The Basque Government will celebrate Basque Diaspora Day with a tribute to the Cesta Punta community in Markina-Xemein

Next Monday the Basque Government will celebrate for the eighth time Basque Diaspora Day, in Markina-Xemein,centered on the Punta Basket community. 

Ziortza Olano, director of the Basque community outside Astigarraga, and Mari Eli Ituarte Zarragoikoetxea, councillor of Euskera and Culture of Markina-Xemein and head of the citizenship area, have given details of the day. 

During the day a tribute will be paid to the pelotaris community, "protagonists of a discipline that has brought the name of Euskadi to frontons around the world", stressed Olano. "International mobility, professionalism, the sacrifice of families and the transmission of our values in sports settings around the world are an essential part of our common history," he said.

Ituarte has also stressed that Markina-Xemein is an "ideal stage" to host this event. "Choosing our country and honoring this collective is an honor, because if Markina-Xemein is known in the world for anything it is for the tip of the basket, the pelotaris have reached every corner of the world geography," he said.

The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. on the small fronton outside the Markina fronton.

The institutional event, which will begin at 6:30 p.m., will be chaired by lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, and the Secretary-General for External Action and Global Euskadi, Ander Caballero.

The appointment will also have a special artistic component, the Argentine artistfrom the diaspora Mikele Irazusta, who will create a mural designed by herself on Monday in Markina-Xemein, which will begin to take place on the same day and symbolize the importance that the tip basket has had and still has in Markina-Xemein ("University of Punta Basket").

In addition, there will be traditional dances and various stands where the public will have the opportunity to learn in depth the history and culture surrounding the tip basket.

At the same time, more than 100 events will be held in organized Basque communities around the world.

Since its institutionalization in 2018, at the request of the Basque Diaspora, the central event of Basque Diaspora Day has been held in several municipalities of the Basque Country and Navarre, and more and more organized communities are joining this celebration. More than 100 events have already been held in several countries with an organized Basque presence.