Bilbaoan

Arana, the son of a major Bilbaoan shipbuilder, set out to revitalize a flagging Basque consciousness. One of his major concerns was the restoration of the Basque language, Euskera, which had fallen to the status of a local patois

Antonio's good grammar and mathematical skills landed him a job in the store of an old Bilbaoan friend of his uncle two blocks from the latter's residence.

During the French occupation, Bilbaoans were likely to have been exposed to some French culture and influence.

Only about 10 percent of Bilbaoans speak Euskara, as compared with 35 to 40 percent of the inhabitants of Donostia. Such a contradiction is at the very core of both the difficulties and the dynamism of the Basque Country.