Smuggling was encouraged by the Church in Sare

In Sare, local smuggling was encouraged by the Church which declared from the pulpit that this traffic was only a sin in case of arrest. This nocturnal activity, called gauazko lana in Basque, made the commune the most active center of the border area from 1771. Customs officers were powerless against these inhabitants who climbed the mountains at night, a skill noted as early as 1847 by Lieutenant Vedel.