Baztan, Navarre

The capital of the valley is Elizondo, and includes 15 other villages, as follows:

• Amaiur-Maya
• Aniz
• Arraioz
• Almandoz
• Arizkun
• Azpilkueta
• Berroeta
• Elbete
• Erratzu
• Gartzain
• Irurita
• Lekaroz
• Erratzu
• Oronoz-Mugairi
• Ziga

The territory of the Baztan valley extends over an area of 377 square km[3] of which much is common land[4] jointly owned by the residents of the Baztan valley and primarily used as grazing ground for flocks of sheep and herds of semi-wild horses. The Baztan Valley borders with the French Basque regions of Lapurdi and Lower Navarre which is accessed by the Izpegi Pass to the east of the valley and Dantxarinea to the north. This vicinity to France and its ties with its Basque neighbours has greatly characterised the history of the Baztan people over the past centuries. In 2013, there were 7,974 people living in the Baztan Valley with 3489 people living in the capital of Elizondo.[5] The remaining population are spread out between the other 14 mountain villages (see above).

The Baztan Valley is sparsely populated with small-scale pastoral farming making use of the verdant pastures along the banks of the Baztan river. Orchards of apple, quince, cherry, pear and peach trees are common and more recently kiwis have been planted in the area. The mountain slopes are densely covered with oak, chestnut, walnut, beech, and ash. The odd palm tree can sometimes be found in the grounds of the larger manor houses in the area and often belies family links to the Americas where many Baztan people have emigrated since the 16th century.

The large detached farmhouses which characterise the Baztan valley are built in typical Basque style with solid wooden frames and eaves and wooden balconies often decorated with geraniums. Distinctive pink sandstone is hewn from the quarries in the Baztan valley and blocks of it are used to outline the windows, doors and corners of the houses giving them a very distinctive quality. The Baztan style of architecture is strictly protected by numerous building regulations so that modern buildings in the area blend in harmoniously with the local Basque design.

One of the oldest (although lesser publicised) routes of the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) crosses the Baztan valley and runs along much of the valley floor through the villages of Urdax, Amaiur, Arizkun, Elizondo and Ziga and means that some structures in the area date back as far as the 10th century – with specific mention of the Monastery and Pilgrims Hospital in Urdax. However, the majority of the buildings in the area date back to the 17th and 18th centuries when there was a population explosion as many families, having made money in the Americas, returned home. Their new-found wealth was ploughed back into the local community giving rise to opulent churches, with specific reference to the impressive 17th century Herrerian-styled church in Ziga[17] and into the huge manor houses, easily discerned by their four-way sloping roofs, intricately carved eaves and elaborate coats of arms.

Traditionally the Baztan Valley is made up of many small family farming units dedicated to pastoral farming and the raising of pigs, sheep and cows; the last two being raised for both their meat and milk. Small dairies in the area produce yoghurts and cheeses and the sheep's cheese of the area (a local version of the Domination of Origin Idiazabal cheese). Small-scaled enterprises in the Baztan Valley also produce chocolates, cakes, jams, cuts of meat, liqueurs and cider and there are several small saw mills and stone quarries. Given the natural resources of wood, stone and marble that are found in the valley, construction has also been a relatively large employer and traditionally much business has always been done with their French Basque neighbours over the border. Since around the year 2000 the gradual decline in farming activities has been replaced by small-scale rural tourism and many traditional farmhouses have been restored to make impressive rental properties and bed and breakfasts. There is a range of tourist services, including documented and sign-posted walks[18] and the villages offer ethnographical museums and artists’ ateliers, watermills, equestrian centres and outdoor sports companies. The Baztan valley is well known throughout Spain although international tourism is only just starting to arrive.

The culture of the Baztan valley is quintessentially Basque and Euskera is the main language spoken at home. The majority of the Baztan children are schooled in Basque at local Ikastolas although the larger schools do offer the opportunity to be schooled in Spanish. In many of the Ikastolas Spanish is taught as a second language as well as English, which is sometimes allocated more teaching hours than Spanish. There are no universities in the Baztan valley and so many young students leave to study further afield in the larger cities of Pamplona or San Sebastian although their links with the valley remain strong with many young people seeking to return to the valley to settle down at a later age. In 2013 there were 473 more people living in the Baztan valley than in 2001.[5] Each village has its own traditional fiestas and carnivals, many of them dating back to pagan times. These village fiestas and festivals still find a devoted following among the Baztan people where there is a strong sense of identity and a deep-seated loyalty for their Basque language and cultural roots. A clear example of this is the Sagar Dantza (apple dance) in Arizkun which is enacted each Shrove Tuesday.[19]

In 2012 Iñaki Elizalde launched his film `Baztan' at the San Sebastian Film Festival. The film was about the Agotes; a mysterious people of pariah status who lived in the hamlet of Bozate, near Arizkun.[20]

In 2013 Dolores Redondo published the first of her crime fiction books of The Baztan Trilogy which were translated into over 20 languages.[21] The stories are situated in the Baztan Valley.

• CTV.es
• Code of Honour in the Baztan Valley
• Baztan in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa) (in Spanish)
• Guiapueblos.es
• Baztan Valley Tourist Board
• Ayuntamiento de Baztan (in Basque)
• Witchcraft investigated by the Spanish Inquisition, (relatively well carried out quite lucidly by Alonso Salazar Frias, (circa 1564 - 1636), Alonso Salazar Frias, for those times compared with the whole of Europe, during the 17th century, 1610), was performed at Zugarramurdi caves, the Urdazabi or Urdax caves as well as in Sara, France, nearby.

Out of some 300 people whose names have been recorded, males, females, girls and boys, there were some 12 comdened to the fire, mainly women. There is now a Museum of Witchcraft to remember this famous Court case, carried out at Logroño, Rioja, Spain. Night celebrations seem to be on August 18.

• Gustav Henningsen, The Witches' Advocate: Basque Witchcraft and the Spanish Inquisition (1609–1614), Nevada, (1980). University of Nevada Press, November 1980, ISBN 978-0-87417-056-6

1. 607pp. We have tracked also, however: Hardcover, Publishers Association, The, ISBN 0-87417-056-7 (0-87417-056-7)

• Gustav Henningsen (ed.), The Salazar Documents: Inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías and Others on the Basque Witch Persecution, Hardcover, Brill Academic Publ., ISBN 90-04-13186-8 (90-04-13186-8) Leiden: Brill, (2004).