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Donostia-San Sebastian. The educator from Donostia, Arantxa Ugartetxea, lived for many years outside of Euskal Herria: during the 80s she was in Brazil and spend the last two years in Chile teaching literacy in needy communities.  During these last two years she also wrote a novel, Andrea, a story in which Ugartetxea gathers her experiences, her trips around the world, and the experiences of Basque pilotaris in Brazil.

“In Sao Paulo I got to know the Atletico Paulistano Club and its pilotaris.  They have a beautiful fronton in Sao Paulo and they play pelota, Cesta Punta most of all.  They also participate in international competitions.  They  are crazy about Pelota,” Arantxa explained to EuskalKultura.com.  “They love the spectacle of Cesta Punta, the sound of the pilota hitting the wall.” According to her, they also enjoy the lack of aggressiveness towards the opponent, and that it is more about a game of skill.

Pilotaris in China

Arantxa considers the pilotaris as pioneers of Basque culture in many countries and that they have many adventures to talk about around the world.  “For example, in Brazil, pilota was prohibited during the dictatorship because of the betting, and so many pilotaris immigrated to China.  When I was in Brazil, I met some children of these pilotaris and they showed me incredible photos of their stay in China.  They seemed to be from One Thousand and One Nights.”

The president of the Paulistano Club, Alfredo Correia, suggested that Arantxa tell these stories in a novel, and she, some years later, was able to do it during her stay in Chile.  Now, back in Euskal Herria, she published her work with the Pasion por los Libros publishers.  Arantxa says that she wrote it in Spanish so that Basques in the Diaspora that don’t speak Basque can read it.

Ugartetxea affirms that pilota is part of the Basque cultural heritage that has managed to surpass the borders of Euskal Herria and attract people from other cultures.  “The fronton has no limits, it isn’t closed,  it doesn’t have doors, and everyone can enter,” she concludes.

-To get the book go to here
-To see an article on Pilotaris in Sao Paulo, written by Arantxa Ugartetxea, in EuskoNews, here