Working together for a common Project doesn’t sound like a new thing. Nevertheless, when it comes to working for a non-personal interest or aiming at a mutually beneficial goal it’s hard to imagine a place in the modern world where this sense of solidarity still remains. We have found that place.

Idoia swims her daily 1000 meters in a nice Olympic indoor pool. She arrives at 8am and doesn’t leave until 4pm. Basically, she spends most of the day here. Together with her, more than 8,500 "socios" (members) have the chance to come to this club where all imaginable activities are possible. Wide well-cut gardens surround all kinds of swimming pools, pitches, barbecue areas and a five-story "social house". There you can join the choir, go to the gym, relax at the spa or even have a meal at the restaurant, although most of the people prefer bring their own food and heat it up in the microwaves.

All this was built by a large group of people in the early fifties. Individually, few families in this poor town could think of having fun in a swimming pool, but the key was not to act separately. Together they could share everybody’s money and build for a common interest.
 

"Anaitasuna" (meaning Brotherhood or Solidarity in Basque), is just one of the many "social clubs" in the city of Pamplona/Iruña. The capital of the Navarra region is more renowned for its big party of San Fermín. The truth, though, is that these people in northern Spain hide more than just a worldwide known ability for fun.

The end of Franquism was not easy for Basque speakers in the region. Their language was forbidden and consequently, so was its teaching. However, notwithstanding the governmental obstacles, parents took prohibitions as a challenge instead of as a wall to their wills. Money, concrete, chairs, books and especially a lot of energy created the first Basque schools which were clandestine in the beginning, "not forbidden" when the dictator was close to death and legal when democracy was established. Thirty per cent of schools are Basque schools nowadays, many of which are still the same or the successors of the first rebel schools. The rest are public schools which parents fought for too.

There has been such a movement in this way of working that even the Basque language has its own word for it: “Auzolan”, which describes the idea of neighbors working together. “Community” or “Society” are concepts that represent an authentically strong value spread throughout this region.

Social clubs are about amusement or doing sports. Gastronomy societies are about having a kitchen and a space to cook and have lunch or dinner. Cooperatives are about sharing risks when investing and responsibilities as working-owners. After all, it’s all about leaving aside individualism and letting collaboration go, knowing that defeat will be shared but so will be success.

There has been a long tradition of working for solidarity in Navarra. Samuel Ciaurriz Urdaniz from the Navarra News journalism workshop explains the phenomenon of social clubs.