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Guernica (town)

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Gernika-Lumo

The Oak of Guernica (Gernikako Arbola)

Location

Location of Guernica in Biscay

Coordinates : 43°19′N, 02°40′W
Time zone : CET (GMT +1)
- summer : CEST (GMT +2)

General information

Native name

Gernika-Lumo (Basque)

Spanish name

Guernica

Founded

1366

Postal code

48300

Website

www.gernika-lumo.net

Administration

Country

Spain

Autonomous Community

Basque Country

Province

Biscay

Comarca

Busturialdea

Mayor

Jose Maria Gorroño (EA)

Geography

Land Area

8.6 km²

Altitude

10 m AMSL

Population

Population

15,571 (2004)

Density

1810,6 hab./km² (2004)

Guernica (pronounced [ger.'ni.ka]) (Basque:Gernika) is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is united in one municipality with neighbouring Luno ("Lumo" in Basque), Guernica-Luno. The population of the municipality is 15,571 (2004).

Outside of the Basque lands, Guernica is best known as the scene of the April 26, 1937 Bombing of Guernica, one of the first aerial bombings by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe.

1 Cultural importance
2 History
3 Sports
4 Sister cities
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Guernica is historically the seat of the parliament of the province of Biscay, whose executive branch is located in nearby Bilbao.

In prior centuries, Lumo had been the meeting place of the traditional Biscayan assembly, Urduña and chartered towns like Guernica were under the direct authority of the Lord of Biscay, and Enkarterri and the Durango area had had separate assemblies. All would hold assemblies under local big trees.

As time passed, the role of separate assemblies was superseded by the single assembly in Gernika, and by 1512, its oak, known as the Gernikako Arbola, became symbolic of the traditional rights of the Basque people as a whole.

The trees are always renewed from their own acorns. One of these trees (the "Old Tree") lived until the 19th century, and may be seen, as a dry stump, near the assembly house. A tree planted in 1860 to replace it died in 2004 and was in turn replaced; the sapling that had been chosen to become the official Oak of Guernica is also sick so the tree will not be replaced until the earth around the site has been remedied.

A hermitage was built besides the Gernikako Arbola to double as an assembly place, followed by the current house of assembly (Biltzar Jauregia in Basque), built in 1826.

The Lords of Biscay, on receiving their title, would come to Lumo to make an oath of respect to the Biscayan laws. Later the lordship became attached to the title of the King of Castile, so the kings came to Lumo to take the oath soon after assuming the throne.

In 1882, Gernika - Lumo was formed, uniting the village of Lumo and the chartered town of Guernica .

On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Guernica was the scene of the Bombing of Gernika by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe. The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overthrow the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly and the Oak of Guernica survived. Pablo Picasso painted his famous "Guernica " painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing.

In 1943, Ajangiz (opposite river Oka) was incorporated without any name change. In 1967 the municipalities of Arratzu, Kortezubi, Forua, Murueta and Nabarniz were annexed.

Because of its symbolic value, the current Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country was approved in Guernica 29 December 1978, with the support of the Basque Country government-in-exile, heirs to the 1936 Statute of Autonomy. Every Lehendakari (Basque President) takes his oath there.

The annexations of 1967 have been re-established as standing municipalities.

Guernica is home to the Guernica Jai Alai, one of the main courts for the jai alai sport.

Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Boise, Idaho, United States

Municipal elections in Gernika-Lumo

This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
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