not enough time to get scared, but enough time to realize that the demonstration in fact is subject to a cause. Not sure which cause for this very one, but apparently one that goes deeper than the standard tourist mind is used to.

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