Sabino Arana, founder and so-called godfather of Basque nationalism, considered race a better means of exclusion due to its primordial or immutable nature. As he says: “As long as there is good grammar and a good dictionary, the language can be restored even if no one speaks it. A race, once lost, cannot be resurrected” (Barnes, 2013). Sabino Arana was a young intellectual from the upper bourgeoisie of the Basque Country. Interestingly, Arana had the idea for the movement in 1883 while living in Catalonia and not the Basque Country. He was an 18-year-old student at the University of Barcelona where he was first exposed to the ideas of Catalan regionalism and sub-nationalism. There he quickly came to the conclusion that cultural identity, material development and religious salvation could only be achieved through the creation of an exclusive Basque nationalism for the indigenous population of his region of origin (Payne, 1971) . Arana returned home and devoted the rest of his life to this task. He promoted the Basque language, formed the Basque Nationalist Party in 1895, wrote the national anthem and designed the flag (Barnes, 2013). The importance of race in Basque nationalism is evident in the region's most popular football club, Athletic Bilbao. The club is best known for its Cantera policy, which states that one must be born Basque to play for the team. The club motto explaining the thinking behind this ideology is “Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación”, meaning “With local teams and fans, there is no need for imports” (Stratton, 2014 ). Basque exclusion by ethnicity is evidenced by the fact that one must be born in the Basque Country to be considered Basque and eligible...... middle of paper ......, Spain." OECD. OECD, December 4-5, 2012. Web. April 29, 2014. Beswick, Jaine. Regional nationalism in Spain: language use and ethnic identity in Galicia, United Kingdom, 2007. Print. Payne, Stanley. “Catalan and Basque nationalism.” Journal of Contemporary History 6.1 (1971): 15-51. JSTOR. Web. April 30, 2014. .Frayer, Lauren. “While Spain struggles, the Basque region shines.” NPR. NPR, October 25, 2012. Web May 1, 2014. "Catalonia Profile - Overview." BBC News, August 14, 2013. Web May 1, 2014. Joy, Oliver. "Spain's next threat: losing 20% ​​of its economy." , November 25, 2012. Web, May 1, 2014. “Catalonia independence vote rejected. » BBC News, April 8, 2014. Web. 2014.