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There is no doubt that the Basque flame is kept alive in El Salvador. There aren’t many, but they don’t give up. Next Saturday a bunch of Basques will gather at the Euskal Etxea in San Salvador to watch the Final Copa soccer match between Athletic and Barcelona. Xabier Mirandona is the president of the Basque Club in this Central American country.

Joseba Etxarri. Born in San Salvador 33 years ago, Xabier has a degree in Business Administration and follows in his father’s footsteps at the Euskal Etxea. A natural entrepreneur from Gautegiz-Arteaga, Iñaki Mirandona studied at the Armory School in Eibar, and settled in El Salvador in 1972 to create, over the time, the business of plastic injection where today father and son work. Mirandona senior, along with other compatriots from Euskadi, founded in 1987 the only Basque club in this small Central American country. Mirandona junior feels proud of being an El Salvador born Basque and says that  “although we are few, we are.”  From the Basque club, or the txoko, as it is called, they follow the social, cultural and political advances in Euskadi. Also sports, and soccer.

It is sure that this week is marked for many soccer fans since the final of the Copa del Rey will be played this Saturday between Athletic and Barcelona. The intensity to which many Athletic fans in the Diaspora follow their team is astonishing, especially in places like San Salvador. It is well known that over the last few weeks severeal new fan clubs have been created worlwide in cities like New York or Boise in the US; but on Saturday, many Athletic  supporters will gather in places like Eusko Etxea in Caracas or Carabobo, in Venezuela, or in various European Basque clubs – Barcelona, Paris, Madrid, Salou, Berlin... – or the Euskal Etxea in Montreal, Quebec; in Mexico City, Miami, Florida; manyl in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Peru; the Euskal Etxea in Sydney Australia, Shanghai, China, to name a few. The San Salvador club won’t be any different. Their clubhouse will become red and white, with its recent addition of a satellite system connection that day using the mode Athletic.

Everything ready for Saturday?

-We have planned something very simple. We are expecting 30 people, or maybe more, young and old alike, families with children….We’ll make some tortillas and a marmitako and there won’t be any shortage of Rioja Alavesa wine. There is an eight hour time difference with Europe and so we will be getting together around noon. In El Salvador there is a large soccer following, but the press and the fans don’t see further than Madrid and Barcelona; this game, since it doesn’t involve both of them, has gone undetected. But some Salvadorans who aren’t Basque have contacted the Txoko saying they want to join us and asking why we don’t create a peña (fan club), and the truth is, is that we haven’t ruled it out. We would like to, but we need more information. Myself, even without being subscribed to the channel that broadcasts the matches, I usually follow at least 8 Athletic matches a year.

I understand that it has been difficult for you to get a satellite signal at the Euskal Etxea.

-People here don’t understand what a Txoko is, and that the Euskal Etxea is not a business. At Euskal Etxea we get together, share expenses and don’t charge any extra. We are something that doesn’t exist here, so the concept of a txoko is hard to understand. We can’t pay the $800 they charge to commercial places, like restaurants and hotels, to get the signal, and it is an effort to collect even the regular $31 monthly charge.

You áre a small but brave euskal etxea

-We are very determined to continue existing. We get together at a venue that we have furnished with a kitchen and facilities to become a txoko, but we are only 20 members, we would like to be more. On the other hand, in El Salvador there is a significant number of Basques born in the Basque Country that work in the world of cooperation, some here for years, and other with concrete projects for a set amount of time, but who generally work outside of San Salvador. We invite them to join us for events like this weekend.

You are an open center.

-We like to think that we have the Basque sense for hospitality. We welcome visits from people and delegations from the Basque Country, individuals and businesses. El Salvador is a beautiful country to visit and a place where there is a lot to be done, for example in regards to infrastructure or training. People from the Basque renewable energy sector, and environment have visited us and a Basque business has in fact opened a delegation after getting a licence from the parliament to install solar panels in their roof. There are opportunities. Many youth from Euskad email us asking for advise or information and we try to respond to everyone.

What is your prediction for the match?

-2-1 Athletic.