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San Sebastián
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Donostia-San Sebastián (IPA: [do'no?tia]; , known officially as Donostia-San Sebastián and internationally as San Sebastian in English) is the capital city of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, Spain. Locals call themselves donostiarras, both in Basque and Spanish. Its population is 183,090 (2007 estimate), and its metropolitan area's population is 405,099.
city is in the north of the Basque Country, on the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay.
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Encyclopedia
Donostia-San Sebastián (IPA: [do'no?tia]; , known officially as Donostia-San Sebastián and internationally as San Sebastian in English) is the capital city of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, Spain. Locals call themselves donostiarras, both in Basque and Spanish. Its population is 183,090 (2007 estimate), and its metropolitan area's population is 405,099.
Geography
The city is in the north of the Basque Country, on the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay. San Sebastián's picturesque coastline makes it a popular beach resort. Adding to the seaside environment, it benefits from hilly surroundings easily available, i.e. Urgull (at the heart of the city by the seashore), romantic Ulia extending east to Pasaia, Mount Adarra rising proud far on the south and Igeldo, overlooking the bay from the west.
The city sits at the mouth of the River Urumea, Donostia having built to a large extent over wetlands of the river during the last couple of centuries, with the city´s downtown and the areas of Amara Berri and Riberas de Loiola lying on such terrain and the former bed of the river diverted to its current canalized course (first half of the 20th century).
Parts of the city
As a result of Donostia's sprawling in all directions, first into the flatlands shaped by the river Urumea and later up the hills, new districts arose since the walls of the city were demolished in 1863. The first expansion of the old town stretched out to the river's mouth, on the old quarter called Zurriola (a name later given by Council decision to the sand area and the street across the river).
The orthogonal layout nowadays making up the city centre (the Cortazar development) was built up to 1914 (first phase finished) much in tune with a Parisian Haussmannian style. The arcades of the Buen Pastor square were fashioned after the ones of the Rue de Rivoli, with the Maria Cristina Bridge being inspired in the Pont Alexandre III that spans the Seine. The Estación del Norte train station standing right across the bridge was inaugurated in 1864 just after the arrival of the railway to Donostia, with its metallic shelter being designed by Gustave Eiffel.
Old Part
This is the traditional core area of the city, surrounded by walls up to 1863, when they were demolished so as to occupy the stretch of sand and land that connected the town to the mainland (a stretch of the walls still limits the Old Part on its exit to the port through the Portaletas gate). The Old Part is divided in two parishes relating to the Santa Maria and San Vicente churches, the inhabitants belonging to the former being dubbed traditionally joxemaritarrak, while those attached to the latter are referred to as koxkeroak. Historically, the koxkeroak up to the early XIXth century were largely Gascon speaking inhabitants. Especially after the end of Franco's dictatorship, scores of bars sprang up all over the Old Part, very popular with the youth and the tourists, although not as much with the neighbours. Most current buildings trace back to the XIXth century, erected thanks to the concerted effort and determination of its dwellers after allied forces of Spain looted and burnt down the town (1813).
There is a small fishing and recreation port, with two-floor picturesque houses lined under the front-wall of the mount Urgull. Yet this houses are relatively new, resulting from the demilitarization of the hill, sold to the city council by the Ministry of War in 1924.
Antiguo
This part stands at the west side of the city beyond the Miramar Palace. It is arguably the first population nucleus, even before the land at the foot of Urgull (Old Part) was settled. A monastery of San Sebastian el Antiguo ('the Old') is attested in documents at the time of the foundation (XIIth century). At the mid XIXth century, industry developed (Cervezas El León, Suchard, Lizarriturry), the nucleus coming to be populated by workers. Industry has since been replaced by services and the tourist sector. The Matia kalea provides the main axis for the district.
Amara Zaharra
Or Old Amara, named after the farmhouse Amara. It has eventually merged with the city centre to a large extent, since former Amara lay on the marshes at the left of the River Urumea. The core of this district is the Easo Plaza, with the railway terminal of Euskotren closing the square at its south.
Amara Berri
This city expansion to the south came about as of the 1940s, after the works to canalize the river were achieved. Nowadays the name Amara usually applies to this sector, the newer district having overshadowed the original nucleus both in size and population. The district harbours the main road entrance to the city, with Donostia's central bus station being located between the roundabout and the river. Facilities of many state run agencies were established here and presently Amara's buildings house many business offices. The district revolves around the axis of Avenida Sancho el Sabio and Avenida de Madrid.
Gros
The district is built on the sandy terrain across the river. The Gros or Zurriola beach by the river's mouth bears witness to that type of soil. In the 19th century, shanties and workshops started to dot the area, Tomas Gros being one of its main proprietors as well as providing the name for this part of the city. Gros held the former monumental bullring Chofre demolished in 1973, on a site currently occupied by a housing estate. The district shows a dynamic commercial activity, recently boosted by the presence of the by the beach.
Egia
Egia, stemming from (H)Egia (Basque for either bank/shore or hill), is a popular district of Donostia on the right side of the Urumea beyond the train station. At the beginning of the 20th century a patch of land by the railway started to be used as a football pitch, eventually turning into the official stadium of the local team Real Sociedad before it was transferred in the 1990s to Anoeta, south of Amara Berri (nowadays the site harbours houses). The cigarette factory conjures up the former industrial past of the area, while the building has been made recently into a . Right opposite to this building lies the Cristina Enea park, a public compound with a botanic vocation. Egia holds the city cemetery, Polloe, at the north-east fringes of the district, stretching out to South Intxaurrondo.
Intxaurrondo
This part (meaning 'chestnut tree' in Basque) is a large district to the east of the city. The original nucleus lies between the railway and the Ategorrieta Avenue, where still today the farmhouse Intxaurrondo Zar, declared "National Monument", is situated since the mid-17th century. The railway cuts across the district, the southern side being the fruit of the heavy development undergone in the area during the immigration years of the '50s and '60s. In addition, further housing estates have been built up more recently souther beyond the N-1 E-5 E-80 E-70 ring road (South Intxaurrondo). The paramilitary body Guardia Civil owns a controversial compound and headquarters there (works for new housing are underway).
Altza
Altza (Basque for alder tree) is the easternmost district of San Sebastian along with Bidebieta and Trintxerpe. It was but a quaint village comprising scattered farmhouses and a small nucleus a century ago (2,683 inhabitants in 1910), yet on the arrival of thousands of immigrants in the 50s and 60s a rapid and chaotic housing and building activity ensued, resulting in a maze of grey landscape of skyscrapers and 32,531 inhabitants crammed in them (data of 1970, some 50,000 in 1996). A scheme for the improvement of the area and the construction of a new housing estate (Auditz Akular) is under way in the late 2000s.
Ibaeta
Ibaeta stands on the former location for various factories (e.g. Cervezas El Leon) of San Sebastian, with the buildings of the old industrial estate being demolished in the late XXth century. The levelling of this large flat area paved the ground for a carefully planned modern and elegant housing estate, featuring a new university campus for the public University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) and institutions such as the Donostia International Physics Center. A stream called Konporta flows down along the eastern side of the area, but it was canalized under the ground almost all along to its mouth on the bay pushed by urban building pressure.
Loiola
It lies by the Urumea at the south-east end of the city. It comprises a small patch of detached houses (Ciudad Jardín) and a core area of 6-odd floor buildings. The district has recently gone through a major makeover, with works finishing in 2008. The road axis coming from important industrial areas (Astigarraga-Hernani) crosses the district heading downtown. Military facilities (home to an uprising in 1936) stand across the river. Attempts by the city council to get them back from the military have been unsuccessful so far.
Martutene
The district bordering to the south on the town of Astigarraga comes next to Loiola in the south direction. This part of the city features an industrial area, a football pitch for lower leagues, a disused vocational training building and enclosure as well as a prison, much in decay and due to be transferred soon to a new location, probably in the municipality's exclave of Zubieta, while this option is coming in for much opposition.
Igeldo
This rural quarter is almost a small town in its own right (many neighbours advocate for a municipality of its own), located at the mountain range of the same name towering La Concha bay on its west side. At the nearest point of the bay lies a permanent fairground at the hillock Mendiotz, topped by a conspicuous mock military tower (actually built up at the beginning of the XXth century for tourism) which houses a hotel. There is a frequented camp-site on the area.
Zubieta
The exclave Zubieta (meaning 'place of bridges') was a picturesque old village up to recent years, with a bunch of houses, a unique handball pitch (on account of its single wall as opposed to the regular two) and a church. Yet it has undergone a great urban development, which has rendered the location a built-up area with paved streets and due equipment. Two contested projects are under way to build a solid-waste incinerator and a prison nearby. Historically, neighbours from Donostia held a meeting at a house in the former village in the wake of the 1813 burning, in order to decide the reconstruction of the town.
History
 - 1014 The monastery of St. Sebastian, in the term of Hernani is donated to the Abbey of Leire by Sancho III of Pamplona.
- 1150 The city is chartered (given fuero) by king Sancho VI of Pamplona, having jurisdiction over all the territory between the rivers Oria and Bidasoa. The city nucleus at the foot of Urgull was populated with Gascon-speaking colonizers from Bayonne.
- 1200 The city is conquered by Castile, whose king Alfonso VIII, confirms its fuero.
- 1265 The use of the city as a seaport is granted to Navarre as part of a wedding pact.
- 1656 The city is used as the royal headquarters during the marriage of the Infanta to Louis XIV at St Jean de Luz nearby.
- San Sebastian is the homeport of most Spanish corsary ships.
- 1728 The foundation of the "Real Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas" boosts commerce with the Americas.
- 1808 Napoleonic forces capture San Sebastián in the Peninsular War.
- 1813 On 31st August, British and Portuguese troops besieging San Sebastián defeat French occupying troops. The relieving troops lost all self-control and burnt down the city, in spite of the fact that the inhabitants were anti-French. Only the street at the foot of the hill (now called 31st August Street) remains.
- 1813 The city is rebuilt in the same spot but with a slightly altered layout, but architecturally in much the same style.
- 1833 British volunteers under Sir George de Lacy Evans defend the city against Carlist attack. Their fallen are buried at the "English Cemetery" on Monte Urgull.
- 1863 The city walls are demolished (their remains are visible in the underground carpark at the Boulevard) and an expansion of the city begins.
- The city was chosen by the Spanish monarchy to spend the summer following the French example of the near Biarritz. Subsequently the Spanish nobility and the diplomatic corps opened residences in the summer capital. As the "wave baths" at La Concha conflicted with shipbuilding activity, shipyards relocate to Pasaia, a near bay formerly part of San Sebastian.
- 1875 Beginning of shelling over the city by Carlists, causing renown bertsolari Bilintx to die in 1876.
- 1885 King Alfonso XII of Spain's widow Maria Cristina spends her summer in Donostia on a yearly basis (takes lodging at the Miramar Palace), bringing along her retinue.
- 1887 The Casino is erected, which eventually turned into the current city hall.
- 1914 Following the outbreak of World War I, San Sebastian becomes an attracting focus for renown international figures of culture and politics, e.g. Mata Hari, Leon Trotsky, Maurice Ravel, Romanones, etc.
- 1930 Spanish republican forces sign up the San Sebastian Pact leading to the Second Spanish Republic.
- 1936 The military coup is defeated by resistance lead by the Basque Nationalists.
- 1936 The province falls to Spanish Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War.
- 1953 The San Sebastián International Film Festival begins.
- 1968 First State of Emergency imposed on Gipuzkoa by Franco's regime, with several more ensuing up to 1975.
- 1973 Iconic buildings Kursaal and the Chofre bullring in Gros demolished.
Recreation
- Donostia is renown for its Basque cuisine. San Sebastian and its surrounding area is home to a high concentration of restaurants boasting Michelin stars, namely Arzak (San Sebastian), Berasategi (Lasarte), Akelarre (district Igeldo), to mention but a few. Adding to these cooking highlights, the city features tasty snacks similar to tapas called pintxos, which may be found at the bars of the Old Part.
Culture
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The most important Spanish speaking international film festival and one of the most important film festivals in Europe is held in this city, the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Jazz Festival
The longest, continuously running Jazz Festival in Europe happens the last week of July and features the top musicians from around the world. The 43rd edition took place July 22-27, 2008.
Street Zinema Festival
Street Zinema is an international audiovisual festival exploring contemporary art and urban cultures.
Popular celebrations
San Sebastian Day
Every year on 20 January (the feast of Saint Sebastian), the people of San Sebastián celebrate a festival known as the "Tamborrada". At midnight, in the Konstituzio plaza in the "Alde Zaharra/Parte Vieja" (Old Part), the mayor raises the flag of San Sebastián (see in the infobox). For 24 hours, the entire city is awash with the sound of drums. The adults, dressed as cooks and soldiers, march around the city. They march all night with their cook hats and white aprons with the March of San Sebastián.
The origin of this custom is said to be that Spanish tradesmen, including cooks, mocked the occupying French army during the Napoleonic wars, by aping their daily procession from Monte Urgull to the water-pump at San Telmo. Later, the procession was developed when Vicente "Txiki" Buenechea donated barrels to be used as drums for the procession.
Adults usually have dinner in sociedades gastronómicas ("gourmet clubs"), which provide elements of the procession, and which traditionally admitted only males. Nowadays, even the strictest ones allow women on the "Noche de la Tamborrada". They eat sophisticated meals cooked by themselves, mostly composed of seafood (traditionally elver, now no longer served due to its exorbitant price) and drink the best wines. For "Donostiarras" this is the most celebrated festival of the year.
After hearing drums all night, children wake up with a version of the Tamborrada for kids. Children dress traditionally as soldiers and march around the city. Children from all the schools of San Sebastián march that day. They have their specific costumes which usually represent a particular country (England, Germany, Romania, etc.)
Semana Grande / Aste Nagusia
A festival called Semana Grande in Spanish and Aste Nagusia in Basque ("Big/Main Week") is held every year at mid-August. An important fireworks competition takes place, in which a fireworks presentation is made every night over the bay and, at the end, a winner is declared.
Other features of the festival include brass bands enlivening the streets, popular music performances at and by the beach, as well as fairground attractions arranged at the seaside promenade Paseo Nuevo.
Basque Week
This decades long festivity taking place at the beginning of September features events related to Basque culture, such as performances of traditional improvising poets (bertsolaris), Basque pelota games, stone lifting contests, oxen wagers, dance exhibitions or the cider tasting festival. Yet the main highlight may be the rowing boat competition, where teams from different towns of the Bay of Biscay contend for the Flag of La Concha. Thousands of supporters coming from these coastal locations pour into the city's streets and promenades overlooking the bay to follow the event, especially on the Sunday of the final race. All day long the streets of the Old Part play host to droves of youths clad in their team colours who party there in a cheerful atmosphere.
Twin Cities
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