Essential Spanish phrases

Hello, in Euskara. Basque is not related to Spanish or any other living language, and even a word or two is noticed and appreciated.

Thank you, in Euskara. Worth learning alongside 'gracias' — both are used constantly and interchangeably here.

Moving between bars in a group, one small drink and one pintxo at each. The organising principle of Basque social life.

A small glass of beer, roughly a third of a pint. Ordering a pint marks you out — the point is to have several small ones in several bars.

The tight friendship group, usually formed in childhood and kept for life. Basque social life runs through cuadrillas, which is why making friends here takes longer and lasts longer.

The Basque bar snack, usually on bread with a stick through it. Not a tapa — you pay for each one, and the good bars specialise in two or three.

The provincial treasury of Bizkaia, which collects your income tax instead of the Spanish state agency. This is the single biggest administrative difference from the rest of Spain.

The Basque health service — its own organisation with its own card, consistently among the best-rated public health systems in Spain.

The fine persistent drizzle that defines Bilbao's weather. Too light for an umbrella, wet enough to soak you over an hour.

Registration on the municipal roll. Here it also establishes which foral treasury and which health service you belong to.

The single European emergency number. In the Basque Country it reaches SOS Deiak, which dispatches the Ertzaintza — the autonomous Basque police force — rather than the national forces.