Basque ethnography at a glance

Women farmers at Mungia (Bizkaia) Market. Photo credit: Akaitze Kamiruaga. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Yesterday, on 2 December and to mark Basque Language Day, Bilbao City Council paid tribute to the vendejeras [women selling their wares at market] who continue to bring their produce to La Ribera Market; in recognition of the many decades that they have bought the Basque language of their different areas to Bilbao, along with the produce from their vegetable gardens.

Nowadays, it is unlikely that many people under fifty will have ever heard the word “vendeja”. The vendeja is the fruit and vegetable produce that the baserritarras (women farmers) take to market. And vendejera is used to refer to the women selling their wares.

However, it is a household word for those of us of a certain age and who are also from a rural area. When I was young, I heard many stories about the vendejeras, as my grandmother and my mother would go from Urduliz to Las Arenas and to Portugalete; and also, to Plentzia in summer.

Selling the fresh produce sometimes went hand in hand with delivering the milk. In fact, the women and young girls often first delivered the milk and then sold the fruit and vegetables at market. The young girls started by accompanying their mother or a female neighbour. Yet, they sometimes had no choice but to go alone. As a women interviewed in Busturia told me. When she was a young girl, just twelve years old, her mother suddenly became ill. She had no choice, but to go to Bermeo by herself. She was very nervous and her mother calmed her down: “Don’t worry, daughter, don’t worry, the donkey knows the way.” So, she had to learn on the job!

From farm to market. Photo courtesy: Sorkunde Etxebarria. Photo credit: Goikoetxea Photo Studio. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Many, many women and young girls went to Bilbao and the main towns (Gernika, Bermeo, Mungia, Las Arenas, Portugalete…) to sell their farm produce. They would carefully prepare all their wares the evening before and would leave the farmstead very early the following morning. They would make their way to market on foot, on a donkey or by train. Nowadays, they use cars.

Seasonal produce has always been sold at market. In summer, there is usually greater variety (tomatoes, peppers, peas, lettuces, courgettes, etc.) as the vegetable gardens are at their most productive. In the past, fruit from the farmstead always sold very well, as there was no other fruit available. Eggs and dried fruits and nuts are also sold.

There are increasingly fewer vendejeras nowadays. Despite the many advances, young people do not seem to attracted to this way of life and there is no generational renewal. Is this the last generation of vendejeras? We hope not!

Akaitze Kamiruaga

Herri Ondarea Department – Labayru Fundazioa