Kristina was born in the neighbourhood of a little town called Iurreta, and although she has never seen herself as a feminist, she is a woman who has done a lot of things for women. An excellent combination of verses, sports, dance and revolutionary souls. 

 

• When did you start with “bertsolaritza”?

I was about 33 years old, yes, close to my 30s. Around 1978 or 1979, in fact.

 

• Why bertsolaritza?

I've always loved the world of bertsolaritza and the world of songs, as well as reading from an early age. I used to sing a lot at home, so the hobby is forever. But when I went to school in Oromiño, my neighbourhood, when I was about 9 years old, a priest came to our school, Don Juanito Gallastegi, to give catechesis, and through him we learned lots of verse songs. In addition, we became aware of being Basque and speaking Basque. Through Juanito, we went to Bilbao to do a Euskaltzaindia exam, and for the exam we had to learn the songs by heart, and we also had to invent stories. I went to these exams about 3 times, during this time I fell in love with bertsolaritza. However, I did these exams until I was 15 years old, and since then, my only contact with bertsolaritza had been in San Migel festivities, or occasionally listening to a bertso session around Gipuzkoa. I also sang and sang verses with another priest from Iurreta, Julen Kaltzada. Once I was married and I had kids, when I was about 30 years old, they called me and to my husband Justo Alberdi from the ikastola of Durango, because they wanted to organize a school of bertsolaritza and asking us if we would like to participate. As a result, we started going to this school  and learning techniques, because until then we knew very little about techniques. Jon Lopategi also gave us some classes, how to set oinak, to learn melodies… as well as Xabier Amuriza. There, we learned verses without any intention. In the 3rd year of school, we decided to go abroad for bertsolaritza, as this was declining at that time, and both the public and the bertsolaris were obsolete. So we started singing in small neighborhoods, and then around Bilbao and the surrounding areas. So that was it, we learned and spread that culture to the village.

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• So, you would say Don Juanito Gallastegi encouraged you to the bertso

Yes, that's right, Don Juanito Gallastegi and also my husband Justo Alberdi. As well as a man from Arriandi (a neighborhood in Iurreta).

 

• The bertsolaritza world was more masculine, how did you feel at that moment?

At first we had more women in bertso school but then I was the only one encouraged to go out to the square. A lot of people called me, maybe they took it as a curiosity to see a woman in bertsolaritza. But at first I was very protected because I was doing bertso with friends. But it was weird that they were all men and I was the only woman. The feminist movement originated in cities at that time, but not in towns, and I didn’t feel like a feminist, but I knew I was a woman, so I had a woman’s conscience. As a result, when I was doing bertso, I always sort of said something that came out of women’s mouths, often thought of from home. So for the most part I felt very well, well treated, even though I had a case where bertsolaris said anything about women. And in front of that, I was not quiet.

 

“A lot of people called me,

 maybe they took it as a curiosity 

to see a woman in bertsolaritza.”

 

• How long did it take from the time you started bertso to sing with another woman? And who was that woman?

I honestly haven’t done bertso with another woman many times. As a subject matter, I have had women. Once we did an attempt in Donostia, we did a session of women we knew each other, it was around 1984. Nagore Iriondo, Arantzazu Loidi…  were present in the verses. I have sung with Arantzazu Loidi a couple of other times. I also had the opportunity to sing with Maialen Lujanbio, when she was 15 and I was 40. So I didn’t have much choice to perform with women. And that makes me sad.

 

“(...)I didn’t have much choice 

to perform with women. 

And that makes me sad.”

 

• Are you still singing bertso?

Yes, I sing every day. I go if they ask me for a special session, but more than all of a sudden, I now sing pre-prepared verses or poems.

 

• Your uncle was an Athletic goalkeeper, would you even play football then?

Yes, there has always been a ball at home and so I used to play football. With my uncle, cousins, friends… I liked it a lot. In the neighborhood, we had a small group, where I was also the only girl. When I was about 20, in Durango, a group of women was formed and we formed the group. So we played for a whole season, in our small league, Elorrio, Sondika, Basauri, Lemoa…

 

• You’ve also been in the field of cycling, what led you to organize a Women’s Tour?

I was used to doing sports. When we got married, we had little time for ourselves, we were involved in many social aspects, AEK, the creation of Ikastolas, night Basque classes… And my husband was a cycling enthusiast, and we rode bikes together. As a result, I became a fan of cycling and we used to go to see the races. Once, they organized a women’s race in Berriz and I was there. The following year, I proposed to the Iurreta cycling team and we organized a women’s race Berriz and Iurreta together. So for a couple of years we did it together, and then in Iurreta we continued to organize women’s careers independently. 

 

• So, you are from Iurreta, and since Iurreta is known as a dancing town, have you also been a dancer?

Yes of course yes. In the beginning, my husband was a dancer, only men danced but I used to go to all the dance sessions with them, because I really liked the atmosphere. Once, a member of the group, Tiliño, suggested to girls that we should dance. I was about 21 when we started learning how to dance. Back then, we women used to dance stamps (estanpie), ribbon dancing (zintza-dantza), and bow dancing (arku-dantza), and we didn’t dance at every dance session. But yes, I was a dancer.

 

• In your youth, in verse, in football… yes but was there a political-social movement around you?

I was involved in a movement in the Basque Country called “Herri Gaztedi”. In Iurreta, we met in the “Abadetxea” and held meetings. For a while, I was in charge of Bizkaia, and we held meetings in the whole Basque Country. We studied Basque languaje, society, the nationalist left…  mostly.

 

• You were also a teacher, you are retired now, but being a Basque speaker, what do you do now?

I keep learning. I am always learning. I like to take a variety of courses, now, along with many other courses, I go to a French course. I would say that my personality is a constant learning.

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