Basque Families

The school day for Basque children allows for a lengthy midday break during which the students are bused home for lunch, then bused back to school for the rest of the afternoon. The elementary schedule can vary from school to school, but two examples from the Bilbao area are typical. On one schedule, students are in class from 9:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M., followed by a two-hour break, then back to school from 2:30 P.M. until 4:30 P.M. Another schedule from the same area has children in class from 10:15 A.M. until 1:15 P.M., followed by a two-hour break, and then back to class from 3:15 P.M. until 5:15 P.M.

This traditional custom of a long midday break for what historically was the main meal of the day is slowly giving way in the business world to a schedule more typical of the United States because of the influx and influence of international corporations such as IBM, but such changes have not yet taken effect in the schools. Although some schools offer lunch programs, most children still go home for lunch. Women are expected to prepare the midday meal. Many small shops in the Basque country still maintain business hours from eight to one and four to eight in the evening (with some variations), making shopping a challenge for working women whose breaks in the day coincide with the closing of the shops.

Basque families watch less television than do North American families. Prime time begins at 10:00 P.M. and extends to 1:00 A.M. The hours after work, weather permitting, are more likely to be spent strolling along the avenues with family and friends. Parents with children are a common sight in parks and town squares, where they visit or read or take in the air while the little ones play. Older children spend long hours in the company of their cuadrillas, a Spanish term referring to one's closest friends. Adults often move from tavern to tavern, sipping a single small beverage at each one before moving on. The crowds in these taverns are predominantly male, but with each new generation, more and more women take part.