Bigfoot Encounters


Basajaun and Baxajaun, Spain's Basque Folklore

Even in Spain, the term Basajaun (Spanish pronunciation: ‘Basakhaun' in English) or Baxajaun (pronounced "Baksakhaun" in English) is the name given to a sort of yeti  or hair-covered hominoid in the Basque Country (Andalusia), which is to say in the North of Spain.

A brief newspaper article states the Basajaun is one of the most important creatures of the Basque folklore. Apparently, the name means ‘lord of the forest' in Euskera (Basque language).

It is said to have a very hairy human-like body, great physical strength and agility. In Basque legends, Basajaun taught blacksmithing and agriculture to the men, and at the same time it is described as a howling giant armed with a big stick who persecuted the men (typical symbolic ambivalence found in the popular references to all the yetis of the world). (Citation: Joaquin Albaicin, Spain)

In June 1993 a group of speleologists (scientific study and exploration of caves) prepared to spend the night at the ruins of a church near Collada de Vallgrasa in the Catalan Pyrenees Mountain Range of Spain. They heard strange noises resembling those of an enraged cat. When they came close to the church's large doorway, the scientists saw a frightened, weird, shaggy creature, approximately 1.5 meters (5 feet tall) flee from the building. He was of enormous bulk. The wild man appeared again in the woods between Farga de Bebié and Ripoll (Gerona). Two hairy beings pounced on two paleontologists then ran away from them. (Citation: De la Rubio Muñoz and Dr. Myra Shackley, Wildmen: Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma (London: Thames & Hudson, 1983) ISBN 0-500-01298-9 (also published as Still Living?: Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma ISBN 0-500-01298-9)

Back to Creatures?
Back to Bigfoot Encounters Main page
Back to Newspaper & Magazine Articles
Back to Bigfoot Encounters "What's New" page

Portions of this website are reprinted and sometimes edited to fit the standards of this website
under the Fair Use Doctrine of International Copyright Law
as educational material without benefit of financial gain.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
This proviso is applicable throughout the entire Bigfoot Encounters Website.