Gipuzkoa
when the cook Aitor Arregi presents you the turbot that the grill has been in charge of enlivening in the restaurant Elkano from Getaria, he explains to you that different flavors, different textures coexist in the same fish. He tells you that his white face is the one that looks at the sand and the black one “the one that looks at the sea”. And, like the grill has marked that fish that now opens before you, you realize that the Gipuzkoan also has those two skins sealed with fire.
Choose between the sea and land here is no easy task. But it is beautiful. Even they, sea and land, crash furiously in an attempt to take care of each other, to be part of the scene that they can only admire from that other side where they belong. In the heart of that conflict, the coastal towns , who thus become children of the landscape. Mutriku, Deba, Zumaia, Hondarribia... shake hands to move forward, like a child who crosses following a zebra crossing. They are a hinge, a drawbridge between two elements that define them.
Getaria it is proof of this, “a small space of land that expands through the sea”, as Arregi, a llama trainer, explains. In its old town the sailor was born Juan Sebastian Elcano , who put his hometown in the history books by completing the first circumnavigation of the world. “We are a deeply rooted people, but we are constantly moving, constantly improving. We take care of our roots so that later new cuttings come out. And both, roots and cuttings, are important to us”, reveals the heir to the great Getaria grill.
Stacked chairs on a stone wall near the Zumaia flysch
This port was also the place where the dressmaker Christopher Balenciaga he took the first stitches that would take him, like the track of a high-speed train, straight to the pinnacle of fashion. In his honor stands tall, as discreet as the designer, a black wall that hides a voluptuous, light-filled interior. All is sobriety on this coast and also in the Balenciaga Museum , which makes its way between the Aldamar Palace and a modern-style extension that preserves 3,500 dresses by the master couturier. Roots again. Again cuttings.
The center, which is now celebrating its decade with an exhibition dedicated to the Tunisian sculptural needle Azzedine Alaia , maintains an intense program of exhibitions linked to the name of the designer and the world of fashion, the one that Balenciaga abandoned with the arrival of prêt-à-porter.
Was Balenciaga impervious to time? “His time was his time master craftsman who seeks perfection”, explains Miren Vives, the director of the museum. "The time he loved was a time closer to the Japanese kaizen philosophy than to the maddened currents of Parisian fashion." Suspended time just as the visitor perceives it in Getaria, “almost suspended in its eight centuries of history”.
Cleaning fish in Zumaia
On this coast towns they are demanding. They don't walk: they climb. Mutriku It is one of them. It is also a walled town. When the city sleeps you can hear how the wind tries to sneak between the dikes that put a stop to the bravery of the waters. It is a deep whistle, a cry that in summer the children soothe by throwing themselves into the natural pools that challenge the tides here.
It is on them that he sleeps Haitzalde , a biodynamic hotel made up of three minimalist cubes with large windows and a green roof that leave smoke behind and are at the same time a hillside, a garden and a shelter. And it is also in them where a flow of rock is born, the Euskaldun flysch: a geological outcrop or that, like the turbot, it starts out black and turns white as it moves east through Deba to Zumaia. A path of about 15 kilometers connects these towns and borders the coast through hills and valleys that make up the Basque Coast Geopark. The hermitage of San Telmo, in Zumaia , is one of the best points to admire these wounds caused by the Bay of Biscay on earth. The struggle, of course, must leave scars.
And to heal them is the family irony , which runs the bedoua grill for four generations. Located in the estuary of the Urola , in this hamlet beats the orchard. His lettuce looks like meat and his meat looks like butter. A few piparras, a barely curdled cod omelette and a warm pantxineta are enough –does this adjective even exist in the Basque Country?– to keep up with the Basque cadence.
Dog in a van at the Zarautz campsite
calm in the wild
The iodized scent of charging rock, moss and sun cream instantly reveals where in the world we are. The Zarautz beach is the longest in the province and, although the televised surname Arguiñano has always been linked to this town, it is the surf who has put it on the map. Riding this ponto is for the young surfer Ainara Aymat , with several seas and championships in her guts, “being at home”: “I don't feel more comfortable anywhere else. I have come to understand it, I know its currents, how the wave breaks… it is different anywhere in the world.” Perhaps that is why Zarautz is not lacking in the national and international surfing circuits. These waters are hypnotic and some of them remain in the fissures of those who have grown up under their influence.
The vastness of the sea contrasts with the size of these towns that underline the twisting of the landscape. While Zarautz or San Sebastián welcome the waves with open arms, orio He looks at them through the rearview mirror. This small town known for its elvers and for their drifters It occupies a meander of the Oria river and goes almost unnoticed when traveling along the coast. However, here, no walk is a mere formality.
they know it well Ane Otamendi and Joseba Bernardo , who, after living for a time between Australian tides, returned home to inaugurate The Pass , a store dedicated to independent fashion and surfing –Joseba is also a shaper, an artisan manufacturer of surfboards– and, at the same time, a Cafeteria offering homemade breakfasts. His patio is one of the favorite corners of the Oriotarras and also of those who visit the town to see in what mood the Cantabrian has gotten up that day.
The Pass, an independent fashion and surf shop
Home wine on the border
Not only salt water runs through the veins of Guipúzcoa: also the txakoli . This wine called to be an eternal adolescent, relegated like children to the small table, is proving in recent times that in this matter of maturity, age is not important. It has begun to appear on the menus of gastronomic restaurants thanks to the work of wineries such as Hiruzta , whose txakolís are among the most awarded in the DO. Getariako Txakolina.
The family Recalde pursued the dream of "recovering the production of this wine in the territory in which it was born, Hondarribia, and from which it had disappeared due to the sieges suffered by this border area." They managed to hondarrabi zuri , the native grape, returned home. It is that of Txarli, Asensio and Ángel, a vocational txakolí. Drink to remember.
Protected by the mountain Jaizkibel and under the gaze of the Peñas de Aia, Hiruzta embraces the shyness of the sun with a generous vineyard –they have seven highly complex references, among which its Txakoli Berezia – which complements perfectly with the fumes handled by the brothers Txapartegi in Sutan, part of the oenological experience and equally rooted in the product. Lunchtime, also in Hondarribia, is marked by the grapes and the embers that the breeze stirs up.
It enters from the Bay of Biscay and sneaks through the Oiartzun River . For the layman it can be any port, but whoever wears sandals knows that on one of its margins the framework of the ship San Juan , a Basque whaler that sank off the Canadian coast in the 16th century. submerged memory, Albaola factory was launched to the construction and its replica, declared UNESCO Underwater Cultural Heritage and that it is expected that it will soon set sail again for Newfoundland, "although what really matters to us is the process," they point out from this historic boat builder, navigation and carpentry school. "Ithaca gave you a beautiful trip", which Cavafis would write. The ship will not fill its guts with whale oil, but with stories.
Meanwhile, with France lit up on the other shore, lovers steal kisses under (before, against, on, behind) the medieval wall of Hondarribia as in the movies Truffaut . And Donostia combs the wind and sneaks plans in old tobacco factories and treasures pearls in its bay and catches the accidental tourist, who will feel a tickle in the stomach when remembering it.
Gipuzkoans do not look at the ground when they walk. They were born with the duty to be vigilant. They know that there is no curve in its coastline that does not hide an astonishment. That there is no summit, however accessible it may be, that does not appear at infinity.
Tomatoes and peppers from the garden in a farmhouse in Zarautz
WHERE TO SLEEP
Haitzalde You will look directly at the Bay of Biscay in this small minimalist accommodation designed precisely to not think about anything else. It is adults only and only its homemade breakfasts are worth the getaway.
Basalore On a 27-hectare estate, in the mountains of Hondarribia, this noble farmhouse in which to disconnect from the world is, in fact, the “master suite” of the Arbaso hotel in San Sebastián – its Narru restaurant is a must-see.
Villa Magalean Hotel & Spa French atmosphere, porcelain from Limoges and stained glass windows from the French Basque Country in this neo-Basque style villa that stands out for its signature cuisine and an amazing spa.
Mendi Argia The light of the mountain rests in this new French-style hotel located on the slopes of Mount Ulia. Wonderful views and photogenic corners designed by Openhouse Studio.
Hotel Bidaia Bidaia means travel, but here what you want is to stay. A restored 1912 villa 10 minutes from the beach where nothing but hospitality fits.
Hotel Iturregi Eight colonial-style rooms in a luxury farmhouse with a swimming pool 15 minutes from Getaria. You will be able to choose between looking the sea in the eye or looking into the eyes of the mountain.
Hotel Iturregui, Getaria (Guipuzcoa)
WHERE TO EAT
Elkano The great Arregi grill continues to fan the best product from the Bay of Biscay. Here the turbot is blessed, the one that found a place in the world on this table.
Bedua Grill A Zumaia classic dedicated to traditional cuisine, without much fuss and based on local and seasonal products.
gale Rebeca Barainca and Jorge Asenjo are not Basque, but they understand their cuisine. Delicate elaborations in which the product is the center. Naturalness and balance in this San Sebastian hideaway.
danako The young Naiara Abando and David Rodríguez shine with a creative menu of traditional pintxos.
Urberu There is no Euskadi without cider houses and Urberu, from the top of Itziar, in Deba, will quench your thirst with its kupelas full of Astigarraga cider and your hunger with some ribs that they cut in front of you.
Gerald's Bar Market kitchen at Bella Bowring's eating house. The North American Jessica Lorigo commands the kitchen of this restaurant of Australian origin that is already more from San Sebastian than Gros. Surely more than two novels have been written in her dining room...
A GLASS
Hiruzta Winery One of the wineries that is causing the world of gastronomy to start talking about txakoli with an open mouth. A glass of their Berezia txakoli while breathing in the valley and the mountains that surround it is a must. Take advantage and eat at Sutan, his grill.
Bidassoa Basque Brewery & Taproom An industrial and welcoming space for lovers of craft beer with its own craft beers and a tasting and tasting space where you can eat.
WHERE TO BUY
The Pass Fashion and accessories from independent brands with a large section dedicated to surfing. It has a cozy interior patio where you can have a coffee, breakfast or a snack in the small town of Orio.
Bois et Fer Wood and iron. Using these materials, the designer Gary de la Fuente devises bespoke furniture with refined lines. He also sells decorative items from other artisan brands.
Loreak Mendian This San Sebastian brand has been innovating for more than a quarter of a century with its contemporary and minimalist designs. Sustainable and functional fashion that has managed to find its place even in Paris.
Elkano 1 Gaztagune Selection of great cheeses in this small shop in the center of San Sebastián. Iker Izeta works with small local and international producers and produces his own cheeses.
Bookstore Lagun They say that it is the bookstore of the civil resistance (it survived the Franco regime and ETA) and a documentary has even been made about it. Founded in 1968, its collection, made up of more than 20,000 titles, is one of the most complete in the Basque Country. Impossible to enter and not take anything.
Cornish Kern, with hints of dried fruit and salted caramel
WHAT TO SEE
Tabakalera Contemporary culture center in an old tobacco factory. The intense program of activities includes movies, exhibitions, concerts... Its LABe restaurant is part of the gastronomic innovation center of the Basque Culinary Center.
Albaola Famous for building an exact replica of the San Juan ship, sunk in the 16th century, the Albaola Basque Maritime Factory studies and works to revitalize the Basque maritime heritage and the trades associated with it.
Cristobal Balenciaga Museum The shapes and volumes of Balenciaga infect the architecture of this building that houses true fashion jewels.
Basque Coast Geopark Geological route through the flysch that outcrop on the cliffs of Mutriku, Deba and OZumaia and that condense millions of years of earth history.
Kofradia Itxas Etxea The old Fishermen's Guild of the port of San Sebastián is today a center for revaluing the fishing activity in the Bay of Biscay. It functions as an activity center, exhibition hall, shop and restaurant.
Chillida Leku The Zabalaga farmhouse, restored by Chillida, is a work of art in itself. Many of the artist's sculptures rest in the garden.
This report was published in number 146 of the Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (Summer 2021). Subscribe to the printed edition (€18.00, annual subscription, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website). The summer issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your favorite device.