Genetic analysis shows Navarre's agotes share ancestry with local Basque populations

A team from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid has completed the first full genomic analysis of 125 individuals identified as agotes in the Baztan valley, Navarre. The findings show that the agotes possess a genetic profile closely aligned with other Basque-Navarrese and southwestern French groups, refuting the entrenched belief that they originated as a foreign or exotic community. The research highlights a distinct micro-genetic structure and elevated homocigosity, reflecting prolonged cultural isolation.

Historians referenced in the study, including Jesús María Usunáriz, outline earlier hypotheses that linked the agotes to Cathar refugees, Goths, Saracens, or leprosy, but the genetic evidence does not support these claims. The paper also recounts the group's historical discrimination, from 16th-century legal protections that were ignored to social exclusion based on notions of “limpieza de sangre.”