Basque ethnography at a glance

Shoemaking in Hazparne. Source: Pantxix Bidart.

When passing through the town of Hazparne, we cannot even imagine the abundant industrial environment that this town from the interior of Lapurdi experienced 70 years ago. The objective of the History Commission of Hazparne is to spread this lost heritage through the annual magazine Orkeia.

Although… disappeared? Not completely. Anyone walking through the town will appreciate the buildings that 80 years ago were used for this industrial aim and that gave it its reputation; buildings that, at the time, were shoe factories. The commission has listed twenty that were built throughout the 20th century and that disappeared in the decade of the 60s. Nowadays, these factories have been converted into public services, media libraries, public halls and collective housing.

During the 1950s, despite the fact that this industry began its decline, there were around 1,300 people working in shoe manufacturing. What this supposed in the environment of the town is inconceivable today for those who have not come to know it (the parades of workers going to the factories, the environment before and after the day at the inns and bars, the strong presence of small shops…).

The shoe industry flourished due to the development of electricity and mechanization during the first years of the 20th century. Many local families were pioneers (Amespil, Landerretche, Hiriart-Urruty, among others). Later, these companies passed on to the hands of managers from other places.

Shoes from Hazparne. Source: Pantxix Bidart.

As said before, the problems started in the 1950s, but the decline began to be palpable from 1960 onwards. In the year 1963, a six-day strike was called, and the 10 of May (1967) was baptized as the day of “Hazparne, the dead city”. Two thousand inhabitants gathered in front of their houses and marched towards Bayonne for a demonstration. All the town’s shops were closed that day. However, globalization generated a great competition and, even if some companies kept working throughout the 70s and 80s, the majority shut their doors (the last one went from shoe manufacturing in 2011 to luxury tanning).

However, the industrialization process of Hazparne’s shoes did not come out of nowhere. The shoemakers had already existed in the town before. Even if agriculture prevailed, from the 17th century onwards the manufacture of cloth, footwear and leather tanning had developed, and they offered a complementary activity to the farmers. Hazparne had the three elements necessary for the three labors: the tanning, thanks to the abundant oaks around the town, the water that came from Mount Urtsua (or Ursuia) and, lastly, the prolific raising of sheep and cows. In fact, in 1804, Hazparne had 137 tanners. Along with industrialization, these jobs decreased and went from being practiced at home to being concentrated in large companies (beginning of the 20th century).

Shoe manufacturing, like the inhabitants of Hazparne, emigrated to America from the second half of the 19th century onwards. They established companies in the places where they settled, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and hired other emigrants from the town.

Through the annual magazine Orkeia, the History Commission of Hazparne seeks to bring this memory to light, and deals with topics such as social struggles, trade unionism, the role of women in industry, labor conditions, work and the Euskara (Basque language), and others.

Pantxix Bidart