Basque bowls
There is a large number of different variations of the game (over 25 variants in Biscay and Álava alone), sometimes sharing their rules with varieties in other areas like Cantabria, Burgos or León.
Two bolatoki in Aiara for this variant remain in popular use but other exist in an area between Gueñes, Artziniega, Tertanga, and Ibarra.
The players must launch the ball onto the loma, stay on it (otherwise a foul is declared which is called zula) and at the very least knock over the cantón to score.
Currently, there are over 1000 registered bowlers and more than one hundred bolatoki of this style remain predominantly in the central part of Álava.
Bolo jokoak are not commonly played in this part of the Basque Country anymore but the game is assumed to have been played along the lines of the Bearnese game called quilhas de nau and quilles de neuf in French.
At the player's end there are two launch boards sunken into the ground, parallel to each other at either side of the playing area.
The Basque name, Burgosko bola jokoa translates as "bowls from Burgos", bolo burgalés in Spanish.
This variant arrived in the Basque Country late when some people from Burgos brought it to Basauri in 1980 and to Gasteiz in 1985.
The bowls have finger and hand-holes, weigh 8 kg (18 lb), and must be launched onto a 4 m (13 ft) long platform in the playing area for the throw to be valid.
Originally from the Burgos area and called tres tablones in Spanish, this version was brought to the west of Biscay by migrants.
This is a visually spectacular variant on a 30 m (98 ft) by 6 m (20 ft) playing field, balls weighing between 5–7 kg (11–15 lb) with a 28 cm (11 in) diameter which are launched at nine slim, pointed 35–40 cm (14–16 in) tall pins arranged in a square, one behind the other in groups of three.
Depending on they type of game, each player has 2–4 balls per round and the miko is placed in two different positions behind the big pins.
Called hiru txirlo común in Spanish), this is a variant of bola jokoa played in the Basque Country.
This game is still fairly widespread in the east of Biscay from Mendiola to Mutriku and parts of Gipuzkoa (the Deba valley), there are bolo federations for this variant at the cross-provincial level and annual leagues.
In this variant the balls are 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) heavy, made of wood with finger and hand holes and are not entirely spherical.
Bets are placed either by guessing the number of pins that will or will not get knocked over using the following phrases: or This version (bolos a cachete, "smack bowling" in Spanish) is played in the mining area of the Enkarterri today although bolatokiak also exist in Biscay, in the area from Barakaldo to Muzkiz.
They need to have this flattened shape because the tako ("woodblock") upon which they are placed isn't level but has an inclined surface, the end furthest away from the player being higher up.
The purpose of the puddle is that the player's helper (called armador) can wet the pins and the tako before the shot.
The aim is to knock the pins across the lawn over one of two semicircles, called marrak (lines), delineating the edge of the bolatoki.
Called Leongo jokoa in Basque and juego leonés in Spanish and as the name suggests, this variant comes from the pronvince of León but is common throughout Spain today.
The aim is to knock down ten pins, 9 large ones (up to 52 cm (20 in) tall) arranged in a 3x3 square and a small one called txakina.
Not far behind the pins is a barrier (called paraboloa) to stop the ball but behind the barrier the actually target area lies, the marren zelaia "field of lines" (campo de rayas in Spanish), 20 m (66 ft) wide and 40 m (130 ft) long.
Skill is needed to keep the ball in the groove and hit the pins head on, otherwise they tend to go sideways rather than forward.
The pins are set in a slightly diagonal line in groups of three, one at the other end of each "channel", the small txirlo sits in between them but there is no special platform for them as in other varieties.
This variant is originally from the Merindades, in the north of Spain but nowadays is played in Burgos, the Basque Country, Madrid, Alicante and in some South America.
Most bolatoki for this variant are in the area around Berriz in Biscay, most notably the one attached to the small church (a type called baseliza in Basque) of San Lorenzo of Mendibil.
The main characteristic of this game is a triangular barrier called motie which prevents players from bowling directly at the pins.
Roughly half way down the playing are there is a small stake on the left slope called katxine.
A law from Santander dating back to 1627 for example penalised the playing of bowls on the streets of the city, as did the council of Ulibarri-Jauregi 1632.
The first over-regional competition was organised by the council of Gasteiz in 1949 with players from all over Álava competing for 3 prizes of 500 pesetas and a trophy.
