The City of Hendaia has presented the process of elaborating the Strategic Plan of the Basque Country to promote the use of Basque in the municipality and strengthen the Basque community. The Plan will develop a diagnosis that collects quantitative and qualitative aspects of the current situation and serves as a tool to prioritize, beyond the daily dynamics. The process will be energized by Elhuyar Aholkularitza.

On 3 November, Kotte Ecenarro Hendaia, the head of the Basque Country Michelle Mounios Adurriaga and the electorate member of the Basque Commission Haritza Camblong, presented the Strategic Plan of the Basque Country of Hendaia. The event was attended by Udalbiltza vice-president Maite Iturre (co-financed by Udalbiltza), Aitziber Zapirain, euskaltzale de Hendaia, and Helene Armentia and Irati Bereau de Elhuyar Aholkularitza.

Although the situation in Basque is difficult throughout the Northern Basque Country, both local entities and social agents are working to turn this situation around. A clear example of this is the implementation of the process of elaboration of the Strategic Plan of the Basque Country in Hendaia, the first Basque plan to be carried out in Ipar Euskal Herria.

The objective is to promote the use of Basque between citizens and agents of Hendaia and consolidate a new language policy and lines of work that the municipality will develop in the coming years. To achieve this objective, channels of reflection will be established based on the experiences of people and enabling citizen participation.

First, it is essential to make a diagnosis of the current situation of the Basque language in Hendaia. Therefore, to complete this diagnosis, among other things, documentation has been received on the work done previously and an interview has been made with agents from different sectors to gather opinions on the situation and future of Basque in Hendaia.

In the second phase, three meetings will be held with citizens and agents to complete the diagnosis and address the challenges and measures that arise. These three sessions will be held in the Abbadie Room in Sokoburu on 7 November, 21 November and 5 December, Saturday, from 9:30 to 12:30 hours. Therefore, all citizens, agents and sectors of Hendaia are encouraged to attend and comment. In fact, to develop a plan of these characteristics it is very important to reflect the linguistic reality of the municipality and consider all sectors, agents and types of citizens.

“These kinds of processes help to make qualitative leaps, as they help to make visible the work that is done to the whole society and to put in common the people and entities that work around the Basque language. In short, it helps to strengthen the structure of the linguistic community,” said the representative of Elhuyar Aholkularitza.