In the Basque Country, however, most priests defied the church and opposed Fascism and urged their congregations to do likewise, and so on the ground there was little in the way of physical conflict between anarchists and Catholics over religion.

However, both Basque and Béarnese have lost ground to French with both languages struggling to survive in the next generations.

During the early 1920s the Basque Country was a breeding ground of great Spanish players.

The potential of the Basque Country as a recruiting ground for players was recognised by the likes of FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, and Real Madrid early on.

Basque pelota ( pilota or eusko pilota in Basque, pelota vasca in Spanish, and pelote or pelote basque in French ) is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall ( frontón in Spanish, pilotaleku or pilota plaza in Basque, frontó in Catalan, fronton in French ) or, more traditionally, with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net.

The main stadium of the city is the stadium of honor ( stade d ' honneur in French ), situated near the railway station, Royan has numerous other sports facilities, including two swimming-pools of which one is an outdoor sea water pool opened in the summer, to Foncillon, several gymnasiums, a sports hall, several tennis courts, a Basque pelota wall, a rugby ground and a golf course.

Carlos invaded the Basque country in the north of Spain and attracted support from absolutist reactionaries and conservatives ; these forces were known as the " Carlist " forces.

" Though Cristino resistance to the insurrection seemed to have been overcome by the end of 1833, Maria Cristina's forces suddenly drove the Carlist armies from most of the Basque country.

On the way home the rearguard of the army was ambushed and destroyed by Basque forces at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.

The Basque Country, Catalonia and Navarre have their own police forces ( Ertzaintza, Mossos d ' Esquadra and the Chartered Police respectively ) while the National Police Corps operates in the rest of the autonomous communities.

As another example, the Basque Country, Navarre and Catalonia have full-range police forces of their own: Ertzaintza in the Basque Country, Policía Foral in Navarre and Mossos d ' Esquadra in Catalonia.

The siege was broken off due to the start of the tropical rainy season, after weeks of intense fighting in which the British landing party was successfully repelled by the Spanish and native forces led by commander General Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta ( 1689 – 1741, death in aftermath of the Cartagena battle ), a Basque from the Gipuzkoa lands of Spain.

* May 22 – The Spanish Republican Air Force sends fighters on a risky flight across Nationalist-controlled territory to Republican bases in northern Spain to support the Basque defense against Nationalist forces there ; seven of them arrive safely.

* August 14 – A Nationalist offensive in northern Spain against Basque forces defending Santander, begins, supported by 70 German – including the latest models, being evaluated in combat for the first time – 80 Italian, and 70 Spanish Nationalist aircraft.

Nevertheless, due to difficulties encountered when recruiting forces for this corps in the Basque provinces, plus the pressure posed by the other regional Governments, the very same regional forces were able to more or less carry on with their task.

The Basque police forces had to adapt to this new centralist tendency, and these changes mostly manifested themselves in a reduction of personnel & operational capabilities

Their main task was the creation of a police force named Ertzaña ( a Basque neologism for " People care "), with on foot and motorised corps ( Igiletua ), totalling joint forces of around 1, 500 agents.

In Spain, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Civil Guard ( Spain ), except in the autonomous communities with transferred competences on traffic policing ( Catalonia and the Basque Country ), where regional police forces ( Mossos d ' Esquadra and Ertzaintza, respectively ) are responsibly for this area.

In the year 824 was the possibly more important Second Battle of Roncevaux, where counts Eblus and Aznar, Frankish vassals, were captured by the joint forces of Iñigo Arista's Pamplona and of the Banu Qasi, consolidating the independence of both Basque realms.

Pamplona ( and Sangüesa ) were briefly controlled by the Franks until 817, when it was lost to Basque and Christian Iberian forces.

The defeat of the Republic by the forces of Francisco Franco led, in turn, to a suppression of Basque culture, including banning the public use of the Basque language.

Prior to the Condor Legion raid, the town had not been directly involved in the fighting, although Republican forces were in the area ; 23 battalions of Basque army troops were at the front east of Guernica.

It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, a Basque Country village in northern Spain by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War.

Picasso's purpose in painting it was to bring the world's attention to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German bombers, who were supporting the Nationalist forces of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War.

García was born in Holguín to parents of Cuban Criollo descent ; his maternal surname Iñíguez, indicates descendence from Iñigo Arista, Basque King whose forces are referred to as demons in the Song of Roland.

It was founded as a coalition of Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia ( EIA, Basque Party for Revolution or Party for Basque Revolution ) and other Basque Marxist forces in 1977 to present lists for the Spanish general elections in the constituencies of Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa and Álava, while Unai, an allied coalition, was to present a list in the constituency of Navarre.

Aztlan Underground were signed to a Basque record label in 1999 which enabled them to tour Spain extensively and perform in France and Portugal.

Both European ( the coastal regions, such as the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Asturias ) and Overseas – Antilles and pacific were able to grow uninterruptedly.

The Basque language became the main everyday language, while other languages like Spanish, Gascon, French, or Latin were preferred for the administration and high education.

* in the Basque Autonomous Community, 30. 1 % were fluent Basque speakers, 18. 3 % passive speakers and 51. 5 % did not speak Basque.

* in Iparralde, 22. 5 % were fluent Basque speakers, 8. 6 % passive speakers and 68. 9 % did not speak Basque.

* in Navarre 11. 1 % were fluent Basque speakers, 7. 6 % passive speakers and 81. 3 % did not speak Basque.

Taken together, in 2006 out of a total population of 2, 589, 600 ( 1, 850, 500 in the Autonomous Community, 230, 200 in the Northern Provinces and 508, 900 in Navarre ), there were 665, 800 who spoke Basque ( aged 16 and above ).

Bayonne is now the centre of certain craft industries that were once widespread, including the manufacture of makilas, traditional Basque walking-sticks.

1654 civilians were killed according to the official Basque figures, but the German sources report a round figure of 300 civilians killed in the bombing, according to the German Bundeswehr Magazine ( published in April 2007, page 94 ).

The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overthrow the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government.

The post-war decades were relatively stable ( with the notable exception of an armed independence movement in the Basque Country ), and the country experienced rapid economic growth in the 1960s and early 1970s.

However, in 785, wary of the customs his son may have been taking in Aquitaine, Charlemagne sent for him to Aquitaine and Louis presented himself at the Royal Council of Paderborn dressed up in Basque costumes along with other youths in the same garment, which may have made a good impression in Toulouse, since the Basques of Vasconia were a mainstay of the Aquitanian army.

They were resisted in areas in the northwest ( such as Asturias, where they were defeated at the battle of Covadonga ) and the largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees.

Although a number of different languages and dialects were in use in the area during ancient times, it is most likely that the prevailing language of Aquitaine during the late pre-historic to Roman period was an early form of the Basque language.

This has been demonstrated by various Aquitanian names and words that were recorded by the Romans, and which are currently easily readable as Basque.

Soldiers of Basque ancestry were used for code talking by the U. S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating.