Basque tourists can now visit Greenland without fearing for their lives, thanks to an old law getting the chop!

It all dates back to 1615 when an Icelandic law ordered the good folk of Iceland to kill any Basques that they might come across. What had led to that state of affairs, you may well ask?

Well a bigwig from the western fjords had just ordered the execution of 32 Basque whalers who had had the audacity to become shipwrecked. The unlucky fishermen were considered “invaders.”

Ever since then, the local law has stood, leading to the improbable situation where a Basque tourist on that side of the Island could “legally” be put to death.

Fortunately, about three weeks ago, the law was rescinded – local tourism was pretty slow as it is, without executing visitors from the Spanish Basque Lands.

To celebrate the ‘thaw’ in relations, a Basque MP in the Regional Government, Martín Garitano, went ‘gingerly’ to Iceland to meet the Icelandic Minister for Education and Culture, Illugi Gunarsson, Amongst the Spanish delegation was a descendant from one of the unfortunate Basque whalers.

The meeting resulted in the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the ‘incident.’

Nobody was killed.

(News: Spain)