Berástegui

Berástegui (Berastegi in Basque and officially) is a municipality in the Basque Country, Spain. Belonging to Guipúzcoa, it is located on the road that connects this province with Navarra, in a mountain area. It is a rural municipality of approximately 1000 inhabitants, whose population works in the nearby industrial zones.

Place name

Berástegui seen from Gorosmendi

Berástegui view.

In Basque, the suffix -(t)egi (pronounced -tegui) denotes 'house of, place of', when it accompanies proper names, nicknames or professions. The word tegi by itself also means warehouse or stable. In the case of Berástegui, therefore, the problem lies in the meaning of the first term of the name.

Philologists such as Koldo Mitxelena, Julio Caro Baroja, Mikel Belasko and Patxi Salaberri consider that the name of Berástegui and other towns such as Barásoain or Beasáin is linked to the medieval Basque name Beraxa, widely documented, being, therefore, Berástegui, an anthroponym: 'casa de Beraxa'. Koldo Mitxelena also cited the example of a medieval document in which a person from Berástegui appeared, named precisely Beraxa. Mitxelena went further and thought that said name was related to the Basque word beratz, which in Basque means 'soft'; According to this hypothesis, beraxa or beratza would be a nickname meaning 'the soft one', 'the lazy one'.^{[ citation required]}

Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, however, associates Berástegui's name with another meaning that the word beratz has in some Basque dialects: 'hierbal' or 'grassy ground'. It is not a far-fetched hypothesis, since a grassland fits quite well with the description of the valley in which Berástegui sits. Based on this theory, etymologies are given as 'herbal house', place of herbs or similar. This same philologist proposes another possibility: that the name derives from aberats, meaning 'rich' in Basque; Berástegui would mean, then, 'house of the rich'.^{[citation required]}

Berástegui is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century as one of the valleys that make up the bishopric of Pamplona. It has been written as Berástegui (or Berastegui) until the end of the XX century. Berastegui was the official name until in 1984 the city council adopted the official name of Berastegi, which is an adaptation to the modern Basque orthography. In 1996, the Basque Government's resolution announcing the name change was published in the BOE.

The name is berasteguiano in Spanish and berasteguiarra in Basque. Colloquially it is usually said beastiarra.

Municipal elections

Economy

It is a municipality with an agricultural-livestock tradition.

In the Eldua neighborhood there is an important paper mill belonging to the Swedish company Munksjö Paper. It has 167 workers on its staff and manufactures decoration paper. It is one of the main workplaces in the area and the only industry located in the municipality.

Relevant Berasteguians

• José Antonio Muñagorri (1794-1841): scribe, was the promoter of the "Peace and Fueros" militia during the First Carlist War, which despite its failure laid the foundations of the Vergara Convention, which ended this war.
• Pedro Muñagorri (1865-1936): Catholic priest and missionary in Vietnam. Member of the Order of the Dominics, he was the apostolic vicar of Central Tonkín and titular bishop of Pityus.
• Gabino Lizarza (1888-1971): Basque bar launcher and athlete. Spanish disco pitch champion in 1924. He took part in the Olympic Games in Paris that were contested that same year.
• Antonio de Lizarza (1891-1974), requeté carlista
• Jaca-Cortajarena Sunday (1906-1993): priest and writer exiled in Argentina.
• Jesus Altuna (1932): archaeologist and anthropologist.
• Paulo Iztueta (1941): Biologist and writer in Basque.
• Itsaso UrkizuBallri. World champion of rubber palette.