CERVANTES AND DON QUIXOTE IN DONOSTIA!

In Donostia, the Basque capital city with the highest number of Basque-speakers, Spanish symbology is the rule in a lot of areas. The author of this article mentions this one example: the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza momument located on a very touristic spot of the city (Alderdi Eder). That monument, which was erected during Franco’s era is an essentialist Spanish nationalist symbol, as the Basque-Spanish philosopher Unamuno so well expressed it. And it remains at an emblematic place of Donostia-San Sebastian.

Donostia grants Spanish symbols a place of honor, indeed, but at the same time it has not yet given due recognition to one of her finest and most celebrated sons, one who contributed greatly and manyfoldly to the Basque-language field: José Luis Álvarez Enparantza, a.k.a.Txillardegi. He hasn’t got a street, a square or any institution under his name, nor has any monument been dedicated to him. That is a highlight of our lack of cultural and linguistic autonomy.