The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. j⚛e decker^talk 01:20, 7 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Esteru (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log · Stats)

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This article was deleted in Spanish Wikipedia per the following reason: “Hoax that have been "popularized" thanks to Wikipedia. Article currently without reliable sources”.

Quoting the arguments from Spanish Wikipedia (rough translation is mine):

Mythological inventions, fraud and hoaxes

Since 2007 this article has remained (in Spanish Wikipedia) fraught with suppositions and conjectures without reference support, despite the ederly references request template from 2009...

Esteru is not a traditional character

Any evidence of this character that we can find on the Internet, doesn't go back beyond the summer of 2006. Since then, it seems to have gained some popularity (very limited, as we shall see). But however popular it this character today (actually very unpopular), is all abusive and inappropriate call "traditional" a habit of just over 7 years old. Tradition is what happens from generation to generation, and seven years is neither a quarter of a generation. No mention that remotely can refer to the previous Esteru to 2006, from news, forums, books, articles, thesis, or anything. None. And no one explained with a minimum rigor of where or when the alleged proceeds tradition. None.

Esteru has a rather low popularity

It turns out that among the just over 200 mentions Esteru found in Google (at the time of AfD), fifty are a copy of the text that appears in the [Spanish] Wikipedia article; 40 mentions in forums or blogs, none of them specialized in mythology and folklore; 12 are mere mentions in pages dedicated to the sale of gift items; 30 others are merely mentions that barely exceed the 25 words on web pages varied in nature, none of them specialized in the matter; all other references are anonymous comments made in those forums, opinion and personal pages, and so on. Only 7 times appears in Esteru in the pages of daily news (digital or paper): 4 to repeat that a man disguised as Esteru went to visit template Racing, and 3 to echo the claim of one basque association to popularize the Olentzer-Esteru at Castro. It is very striking that an alleged "traditional Christmas character" appears only 7 times in the press over the last seven years, and how it does.

There are no reliable sources, and there is a very founded suspicion of promotion[al issue]

As I said above, there isn't a single reliable source that supports this character belongs to the Cantabrian mythology, or that it is a traditional character. No one (other than Wikipedia itself) provides details or anything that remotely can be likened to a study or reflection of the origin and development of Esteru. No book or print publication that deals with this character appears. In no date.
In the article a 2010 article in a not specialized magazine in Catalan is mentioned, written by an unskilled journalist, and is dedicated to Santa Claus; but in its "online" article is not mentioned even once this Esteru. Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas [or whateveras we call it], is in fact mentioned... but Esteru not...

And here comes the best:

All mentions of Esteru over the Internet are subsequent to the publication of the article in [Spanish] Wikipedia in 2007... all of them but two or three, corresponding to a Cantabrian-nationalist-like forum, in which an user called Kerwan (in fact, the same username that creates the article in [Spanish] Wikipedia and illustrated it with own photos) said someone told him a story that others have told them. [1] (in Spanish)

In another forum of equal orientation, or even more radical, another "Kerwan" says "One of the first to reveal the Esteru story have been me", but this time said to another who says that some have told one thing. Later, Kerwan acknowledges that he hasn't evidence of the mythical existence of such Esteru "other than oral" (which says that some have been told him). Here this Kerwan also expressed that picture Esteru_carroza.jpg, published in the Wikipedia article representing a guy in costume, apparently made in 2005, is the Esteru, and "believed to be a cavalcade of 2006 or 2007", which someone sent to him in 2007...

In that forum also are involved people who say that the "introduction" of Esteru is an "investment for the future". And other participants demonstrate that the story of Esteru is literally copied from a previous story of the Basque Olentzero. [2] (in Spanish)

In the "prau conceju" forum, Kerwan also presents supposed programs and reviews of the celebration of Reyes en Comillas, [3] (in Spanish). But it seems the program and review are the work of the Kerwan himself. The truth is that in none of the programs of the municipality, or any of the photos of the riding of Kings in Comillas available on Google, this character appears (except the pictures provided by the same Kerwan, both could be the Esteru as any disguise).

Apparently, it would seem that the above mentioned Kerwan is (pun intended) an active Cantabrian radical nationalism activist, also related to associations or groups involved in activities sponsored by the city council of Comillas. And the more it seems that all this history is Esteru product of a particular desire of Cantabrian identity, based more on desire than reality.

Because the above statements I consider and propose to wikipedians to delete this article. Zerabat (talk) 13:57, 29 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Delete per nominator's. The discussion in the Spanish Wikipedia has clearly stated that the article is a hoax and that wikipedia was used to spread it. --Discasto (talk) 14:46, 29 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Spain-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 12:25, 30 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Fictional elements-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 12:25, 30 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Christianity-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 12:25, 30 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete -- As this is a Spanish subject, we should apply the Spanish conclusion that it is a hoax. Worryingly, there are several other language versions but I hope these will also get deleted. Peterkingiron (talk) 17:08, 5 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete per WP:HOAX as a non-notable hoax. Esquivalience ^t 20:25, 6 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.