La Bandera de La Concha, the oldest sports competition still alive in Spain, was born from challenges between fishermen who went out to fish on the Basque coast, although it was made official in order to entertain the European aristocracy who enjoyed the San Sebastian summer. The contest achieved its founding objective, but above all it became a popular event that took root on the Cantabrian coast. The epic of the drifters was born, which 144 years later maintains its verve despite the winds of globalization and the commercialized currents that have not been able to curtail its genuine character.
This noon, the second and final day of the La Concha Flag promises the most close edition in years. Having passed the qualifying rounds and, last Sunday, the first day, eight boats in the men’s competition and as many in the women’s competition will fight to be crowned the best trawlers in the Cantabrian Sea and fly the precious flag. The objective may seem minor from a distance, but the truth is that it is an exceptionally precious trophy, worthy of a modality that, in addition to its sporting appeal, brings together elements that have to do with identity, seafaring tradition or pride. local.
To understand the passion generated by this discipline of rowing on a fixed bench and, almost always, open sea, it is worth visiting its meccas in the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia. The town of Orio is a symbol, the capital of the sport of trawlers. This municipality of 6,000 inhabitants, located 17 kilometers from San Sebastián, has honored this discipline and, especially, its most important competition like no other. It holds the record for La Concha flags: 32 in the men’s category and 3 in the women’s category, a category that was born in 2008.
“Rowing in Orio is lived passionately. Our trainera is the pride of the town. When the rowers or the rowers run by or go out rowing, they are seen as heroes,” explains Manu Etxeberria, teacher, counselor and expert in the history of rowing.
In some municipalities of the Cantabrian Sea, trawler regattas are almost a family affair, of sagas that for generations have forged a kind of legend. Mikel Lizarralde, a 22-year-old rower from Orio and engineer, belongs to one of those lines. His father and many other of his relatives were rowers, and his uncle Juanito Altxerri, rower and skipper, is one of the myths of this sport, with 10 La Concha flags behind him. This Sunday he will share a trawler with his brother Jon and his cousin Aritz.
“Rowling with the town drifter is a privilege, and it is very gratifying in the sense that you notice that respect and admiration from the people. Rowing does not involve the amounts of money that exist in other sports. We earn money, a salary, but most of us do not dedicate ourselves to this professionally and row for other motivations. We do it because we love this sport and in our case, we are in the town’s trawler, because of a very strong bond. It makes us happy to represent and share this with our people. There is a very strong feeling of community,” he explains.
22 kilometers from Orio, Pasajes (Pasaia) is another of the emblematic places in the history of the trawlers. Its steep bay saw the Marquis de La Fayyette leave for the North American War of Independence, welcomed Victor Hugo during one of his retreats and, on a more local level, has witnessed one of the most emblematic rivalries in rowing, the carried out by the neighboring trawlers of Pasajes San Pedro and Pasajes San Juan (Donibane).
San Pedro is the second trawler in the men’s historical record of La Concha (15 flags) and San Juan the fifth (10). In recent years, however, their commitment to the youth team has made it difficult for them to compete with other trainers with a larger budget and who have opted to make use of signings. The joys have come thanks to women’s rowing, the great revolution in the last two decades. The San Juan rowers have won five of the 15 editions of the women’s Bandera de La Concha (the record along with the Galician ones from Rias Baixas), which was born in 2008. Since then, in La Concha there have been two winning rowers – the male and female -, a significant novelty in a traditional sport like rowing and which, however, has worked very successfully and has been consolidated in record time.
“The balance is very positive and the quality of women’s rowing is exceptional. From a technical point of view, she would say that her rowing has more quality, although it is less physical than the boys’. From the beginning we opted to equate the awards and today we can say that it is fully consolidated,” explains Etxeberria.
This bet is also linked to a historical precedent. “Trainer regattas come from disputes between fishermen to be the first to arrive at the sale. However, there is another curious precedent. In Pasaia it happened that the big ships, the big galleons, often could not enter the estuary and had to be towed. Then, the landing had to be done to tow them. “The men were often fishing in Newfoundland, so women’s trawlers came to the landing,” he adds.
The incorporation of women’s rowing to the trawler leagues, the regular competitions, and its most important competition, the Bandera de La Concha, has contributed to modernizing this discipline. The role of the spectacular broadcasts of ETB, the Basque public television, and the economic commitment of some sponsors has also been key. The result is that a competition born in 1879 maintains its epic and attractiveness a century and a half later, floating above fashions and economic fluctuations. A rarity in these liquid times.
