Day No. 26 - South Tyrol in Spain? - Bizkaia and Basque Country

Today is a good example of how time and space are relative. Our original, rough planning for our tour envisaged around 8000 km. We are now aware that it will probably be a few kilometers more. Take today's tour, for example: the original plan, or the normal route, would have been around 70 km. Google plans a driving time of around 1 hour for this. However, if you follow the coast as we did, this quickly becomes 6 hours. Today this meant one thing above all: a lot of up and a lot of down. We didn't realize how hilly, not to say mountainous, this area is. Hector was allowed to torture himself a little today. But in return we were rewarded with wonderful views. It was particularly exciting to see how varied this stretch of coast is. On one side, there are mountains and valleys that are more reminiscent of South Tyrol than the sea. And then a few meters further on the other side, steep slopes and graffiti-covered walls.

The nature is beautiful, which you can't necessarily say about the buildings. Lots of concrete, some prefabricated buildings and some half-timbered houses.

At first glance, it seems as if the day's work is being carried out peacefully and contemplatively behind the facades of the often very well-behaved houses. - Jesus seems to be watching over everyone. 

If it weren't for the frequent slogans "ETXERA", i.e. "Home!", you could almost believe it. But the Ikurrina, the "national" flag of the Basque country, partly with mourning flags, doesn't quite fit the picture. - The E.T.A. may no longer be active, but it still seems to be bubbling away. Which is perhaps not surprising, as former members are still serving time in various European prisons.

As a tourist, you hardly notice anything of the Basque struggle for freedom, apart from a few slogans. 

Shortly before Bilbao, we stop at Castillo de Butron. - The castle is situated on a hill in Gatika, surrounded by a centuries-old forest. But there is as little evidence of the bloody battles that are said to have taken place here as there is of the battles of the E.T.A. - the Basque Country seems to be pacified.