Pyrenees Guide

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  Basque Country Architecture

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  Oma Forest. Photo Source: Gobierno Vasco

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  Puente Colgante. Photo Source: Gobierno Vasco

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  San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. Photo Source: Gobierno Vasco

Basque Coast

The shoreline from Bilbao around the coast of Vizcaya, east into neighboring Guipuzcoa province to Getaria and San Sebastián and the River Adour, separating Bayonne and Biarritz from the Landes in the north is a succession of colorful ports, ocher beaches, and green hills. Graceful, chic San Sebastián invites you to slow down, stroll the beach, and wander the streets. The Cantabrian Sea and the Pyrenees create the backdrop of a landscape composed of all shades of green, rugged coasts with short estuaries, and mountains covered with beech and oak.

For centuries its inhabitants have been sailors, farm labourers and shepherds and have spoken a language totally unlike any other and whose origins should be sought more in legend than in history. It is said that it all began with «Sugaar», one of the Basque mythological characters who had a love affair with a beautiful princess who lived in Mundaka. From their union Juan Zuria, was born, the first lord of Bizkaia (Biscay). The Basques, however, believe that they are descendants of the land: the euskaldunak. A nation who retained its traditions, who did not manage to dominate the invaders and who formed an «ethnic isle». In the 14th century Basque fishermen had already reached Iceland and Greenland where they settled on the coast of Newfoundland and Canada.

Juan Sebastián Elcano, the first man to travel around the world, was from Getaria and Legazpi, conqueror of the Philippines, from Zumárraga. Beside the fishing village lie the farming lands. The country house continues to be the core of the Basque country life. Agriculture, clearly smallholder, is based on intensive farming, which means the land is fully exploited. The other traditional trade in the Basque Land is shepherding. The shepherds generally owned their own flocks. When this was not the case, they emigrated. The United States and Canada became the new home of many of these shepherds.

Bilbao

Bilbao, Spain's sixth-largest city and biggest port. It has a number of interesting secrets to reveal, as well as good food, and as a rail hub it serves as a center for exploring some of the best attractions in the Basque country.

Most of the city's sights can be viewed in a day or two. Many visitors flock here only to see the controversial new $100-million Guggenheim Museum, designed by American architect Frank Gehry and called "the beast" by some locals because of its bizarre shape. From afar, it resembles a gargantuan sculpture, with a tumbling boxes profile and a 131m-long (430-ft.) ship gallery.

San Sebastian - Donostia

San Sebastian (Donostia in the Basque language) is the summer capital of Spain, and here the Belle Epoque lives on.

Ideally situated on a choice spot on the Bay of Biscay, it's surrounded by green mountains. From June to September, the population swells as hundreds of Spanish bureaucrats escape the heat and head for this tasteful resort--it has few of the tawdry trappings associated with major beachfront cities. San Sebastian is an ideal base for trips to some of the Basque country's most fascinating towns.

Queen Isabella II put San Sebastian on the map as a resort when she spent the summer of 1845 there. In time, it became the summer residence of the royal court. On July 8, 1912, Queen Maria Cristina inaugurated the grand hotel named after her, and the resort became very fashionable. In what's now the city hall, built in 1887, a casino opened, and European aristocrats gambled in safety here during World War I.

San Sebastian is the capital of the province of Guipuzcoa, the smallest in Spain, tucked in the far northeastern corner bordering France. It's said that Guipuzcoa has preserved Basque customs better than any other province. Half of the donostiarras--residents of San Sebastián--speak Euskera. The city is a major seat of Basque nationalism, so be advised that protests, are frequent.

San Sebastian contains an old quarter, La Parte Vieja, with narrow streets, hidden plazas, and medieval houses, but it is primarily a modern city of elegant shops, wide boulevards, sidewalk cafes, and restaurants.

La Concha is the city's most famous beach, especially in July and August, when it seems as though half the population of Spain and France spends its days under striped canopies or dashing into the refreshingly cool waters of the bay. The shell-shaped La Concha is half-encircled by a promenade, where crowds mill during the evening. The adjoining beach is the Playa de Ondarreta. The climate here is decidedly more Atlantic than Mediterranean. San Sebastian has a good, though insufficient, choice of hotels in summer, plus many excellent restaurants, most of which are expensive. Its chief drawback is overcrowding in July and August. Bullfights, art and film festivals, sporting events, and cultural activities keep San Sebastian hopping during summer.

Vitoria Gasteiz

Capital of Alava and the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz is located in the Llanada Alavesa (plains), in the middle of the historical territory. Vitoria-Gasteiz is above all a city rich in heritage. In fact, its medieval Old Town, declared Monumental Complex in 1997, is the best preserved in the Basque Country with its gothic design and its narrow streets, as well as important medieval and Renaissance buildings. In the Old Town we can admire four towers, belonging to its four great temples: Santa María Cathedral or Old Cathedral, at the highest part of the Old Town; the church of San Pedro; the church of San Vicente or the parish church of San Miguel, where the Virgen Blanca, patron saint of the city, is venerated.

Not far away from this last church is the Virgen Blanca square. On the first days of August, the descent of Celedón, which takes places at this point, marks the beginning of the most important festivals in the city. Nearby we can visit the Plaza Nueva square, declared historic-artistic Monument in 1984, and where the Town Hall is situated. This arcaded square means the beginning of the neoclassical new neighbourhood, formed by pedestrian streets and high commercial activity.

These pedestrian areas together with its large green zones make the capital one of the cities with the best quality of life in Europe. Vitoria-Gasteiz offers 20m² of green zones per inhabitant, the highest rate in the whole country. Furthermore it is surrounded by a green ring formed by four huge parks of great ecological and landscape importance: Olarizu, Armentia, Salburua y Zabalgana, which separate the city of the countryside.

Likewise we must mention that Vitoria-Gasteiz offers a wide range of activities throughout the year. In fact it houses numerous museums and culture centres like the Artium, the Basque Museum of Contemporary Art. Some of the most important cultural events are the Basque Cinema Week, the Spring Craftwork Fair or the International Jazz Fetival, which takes palce at the end of July.

Rioja Alavesa

The Rioja Alavesa Wine Region is located in the south of the Basque Country, bordering the River Ebro and protected by the southern slopes of the Cantabria Mountain Range. The county descends down the hillsides and enjoys a privileged micro-climate for growing grapes. A tradition that goes back in Álava beyond Roman times.

Vineyard rows alternating between walled villages and cellars are the characteristics of the best known part of Alava, where good wine with the Denominación de Origen Rioja label of quality is produced. Tempranillo grape, together with the region's geological and climatological conditions, is responsible for the excellent quality of the wines that play such an important role in local life. Its lands are privileged for vine growing. Thus, two hundred wineries produce delicious wines that will satisfy the most refined palates.

In addition to this, Rioja Alavesa adapts to new ages and combines tradition with the most modern technological advances when producing the wine. Besides, over the last years new cellars have been erected. Some of them are really appealing for tourists due to their modernist architectural lines, such as Ysios and Baigorri by Santiago Calatrava and Iñaki Aspiazu, or Frank Gehry's Marques de Riscal. Undoubtedly, wine tasting and visits to cellars have turned into one of the main tourist demands in the area, along with the valuable artistic and architectural heritage hosted by the region in the shape of walled villages, ancestral houses and prehistoric remains.

The capital, Laguardia, is 45 km from Vitoria-Gasteiz and less than 18 kilometres from the city of Logroño. The airports of Logroño, Vitoria and Bilbao provide easy access by air. Other areas including Leza, Elciego, Oyón-Oion, Lapuebla de Labarca or Labastida are also highly interesting for the tourists. Labastida, sheltered by the Toloño Mountain, is a very frequented summit by mountaineers due to its attractive silhouette. On the top, the location offers an excellent view of the River Ebro flowing through the Rioja Alavesa. Part of Samaniego, Balcón de la Rioja is one of the most emblematic spots in Rioja Alavesa. Located up on Herrera, spectacular views are worth to gaze at. From the spot 1,000 metres above sea level, views of Rioja Alavesa and part of La Rioja Community look amazing. Smaller villages, such as Salinillas de Buradón, still house the originally walled village centres that witnessed the intensive history of its prosperous winemaking region of Alava.

Basque Countryside

Miguel de Unamuno wrote one of the best definitions of the Basque countryside: "everything seems to be at your fingertips, made to order for the people who reside here and give it life; it is a domestic landscape, homelike, where more earth than sky can be seen". Bizkaia's inland valleys are uneven and beautiful, with high mountains and low valleys cloaked in legends and deep valleys with a marked rural flavour. The Encartaciones is land of battles between different sides and tower houses, many of them perfectly kept that will take us, magically, to an enchanted past.

The region of Alava's western valleys presents an outstanding natural landscape. In the north we find the valleys of Zuia and Ayala, with their refreshing waterfalls and solid tower-houses. In the south, we can find singular landscapes such as the Salinas de Añana and the ravine of the Valderejo Natural Park. The Alava Plain has been always a passing route for many pilgrims and traders.

Following the course of the river Oria and under the unmistakable silhouette of the Txindoki mountain we will find settled Tolosaldea, a county that better has kept alive its Basque cultural and folk traditions, along with Goierri. In order to know deeply this region's characteristics we must visit municipalities like Idiazabal, famous because of its worldly famous cheese, Segura and Zerain. Finally, we'll go to Ormaiztegi where, for instance, we can visit Zumalakarregi's historic museum.