Mugalari is a Basque word used to designate people who help others cross the border between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, mainly for political reasons. The term is a combination of the words "muga" (border) and "-lari" (suffix related to people), and it refers to people living in the border, and by extension also to

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

. The peak of activity of the mugalaris occurred during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, when they helped allied aviators shot down by the Germans in France. Once they had crossed the border, they went to Donostia, from where they would be taken by the

British consulate This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other C ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

, and then sent to London. They were also active during

Franco's dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Sp ...

, and more recently, as part of the

Basque Conflict The Basque conflict, also known as the Spain–ETA conflict, was an armed and political conflict from 1959 to 2011 between Spain and the Basque National Liberation Movement, a group of social and political Basque organizations which sought ind ...

, they had been helping

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

members to cross the border. Some of them have been arrested and prosecuted as members of the armed organisation. One of the most famous mugalaris was Manuel Mª Garmendia Zubiarrain alias ''Korta'', who was shot dead by the Spanish

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Historic ...

Bera, Navarre es, beratarra , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1976. The rock- ska band

Kortatu Kortatu was a Basque ska punk band from the Basque Autonomous Community formed in Irun in the summer of 1984. Kortatu was born in the context of the first democracy years in Spain in 1984. They had a big significance for left-wing basque natio ...

is named after him. The so-called ''smugglers' races'' in which runners carry a full sack on their backs are now one of the Basque rural sports.

References

{{reflist Basque conflict Basque people France–Spain border

See also

References