This is the congressional hall where the Basque legislature continues to meet and make laws, etc.  After visiting these sites, and also the museum of the bombing of Guernica, we headed to Mendata where more of the family had gathered.  It was exciting to meet even more relatives.  They had set up a room which we could barely fit in.  To help better understand who people are, following is a list Benita’s sibings and then lists of just the first 3 generations of descendants of Benita’s two sisters Tereza and Maria.  All the Mendata relatives we met over this weekend were descendants of Maria and Tereza.  The more complete lists (including spouses and all generations) can be seen at this link.  Remember, Leon and Sandalio had no known children, and we hope to meet with Nicasio’s descendants on the next trip.

After the reunion ended, we went to the summer cottage of Maria Victoria and her husband Jose Luis.  They live in Guernica but have a summer cottage in Mendata where they go for the weekends.  She is a grand-daughter of Maria.   They are a wonderful couple and we really enjoyed the visit.

We had a wonderful time talking and getting to know each other.  They are a close family, yet it was an opportunity for many of them to also get together.  We watched a documentary about Mendata and immigration to America which was produced by Idoia.  A number of our relatives play roles in the documentary.  We have a copy of the documentary and will show it when we get together.

Ianire Urzuriaga Hormaechea: Ubon/Gloria/Maria/Tereza, grand-daughter of Gloria.

Ibon Urzuriaga Zabala: Gloria/Maria/Tereza, Oldest son of Gloria

Xabat Urzuriaga Hormaechea: Ubon/Gloria/Maria/Tereza, grandson of Gloria.


This marked the end of an amazing weekend.  We have already been in e-mail communication with many of the relatives we met and they have sent us information on the majority of the descendants of Benita’s parents in Spain.  We felt so blessed to have met all these wonderful relatives and we look forward to getting to know them better.

The houses are really quite spacious, as can be seen from this picture of Jose Ignacio’s home from a bit further back.  To get a feel for how beautiful the countryside is, below are pictures from Jose Ignacio’s front yard looking at Mendata and Marije’s house.  Marije’s house is the one on the middle left.  The brown building right in the middle is where we had the reunion meeting.

Marije then took us to the house of her brother Jose Ignacio.  He was not able to come to the reunion due to his legs.

Jose Ignacio Mallea Zabala:  Maria/Tereza

Begoña Lamikiz Mandaluniz:  Wife of Jose Ignacio

Joseba Mallea Lamikiz:  Jose Ignacio/Maria/Tereza, 2nd of their three children

Idoia Mallea Lamikiz:  Jose Ignacio/Maria/Tereza, Oldest child


That is their wedding photo on the chair.  Maria, the daughter of Tereza, had four children: Gloria, Jose Ignacio, Marije, and Jacinto.  The first three all live within one mile of each other in Mendata.  Jacinto lives in Nampa, Idaho, and has been there on a ranch for a number of years.  Thus, we have a 2nd cousin in Idaho and we look forward to meeting him.

Spain Trip - Sunday, May 29

The schedule for Sunday kept quickly expanding.  We started by meeting Marije, Alberto, and Libe, in Guernica for a visit to some of the most famous sites, which they were anxious for us to see.

Libe, Marije, Valerie, Edna, Alberto

Josu, Begoña, and Kepa

Valerie and Marije walking arm in arm

This is the tree of Guernica which is the famous site where Basque government has always met to make important decisions.  It is still where new presidents are sworn in, etc.  This is actually the son of the original tree of Guernica, which has now died and which is also on the same grounds as this tree.

Libe, Edna, Marije, Valerie, Ramon, Alberto, Tony

Around the table: Marije, Maria Victoria, Valerie, Gloria, Naia, Arantza and Marcelino (friends), Edna, Troy, Alberto, Goretti

Standing: Iñigo, Jose Luis, Kepa, Gregorio, Josu, David, Juan Vicente, Begoña, David, Irualtza, Inma

Maria Victoria “Marivi” Hormaeche Chopitea: Asuncion/Maria, 2nd cousin on Maria’s side

Naia Urzuriaga Zubizarreta: Iñigo/Gloria/Maria/Tereza, grand-daughter of Gloria

Iñigo Urzuriaga Mallea: Gloria/Maria/Tereza, 3rd child of Gloria

Pedro “Kepa” Zabala Enbeita: Jacinto/Tereza, Oldest of 7 children of Jacinto Zabala Uribarri, who was the oldest son of Tereza Uribarri and her husband Julian Zabala.  Shortly after the birth of their last child Julian went to Boise, where he had financial success but died shortly thereafter, and is buried in the Boise cemetery.

Jesus Mari “Josu” Zabala Enbeita: Jacinto/Tereza, younger brother of Kepa

David Zabala Aguirre: Kepa/Jacinto/Tereza, oldest of Kepa’s two children

Juan Vicente Hormaeche Chopitea: Asuncion/Maria, Oldest child of Asuncion and brother of Maria Victoria

Begoña: Wife of Kepa

David Zabala Enbeita: Jacinto/Tereza, younger brother of Kepa, one of the relatives we met the first day

Irualtza Malaxetxebarria Zabala:  Itziar/Jacinto/Tereza

Inmaculada “Inma” Etxebarrieta Uribe:  Wife of David Zabala Enbeita

Kristina, Beñat, Belen, Josefina, Marije, Markel, Maria Victoria, Valerie, Gloria, Naia, Iñigo, Jose Luis

Kristina Zubizarreta:  Wife of Iñigo

Beñat Urzuriaga Zubizarreta: Iñigo/Gloria/Maria/Tereza, oldest son of Iñigo and Kristina

Belen Zabala Enbeita: Jacinto/Tereza, younger sister of Kepa

Josefina Ugalde Aranguena: Wife of Juan Vicente Hormaeche

Markel Lejardi Zugazaga: Goretti/Marije/Maria/Tereza, Grandson of Marije

Tony with Josefina and Juan Vicente in front of the reunion building

Jose Ignacio, Begoña, Joseba, Idoia

On the middle right of this zoomed out version is Gloria’s home.

The view of Guernica from Jose Ignacio’s house.  We then stopped at Gloria’s house and took a few pictures before we dropped Marije back at her home.

Behind: Gloria, Iñigo, Kristina, Ianire, Ibon

In front: Beñat, a friend named Kepa, Xabat

1-Tereza Uribarri Barainca (11 June 1883-26 July 1958)

. . . . 2-Jacinto Zabala Uribarri (23 March 1913-28 September 1960)

. . . . . . . . 3-Kepa (Pedro) Zabala Enbeita (20 August 1944-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Arantza Zabala Enbeita (8 October 1945-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Belen Zabala Enbeita (8 March 1947-)

. . . . . . . . 3-David Zabala Enbeita (14 January 1949-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Itziar Zabala Enbeita (5 April 1950-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Jesus Mari (Josu) Zabala Enbeita (17 November 1952-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Maite (Maria Teresa) Zabala Enbeita (26 April 1955-)

. . . . 2-Maria Zabala Uribarri (-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Gloria Mallea Zabala (2 July 1937-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Jose Ignacio Mallea Zabala (1939-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Marije (Maria Jesus) Mallea Zabala (1945-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Jacinto Mallea Zabala (1947-)

. . . . 2-Eulogia Zabala Uribarri (1911-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Libertad (Libe) Uruburu Zabala (1946-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Santiago Javier (Jagoba) Uruburu Zabala (1948-1950)

. . . . 2-Alejandra Zabala Uribarri (-)

. . . . 2-Domingo Zabala Uribarri (-)

And here is the list for Maria.

1-Maria Uribarri Barainca (1 February 1886-4 June 1963)

. . . . 2-Benita Chopitea Uribarri (1915-)

. . . . 2-Asuncion Chopitea Uribarri (1917-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Juan Vicente Hormaeche Chopitea (1935-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Maria Victoria (Marivi) Hormaeche Chopitea (1938-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Jose Antonio Hormaeche Chopitea (-)

. . . . 2-Santiago Chopitea Uribarri (1919-)

. . . . 2-Pilar Chopitea Uribarri (1925-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Santiago Bilbao Chopitea (1952-)

. . . . . . . . 3-Maria Luisa Bilbao Chopitea (1956-)

Here is the 3 generation list for Tereza.

1-Juan Domingo Uribarri Alespeiti (23 August 1853-)

+Josefa Rita Juana Barainca Marque Erquiaga (22 May 1847-)

. . . . 2-Nicasio Uribarri Barainca (14 December 1877-)

. . . . 2-Leon Uribarri Barainca (April 1879-25 August 1941)

. . . . 2-Sandalio Uribarri Barainca (3 September 1880-)

. . . . 2-Tereza Uribarri Barainca (11 June 1883-26 July 1958)

. . . . 2-Maria Uribarri Barainca (1 February 1886-4 June 1963)

. . . . 2-Benita Uribarri Barainca (21 March 1888-23 December 1935)