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Photo credit: Sancho el Sabio Foundation.

On 21 December, as every year, El Arenal and the Plaza Nueva square in Bilbao will be teeming with people enjoying the festive atmosphere of St. Thomas’s Market. Continuing a decades-long tradition, the baserritarras (farmers) and smallholders of Bizkaia will be there to showcase their best produce and thus bring the urban and rural worlds closer together.

This tradition dates back at least to the 19^th century, when the tenant farmers went to the city to pay the annual rent to the owners of their farmsteads, the majority of whom lived in Bilbao. Given the closeness to Christmas, along with paying the rent, the tenants would gift the landlords a selection of the best produce from their land and their barnyards, as well as pork delicacies. According to the people interviewed, the farmers were treated to a lunch or a meal in return.

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