This is not the first time we have talked about women of San Sebastian in this blog, as we have written about Juanita Larando and Catalina de Erauso on previous occasions. But in Donosti there are many more women worthy of mention, some of them are hardly known and others could be written about in […]
One of the most unknown, tragic and important artists in San Sebastian´s history was Guillermo Joaquín Indalecio Bizcarrondo Ureña, also known as Bilintx or Moko. During the 19th century, he was the most known “bertsolari” and “olerkari” (poet) in the liberal romantics circles in the Basque Country. This local poet was born on April the […]
Few figures are as representative of the modern and innovative atmosphere of San Sebastian in the second half of the 19th century as José Otamendi, who was a teacher, cavalry lieutenant, Basque poet, astronomer, inventor, geographer and mathematician. His was one of the most successful mercantile and business families in the city, which we suppose […]
At the top of the main facade of the Palace of the Provincial Council of Guipuzcoa, designed in neoclassical style by the architect José de Goikoa, we can see 5 white busts representing five illustrious sailors from Guipuzcoa. They were made by Marcial de Aguirre, who was also in charge of the two barbarians of […]
Our tours, both on foot or by bike, usually start at our office doors. It is a big square with beautiful benches, which evoque the “trecandís” so common in catalan’s modernism, and there are a lot of businesses, from those that have been opened forever (like the historical Casa Ponsol), to more modern ones, like […]
In San Sebastian’s harbor there is a beautiful neoclasic monument that has a bronze bust of a man with a normal appearance, dressed with the traditional clothes of the arrantzales (fishermen) from Gipuzkoa, is the Aita Mari. On its base there is a little inscription in basque that says: ¡MARI! YOU GAVE YOUR LIFE TRYING […]
For six years, we had among us a very special and dear neighbour who lived in La Concha Bay and that ended up turning into a symbol of the city: Pakito the dolphin. This peculiar cetacean appeared for the first time in 1998 and left us in 2004 after joining a herd that had ventured […]
Juanita Larando, a 17th century widow innkeeper that had a little bit of money. Her inn was extremely popular among the feared San Sebastian privateers, which hunted French and English ships. It may surprise you, but for many centuries the Basque coast was corsair territory. From our harbours countless sailors left who, provided with letters […]
Some of us are Basque, some others are very Basque and then we have Joxe Mari Olasagasti. Olasagasti was born in Igeldo in 1959 and we could say he is a sportsman. But his thing are the Basque traditional sports: cut trunks, lift stones, reap fields, drag stones… In fact he has won many ax […]
Few characters are as loved by the locals as Santiago Hernández Redondo, better known as Txantxillo. Musician, wanderer, hoarding model, urban legend, actor, popular icon. From extremely humble beginnings, he became incredibly famous throughout his life in the city. With his cap firmly set on his head and his old coat, playing thousands of songs […]
Few characters born in San Sebastián are as extraordinary and interesting as Catalina de Erauso, to whom Juan Pérez de Montalbán gave the nickname by which she was known: “The Lieutenant Nun”. It was said of her “to carry the sword as bravely as life” and was a conqueror, servant, thief, maid, merchant, hitman, confessed […]