Here's a very nice story by Slate's June Thomas on the Basque Country in general and Bilbao's fiesta mayor in particular. It looks like she'll be writing a week-long series. Perhaps she'll touch on Basque terrorism some time later in the week. The Basque Country is a lovely place but it has a very dark side to it. You've got to admit, though, that they sure know how to party.

I will point out that the sign pictured at the beginning of the article, saying "Tourists: You're not in Spain, you're in the Basque country" is clearly the work of ETA sympathizers. It shows the "izquierda abertzale's" map of the Basque country, which includes mostly Spanish Alava and Navarra.

Yes, I know that Alava is within the Basque country's frontiers. It's also 95% Spanish-speaking and votes for the PP, not for any of the Basque nationalist parties. And 90% of the Navarrese want nothing to do with the Basque country, either.