Peru-Harri
Erasote Auzoa 4
31880 Leitza (Navarra)
Spain
Peru-Harri is an important center where the sculptures designed by the local sportsman Iñaki Perurena are on display and which can be visited on weekends. It is located in one of the mountains that surround the town.
Iñaki Perurena Gartziarena, born in Leitza in 1956, is a Basque athlete specialised in the sport of harri-jasotze (stone lifting), one of several Basque rural sports. He has also made inroads into the Basque cultural as a poet and bertsolari (Basque singer of improvised verse rhymes and stanzas in public).
Stone lifter or "harrijasotzaile", he holds the record since 1999 of 1000 liftings of a stone weighing 100kg without stopping in 5 hours and 4 minutes. In 1990, he beat the previous weight record by lifting a stone weighing 315kg. He is able to life three times with one hand a stone of 250kg and can lift four times with one hand a stone of 200kg. Even though his record of stone lifting with one hand has been officially set at 267kg, he can life a 320kg stone using both hands.
Iñaki is also known for his role in the ETB1 series “Goenkal”, where he plays the role of Imanol. He has also collaborated on the shows “Euskal Herrian Barrena”, “Herriko Plaza” and “Piratak”.
His son, Ignacio Perurena, is also a stone lifter and receives support from his father.
