Basque cultural movement in Alava during the storm (1939-1975)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explain the evolution of Basque cultural movement in Alava in the Francoism. First of all, we need to understand that the movement was very broad, and in this article we will focus on adult’s teaching, basque schools and culture. The context in Alava was dramatic, in addition to the decline of centuries, the language was in risk due to the repression of Francoism. In this worrying situation, many people began to work to recovery the Basque language. Thus, it took a leap in the 1970s with the formalization of adult education and basque schools, and the spread of culture. Although the movement in Alava has some peculiarities, it was inside on framework of the Basque Country, the development was the same and tensions were also noticed in our province, like the debate of the unity of the language. In general, it was a multi-edged struggle in which politics or religion were mixed.