Gernikako Arbola (anthem)

"Gernikako Arbola"

English: "The Tree of Gernika"
The Tree of Gernika
National anthem of the Basque Country (Spain, France)
Lyrics	José María Iparraguirre, 1853
Music	José María Iparraguirre, 1853
Audio sample
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"Gernikako Arbola" is the title of a song in bertso form presented both in Madrid (1853) and by the shrine of Saint Anthony at Urkiola (1854) by the Basque bard José María Iparraguirre, celebrating the Tree of Gernika and the Basque liberties. The song is the unofficial anthem of the Basques, but only the first stanza is sung as the Basque anthem. In 2007, the General Assembly of Biscay declared it the district's official anthem.^[1]

The song was popularized by Iparraguirre throughout the Basque Country and the Basque diaspora in the Americas during his emigration to the continent. It was thus adopted and sung by the Basques during critical and significant historic chapters, like the end of the last Carlist War, the Gamazada, or the Spanish Civil War.