After three editions, you reflected. What has worked? What is useful for the 2025 edition?
The first exceeded all expectations, it was something new, there was movement in the villages, the illusion... The second one was carried out in the midst of the pandemic, and in the third one we saw that there was a decrease of illusion. It seemed to us that it was time to reflect and identify what works and what doesn’t work so well. We drew a very clear headline from this reflection: Today, Euskaraldia is the most massive and effective tool to influence the use of Basque. But at the same time, he needed innovation.

It has been shown very clearly that the fundamentals that are the essence of the exercise are maintenance, that is, the roles of palate and ear are effective. The exercise has been maintained as of certain days and registration helps to commit, research, etc.

Innovations in what sense?
People have told us that every two years they do the same thing, that they would change something... but no one gives a clue.The change of era is one of the main innovations that we have carried out since the last edition, from November - December to Spring. In addition, we wanted to incorporate innovations in the different ways of doing it, with the aim of making Euskaraldia more popular and more exciting. And with the new image comes the fourth edition of Euskaraldia.

What's left of the short legs? Why aren’t the goals met?
I have already mentioned that in the third edition the movement of the peoples and the illusion of the people were reduced. The exercise went well, thousands and thousands of people signed up, but with a 'click', it served to start the process of reflection. People participate, but not as in the first, and perhaps it should be, because we are often moved by initial illusion and ignorance. This year’s theme is from there: We want an effective, more popular Basque language, which we carry out and organize with enthusiasm.

Its purpose is to influence the habits of use. What do the results of the three editions say?
Euskaraldia leaves a trail. The use of the data provided by the participants before the start of Euskaraldia increased considerably to that of the period of Euskaraldia and after three months [the registrants are asked again about changes in language habits] it decreased, but it was always higher than the use data of the first questionnaire. Therefore, it is effective, in Euskaraldia more Basque is done, and in addition, some customs are maintained. It fully achieves its purpose. The study of the third edition mentioned that two-thirds of the participants had changed their language habits. If we enrolled 165,000 people, look, it's a very big base for the jump.

Would you like to make changes faster? Of course, we would like to take the step of Christ. From Taupa we mention that it is time to make the leap in use, but we know that Euskaraldia will not solve the problem of use, and that in the three editions the use will not give rise to the ascent of Christ only thanks to Euskaraldia. It's effective, but it won't fix the world.
Sometimes I think I’m asking too much. We would like to see it from the positive, because these small steps make way for that wave or jump. Since the first edition we have said that it is a long-term initiative. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. We need a lot of editing.

You say it's a long-breathing exercise. Every two years and eleven days. Isn’t it too intense to change habits?
It is very difficult to show the work involved in organising the Euskaraldia, and I am not talking only about those we are coordinating, but also about the committees that are created locally. Many of them are teams created by volunteers and there is a lot to be demanded by the organization of the Euskaraldia. It has been thought about doing it every year and the answer has always been that every two years is fine. The experts said so. The year of running and the year of Euskaraldia has been well valued.

It is difficult to prepare a gigantic exercise to suit everyone. Euskaraldia gives us a general framework to influence the use of Basque throughout the Basque Country at the same time. To do this, we create a huge shelter for eleven days, but the most important is the twelfth day. It gives us the opportunity for training.

Committees are set up to prepare for Euskaraldia. You say that their purpose is to endure. From edition to edition, what do you do to keep the fire burning?
Our dream is to continue organizing committees from Euskaraldi to Euskaraldi and to continue organizing other projects. Some commissions ask us to propose projects to finish the Basque Country and keep it active. They appreciate being offered something to hang on to. For example, in the second edition we created the project Adults in front of children and it worked very well. Other committees are activated three months before the start of Euskaraldia and fall asleep at the end of May. There is everything and it is very difficult to make a proposal that works for everyone.

What moves have the committees taken this year?
We have made a special effort to promote these committees and to cultivate a closer relationship with them.

In the second edition many disappeared and in the third one not all were recovered. We are very happy with the movement that we perceive this year, we perceive that the organization has been approached with enthusiasm and that the movement has emerged. We have heard from some committees that more people are participating in the group than in previous editions, which is very encouraging news.

Have people learned what hearing is and what voice is?
Studies say yes. However, we know that we have a lot of work to do, especially because two roles break the mental scheme, that of competence, that we have had in mind. Choosing one or the other is not a matter of competence, but of the attitude we will have in eleven days. It's not "I know Basque very well, so I'll be happy" and "with understanding I'll have enough, I won't speak Basque", so I'm ready to listen.

We have already said it in previous editions: The first word of the word "palabras" is the one that understands in Basque, always with the one who understands in Basque, and the one who understands in Basque with the ears and decides whether or not to do it periodically in Basque. Even the ears do it. We need to put more emphasis on this role.

This year we have decided not to limit ourselves so much to the definitions and we want people to understand the possibility that Euskaraldia gives us: the first word in Basque, and with all those who understand it in Basque. Are you ready for this? Yes, then live. Ears to doubt. Many will say, but isn’t that backwards? We need both roles. Without ears, without bases, the voices wouldn’t have as much space to do it in Basque, and we also have to prestige the ears, we have to get out of the frame, that is, with ears that don’t fit so well in Basque, that it only receives, passive. It's not like that, it can do a lot.

In all the editions, the number of voices has been higher, right?
About 70% of them have already done so in previous editions. Experts say it should be the opposite, because it is absolutely demanding. Start with an active ear. Some ears will do a lot and some won’t, there’s a big chance.

In doubt, you have recommended the choice of ear buds. Isn’t it more effective to encourage them to live with their mouths and offer them resources to empower them? I mean, don't we scare the hearers by talking about a high level of demand?
The word fear is more in the ears of those who doubt their ability. People don’t think so much when deciding: "I get along well, I do a lot, so I'm cheering," but we've been hearing people cheering.

Isn't an imperfect mouth better than a humble ear?
But then we focus on that: "I've heard it in Spanish and it's in Spanish! ".

The goal should be for all of us to live with each other, but it’s not easy. I live in Laudio, I don’t want to live with that pressure for eleven days. I will choose my ears and try to live with them, and my ears leave me room for imperfection. And even if you live, you can be imperfect.

Wouldn’t the Basque language be more effective if it had different proposals for the most Basque and Spanish speaking areas?
Euskaraldia is a proposal for the whole of the Basque Country, a general framework that we have said since the first edition is locally adaptable. In any case, it has been adapted, but within this framework, otherwise it can be de-virtualized, it would not be a basic proposal that we make together throughout the Basque Country.

It is locally decided where to focus, where not. Youth, Screenings have been organized in previous editions. This year, very noticeably, Hika will gain strength. The idea came from the respiratory centers, an incentive that would provoke the illusion that it was necessary. We have been told in other places, “We have enough to do in Basque.” This is one of the examples of adaptability. And we've also been told from some breathing zones, "Hika well, but even if we're breathing zones, we have something to improve on." Or the citizens of the respiratory centers who do not intend to put on the plate, arguing that otherwise they do everything in Basque. It’s not for you, it’s for the person in front of you to know that you know Basque.

It is difficult to make an approach and a single one for the whole of the Basque Country that works, but at the same time it is nice to see how the general proposal is shaped locally.

You have said that you would like the social exercise to be done from the enjoyment. In any case, the exercise requires commitment, effort, linguistic stress, challenge.
It is not contradictory to make a commitment, an effort, and to do so with satisfaction and enthusiasm. In the process of reflection we received the idea that we were not too serious in previous editions, very rigid. Maybe it had to be, because it was a newborn. It’s true, it’s a social exercise, it’s not a party, but we also have to do it with good humor and enjoyment.

We tell the committees to live a normal life for eleven days and to take the things we do every day to the streets, to say the least, like zumba or spinning. Not a show, but a diary. We can have fun, we can do it together, we can organize a party... because we suffer a lot the rest of the year due to linguistic stress. And we are doing all this from the Basque language, making an effort in many places, leaving the comfortable area. That's what the USSR is asking for.

People are asking for commitment. In the meantime, we are in the midst of political and judicial aggression and some public institution, such as the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, has taken steps backwards in language requirements. What needs to be demanded of public institutions?
We also heard in the first edition: "Responsibility has been placed on individuals," not just on them at all. But when individuals show that they want to live in Basque, it also influences organizations. Again, it won’t fix the world. We often find that many entities use Euskaraldia to do basquewashington, as well as Ailua-Kona. That's the way it is.

On the other hand, it seems to us that it is good to feel the need to unite them to these things. We put this base, Euskaraldia shows the desire to live in Basque in all fields, from individuals to public institutions and other entities, and it has not been "made by you" and "we will support you". Euskaraldia wants to create a huge refuge for the use of the Basque language and is influenced, and not positively, by the aforementioned attitudes. People are saying: It is useless if these people participate and do nothing. For others, it’s an incentive to work together.