IT'S FINALLY SAFE TO TRAVEL TO ICELAND!
t r a v e l l i n g
IT’S FINALLY SAFE TO TRAVEL TO ICELAND! by Ana Masa I have wanted to travel to Iceland for many years now. I come from the Basque Country, a small region full of mountains where we rarely
i n
see the sun, so we’re used to green sceneries and wet weather. Also, we love hiking in the mountains and visiting natural wonders, so Iceland is the perfect destination for Basques. This year was special for us: thanks to an agreement signed in April between the Basque
i c e l a n d
Government and the Icelandic regional government of the West Fiords, we are now allowed to wander Icelandic lands freely, as Vikings are no longer allowed to legally hunt and murder Basques to protect their shores. We didn’t know about this before and of course it didn’t stop Basques to visit Iceland in the last 400 years, both with fishing and tourism purposes. But still, knowing that we are now legally protected is a plus when traveling abroad, especially in wild places like Iceland. The Basque Country is located in the north coast of Spain, next to the French border. Traditionally, fishing has been the backbone of Basque economy and way of living. Many fishermen sailed north
and spent several months looking for whales in hostile lands. By 20 A
the beginning of the 17th century they had arrived to Iceland, and reached an agreement with the Icelandic authorities to share the
fishing space around the West Fjords. In the year 1615 a big group of fishermen decided to stay in Hólmavik for the winter after a specially hard storm destroyed their ships. And here is when trouble began… Some of the locals didn’t like the Basques using their natural resources and brutally killed a bunch of them. If this wasn’t enough, Basques were declared outlaws and consequently considered criminals, and Icelanders were suddenly allowed to get rid of them. After that it all just turned into a wild hunt, where Icelanders murdered another big group of Basques and of course, local authorities encouraged them to do so. Almost four centuries have passed since that, and in the meantime Iceland has turned into a Nordic and democratic country with fundamental laws that forbid hurting human beings. But for some reason, this law was never repealed and therefore was still valid in 2015. Luckily for me, someone noticed and put the Basque and Icelandic Governments in contact so that they could work out their differences and write an arrangement to wipe off this antic law. Now there’s even an exhibition celebrating 400 years since the creation of that stupid law! Basque people are of course really happy that both nations would become friends again. We love nature and culture, and Iceland provides a perfect destination for our holidays. Thanks to this new legal status, we can now
freely
travel
to
Iceland
to
enjoy the rain, the wind and the
fog
and
feel at home.
21
IT’S FINALLY SAFE TO TRAVEL TO ICELAND! by Ana Masa I have wanted to travel to Iceland for many years now. I come from the Basque Country, a small region full of mountains where we rarely
i n
see the sun, so we’re used to green sceneries and wet weather. Also, we love hiking in the mountains and visiting natural wonders, so Iceland is the perfect destination for Basques. This year was special for us: thanks to an agreement signed in April between the Basque
i c e l a n d
Government and the Icelandic regional government of the West Fiords, we are now allowed to wander Icelandic lands freely, as Vikings are no longer allowed to legally hunt and murder Basques to protect their shores. We didn’t know about this before and of course it didn’t stop Basques to visit Iceland in the last 400 years, both with fishing and tourism purposes. But still, knowing that we are now legally protected is a plus when traveling abroad, especially in wild places like Iceland. The Basque Country is located in the north coast of Spain, next to the French border. Traditionally, fishing has been the backbone of Basque economy and way of living. Many fishermen sailed north
and spent several months looking for whales in hostile lands. By 20 A
the beginning of the 17th century they had arrived to Iceland, and reached an agreement with the Icelandic authorities to share the
fishing space around the West Fjords. In the year 1615 a big group of fishermen decided to stay in Hólmavik for the winter after a specially hard storm destroyed their ships. And here is when trouble began… Some of the locals didn’t like the Basques using their natural resources and brutally killed a bunch of them. If this wasn’t enough, Basques were declared outlaws and consequently considered criminals, and Icelanders were suddenly allowed to get rid of them. After that it all just turned into a wild hunt, where Icelanders murdered another big group of Basques and of course, local authorities encouraged them to do so. Almost four centuries have passed since that, and in the meantime Iceland has turned into a Nordic and democratic country with fundamental laws that forbid hurting human beings. But for some reason, this law was never repealed and therefore was still valid in 2015. Luckily for me, someone noticed and put the Basque and Icelandic Governments in contact so that they could work out their differences and write an arrangement to wipe off this antic law. Now there’s even an exhibition celebrating 400 years since the creation of that stupid law! Basque people are of course really happy that both nations would become friends again. We love nature and culture, and Iceland provides a perfect destination for our holidays. Thanks to this new legal status, we can now
freely
travel
to
Iceland
to
enjoy the rain, the wind and the
fog
and
feel at home.
21
