We traveled to the north of Spain, to Euskadi, to meet in the city of Bilbao with David Merino, undoubtedly one of the first and most reputable breeders in Spain, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of what, over time, has become a historic milestone in our world. We are referring to the resounding success of winning the High Life Barcelona 2004 award. In hindsight, everyone agrees that this was the beginning of the Kritikal Bilbo legend.
We sat down with David to hear his story and reflect on how these twenty years have unfolded for him. To prepare for the interview, I searched and read through various sources online, and I must admit that finding information wasn’t easy. David is not one to appear often in the spotlight and has always preferred to stay in the background. However, sitting in front of him, if I had to sum him up in one word, it would be: trustworthy.
David is a humble, down-to-earth man who radiates the calm confidence of someone who is deeply committed to what they do. He is driven by genuine passion, far removed from the trivialities that, unfortunately, dominate much of life today. His partners of over 15 years describe him as a man of integrity, who places his love for the plant above any commercial ambition. What he does, far from seeking recognition or turning it into a competition, is driven by a sincere love for his craft.
If the definition of a pioneer is “someone who takes the first steps in a new field,” David Merino is, without a doubt, a pioneer of the cannabis world in the Basque Country. In 1998, he opened the first growshop in Euskadi, in the center of Bilbao at 23 Somera Street, naming it Kalamundua (which means “cannabis world” in Basque). Later, in 2003, he founded ORTUE, the first cannabis distribution company in the Basque Country.
David was also part of the so-called Basque Breach, as an active and seasoned member of Kalamudia (the Cannabis Study Association of Euskadi), where they shared the limited knowledge of the time. For today’s generation, it may seem strange, given that now we have access to endless information at our fingertips via smartphones. With a simple click, anyone can access a wealth of knowledge, experiences, and tutorials, allowing even a curious amateur to achieve impressive results in small home projects.
In those early years, David spent countless days traveling to the Netherlands, participating in meetings where both progress and failures were shared, and engaging in endless test sessions (trial and error) with the limited resources available. They were a generation hungry for cannabis knowledge, and with great generosity, they laid the foundations of the sector. Just as Spain has become a global culinary reference, this group has turned the country into a world leader in the cannabis scene.
*How have these 20 years passed?
Flying! It seems like only yesterday that I was picking up this award and the amount of things that have happened in a heartbeat.
*Can we consider this award the origin of Critical Bilbo?
Yes, without a doubt. I had already been working with this genetics in Kalamundua for years, since we selected it with my friends Mikel and César, and the results were incredible. This Critical was beginning to win awards and recognition, but from that moment its fame spread throughout Spain.
*Talking about Critical Bilbo with K or with C, what is the difference?
Kritikal Bilbo with “K” when we refer to the feminized seed and Critical Bilbo with “C” when we refer to the original clone.
To differentiate it from other clones, people called it Critical Bilbo Ortue, at that time had just opened the distributor Ortue in Galdakao and so we presented it in the High Life Cup as “Critical of Ortue” when it won in 2004 and so it has been demanded since then until now. That same year we also created the seed bank GENEHTIK SEEDS and after a work of selection and breeding begins to be marketed as feminized seed under the name of Kritikal Bilbo.
*Did you believe before presenting your Critical sample that it had the level to compete with the best?
The truth is that yes. We had already been collecting prizes in Euskadi for several years as important as the Txapelketa Cannábica and practically everybody was amazed when they tasted it, its fruity and intense aroma was famous and people asked for the Critical of Bilbao
*So, wasn’t it surprise for you to win the 1st prize in the Bio category and the 1st absolute prize?
Obviously, I aspired to win, but what I could not imagine was what came next. In a matter of weeks, we started to receive orders from all over Spain and even from abroad. Ortue, as a distributor, began to grow, but the fame that our Kritikal was gaining day by day was, for us, a dream. Today, twenty years later, I look back with pride: the selection work, the awards that Kritikal Bilbo has obtained over the years, and the fact of being part of the history of such a legendary strain.
*What is the origin of the Critical Bilbo clone? What is true in the legend that it was a very weak clone and that there was not much hope in it?
I could say that we had something to do with the selection of phenotypes, but the truth is that it was a stroke of luck. Kritikal Bilbo was already Basque before she was born, in fact, she came into the world in Bilbao of her own free will. The origin was Kalamundua, Ortue still did not exist, from there came the seeds that we planted together with some customers of the Grow, with Cesar and Mikel that we were neighbors, we made that crop where a particular plant, had a characteristic behavior … the rest is history.
Of course, soon I saw the potential of the plant and I took cuttings to clone that phenotype and to be able to conserve its characteristics.
*And the origin of the GENEHTIK seed bank?
In 2003 I opened the distributor ORTUE and founded the seed bank GENEHTIK SEEDS. I had been in charge of the Growshop Kalamundua for 6 years and it was getting too small, I needed space to develop my work as a geneticist, to keep the old varieties, to stabilize the new ones, etc. I started to supply new stores that opened and to produce the first regular seeds that gave birth to GENEHTIK SEEDS, then I began to feminize the varieties with which I had been working for years, the ZURI WIDOW, SUPER SILVER BILBO, NORTHERN LIGHTS X, TXOMANGO and of course KRITIKAL BILBO.
We always try to baptize our varieties with Basque semantics or adding the word “Bilbo” as a seal of identity of where our varieties are created.
*Finally, advise me, Kritikal Bilbo, seed or cuttings?
If you can make your own cuttings in optimal conditions, it makes sense, otherwise, it is always better a fresh seed, guaranteed and of recognized origin.
We bid farewell to David with the feeling of having witnessed a fundamental part of the history of cannabis, not only in the Basque Country, but internationally. His legacy, built on a foundation of hard work, respect for the plant and love for what he does.
Here’s to another twenty years of success for Kritikal Bilbo and its creator!
