Basques safe in Iceland as district repeals decree to kill them on sight

Westfjords district commissioner invites Basques to ceremony to revoke 1615 law that
sparked massacre known as Slaying of the Spaniards

A painting of Basque galleons at anchor in Labrador. Photograph: Richard Schlecht/National Geographic/Getty

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Basques wanting to visit the dramatic fjords of north-western Iceland need no longer
hesitate after the district of Westfjords repealed a 400-year-old decree to kill any
Basque caught in the area on sight.
The decision to do away with the decree was more symbolic than anything else, said
Westfjords district commissioner Jonas Gudmundsson. We have laws, of course, and
killing anyone including Basques is forbidden these days.
The edict was issued in 1615 after a storm destroyed three Basque whaling vessels on
an expedition in Iceland. Eighty members of the crew survived, said Gudmundsson,
and were left stranded in the area. They had nothing to eat, and there were accounts
of them robbing people and farmers, he said.
The brewing conflict between locals and the whalers prompted then-sheriff Ari
Magnsson to draw up a decree that allowed Basques to be killed with impunity in the
district. In the weeks that followed, more than 30 Basques were killed in raids led by
the sheriff and local farmers. Its one of the darkest chapters of our history, said
Gudmundsson, noting that the incident known as the Slaying of the Spaniards ranks
among the countrys bloodiest massacres.
Four centuries later, Gudmundsson decided it was time to set right the wrongs of
history. Last week, at the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to the Basque whalers
who were killed, he repealed the decree. This decision was made 400 years ago and
it has never formally been repealed until now.
A handful of Basques had ventured to Westfjords for the ceremony, he said. They
were very happy with the announcement. Later, as he shook hands with the governor
of Gipuzkoa province in the Spanish Basque country, Martn Garitano, Gudmundsson
presented him with a flag featuring a sword inside a circle of the gods. Its a symbol
of peace to show him that we are now a people of peace.