Hot Girls’ Spring
Eneko Goia Laso is a Spanish politician of the Basque Nationalist Party. He was elected to the City Council of San Sebastián in 2011 as the party’s leader, and was Mayor from 2015 to 2025. He says, “Donostia San Sebastián is renowned worldwide for its very special charm. It’s a different type of city: strikingly beautiful, packed with contrasts, traditional yet firmly embracing the future, while always maintaining that cosmopolitan ambiance that has characterised it through the annals of history.”
He finishes, “Due to its proximity to France and to having been the European nobility’s preferred holiday destination down the years, the Capital of Gipuzkoa certainly exudes an international air. It’s a city where visitors feel privileged to have had the smarts to pick this magical place as their holiday destination. At the seaside yet close to the mountains, it combines world class culture, exceptional cuisine and breathtaking architecture to offer a truly unique experience for all!”
The city hasn’t looked back since Queen Regent Maria Cristina selected it as her summer holiday destination following the death of her husband King Alfonso XII in 1885. She transferred the whole court temporarily each year to Miramar Palace which is perched on the Pico del Loro overlooking La Concha Bay, set in a landscape designed by Pierre Ducasse. Two years later a casino was built for the royal holidaymakers. Parks, courses for horses (Zubieta) and cars (Lasarte) and a golf course would follow. It’s where all the big hitters are headed this spring.
Higher again than Miramar Palace is Satrústegui Palace. The former is (brick and timber) Queen Anne meets Tudor; the latter, (stone) castellated Adam. Their share of Albion essence is not coincidental: English architect Ralph Selden Wornum contemporaneously designed both palaces. Satrústegui Palace was the summer residence of diplomat Joaquín Marcos de Satrústegui. Plans are afoot to convert it into a boutique hotel.
A sign in the garden of Miramar Palace helpfully sets out: “After the death of King Alfonso XIII in Rome in 1941, the estate was conjointly inherited by his four living children, Jaime, Beatriz, Cristina and Juan, all of whom lived in exile. In 1958 the property was split: the palace and gardens were passed to Prince Juan, Count of Barcelona. The other three siblings inherited the rest of the estate and sold this land to developers.” Skipping a few sentences, it transpires that after a conservation campaign, the City Council purchased the house and garden in 1972.
Iñaki Egaña writes in A Brief History of the Basque Country, 2016, “The Basque language, Euskara in Basque and Euskera in Spanish, is spoken by the people who have always inhabited the shores of the Cantabrian Sea and both sides of the Pyrenees. The expression Pays Basque has been used in France since at least 1710 to refer to the Basque Country, and the German traveller and statesman Wilhelm von Humboldt contributed greatly to the spread of the name.” The Basque language is unique; nobody knows where it originated. The 20th century dictator Francisco Franco banned Basque.
There are seven Basque provinces: Biscay Bizkaia (the Capital being Bilbao), Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa (Donostia San Sebastián) and Labourd Lapurdi (Bayonne) all share Atlantic coastline. Álava Araba (Vitoria-Gasteiz), Navarre Nafarroa (Pamplona- Iruñea), Lower Navarre Behe Nafarroa (populated with villages) and Soule Zuberoa (Mauléon-Licharre) are all inland. The French Northern Basque Country includes Labourd Lapurdi, Lower Navarre Behe Nafarroa and Soule Zuberoa. The Spanish Southern Basque Country includes Álava Araba, Biscay Bizkaia, Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa and Navarre Nafarroa. Easy. The million inhabitants of Greater Bilbao make up one third of the Basque Country population. San Sebastián’s headcount is nearly 200,000.
The knowledgeable Mila Caro of Devour Tours leads visitors around Old Town on a pints and pintxos evening. “In pintxo bars we stand to eat and drink: there are no tables, no reservations. The drain below the counter is for mussel shells. Bar owners like to see dozens of discarded shells at the end of a night. It’s a sign business is good! Basque cider was considered nutritious. It’s sour and dry and was good for sailors’ scurvy. San Sebastián cheesecake is creamy with no crust. It’s not sweet like American cheesecake. That bar 1813 is named after the year when the British army burnt the city after defeating the French troops who had occupied here for several years. This street is named 31 de Agosto after the exact date of the fire: it was the only street to survive the fire.”
“We’re now in Plaza de la Constitución which is the very heart of the Old Town. If you look up you can see numbers over the doors that open off the long rows of balconies on the upper floors. The flats were originally owned by the City Council and were leased out to members of the public for watching big events held on the plaza. The tenants had to agree to their sitting rooms being leased out every so often!”
“The foodie revolution of San Sebastián came about with the Gang of 12, a group of Basque chefs led by Juan Mari Arzak and Pedro Subijana in the 1970s. There are now three Basque restaurants with three Michelin stars and a total of 19 stars in the city. My brother’s restaurant Zelai Txiki received a Green Michelin star in 2023.”
“The Gilda is the original Basque pintxo and was created in the 1940s in Bar Casa Vallés. A regular customer named Joaquín Aramburu had the habit of threading the bar’s loose olives, anchovies and pickled peppers onto a single toothpick. At the same time the film Gilda starring Rita Hayworth was released. The film was considered hot and spicy! So is the appetiser and the name stuck. A Gilda these days usually is made up of Manzanilla olives, Cantabrian anchovies, Guindilla peppers and Extra Virgin olive oil. Sometimes sweet blueberry jam is put on top of the salty anchovies. Another local delicacy is black ink squid croquettes. Rioja became very popular in the 19th century. That wine region is a one hour 20 minutes drive from San Sebastián.”
Canapés or rather pintxos for breakfast (Aitana), sunset cocktails (Hotel Londres), a private afternoon boat ride (Ciudad Catamaran), an 800 year old church filled with ecclesiastical artefacts and contemporary art and the world’s largest miniature nativity scene (St Mary’s), two golden strands (Las Concha and Ondarreta), an island lighthouse (Santa Clara), a mountain top statue of Christ (Sacred Heart): Donostia San Sebastián is a city of culture. And partying. It’s almost midnight. The local football team Real Sociedad is playing Atlético Madrid in the final of the Copa del Ray, the Royal Spanish Football Federation’s annual knockout competition.
Blue and white flags are draped from every other balcony. The football colours are everywhere and on everyone. The match is beamed on mega screens throughout the city. It’s almost midnight. It’s a two-two draw. The tension is palpable. Penalties. Three-three. Seconds later the roar of nearly 200,000 fans ricochets across the squares and rockets down the streets, reverberating over the bay. Fireworks explode across the sky. The night is about to really begin.
