San Sebastián Things to Do

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Santa Klarako Uhartea, or Santa Clara Island, is the beautiful green island near the mouth of the Concha Bay. For some reason, I was always under the impression that the island was some sort of refuge and that you could only visit it with a permit. This is not at all true – the island has a small beach at low-tide (no beach at high tide) complete with lifeguard, showers and a bar. There is regular ferry service from the docks to the island every half-hour. Apart from the beach amenities, the only other construction on the island is a lighthouse that sits at the very top. There are plenty of picnic areas, but of course you must do your part in helping to keep the island clean and litter-free.

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La Concha is probably the number one reason why people visit Donostia – not that they will put it that way. Rather, they will probably simply describe everything that is related to this splendid natural phenomenon: the beautiful beach; the great surfing; the Belle Epoque promenades; the incredibly vibrant colours of sea, sky and plants; and the perfect opportunities for pictures. La Concha is a fairly sheltered bay off of the Cantabrian Sea where the waves are partially broken by the Santa Klara Uhartea (Isla Santa Clara), a green pearl near the mouth of the bay. La Concha is the name of both the beach and the bay – the beach, obviously, is used purely for leisure purposes, with the eastern part of the bay has been spliced off to provide for a marina and a port. The tide here can be quite high, as witnessed by the drastic changes in the size of the beach. I’m not one for swimming on crowded beaches (actually, I prefer pools where you can do laps), so I don’t know what the water is like. However, judging from the crowds of tourists, I’m willing to bet it was quite refreshing and enjoyable at the beginning of August.

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The Udaletxe (Ayuntamiento in Spanish, Town Hall in English) is a massive building that dominates the eastern end of the Paseo de la Concha. It is a beautiful neo-Gothic building built that is also remarkable for its bright yellow colour. It was constructed in the late 1880s and was first used as a Casino (ah, yes, it seemed too grandiose to have been paid for by municipal funds), but was shut down in 1924 when prohibition took effect. It looks onto the Alderdi-Eder Parkea, the “beautiful party park” at the end of the promenade, which gives it a feeling of being more of a palace of pleasure than a centre of bureaucratic (in)efficiency. Despite the beauty of the building and the generally peaceful surroundings, you should always be conscious of what is going on around you here. Bombings in the centre of Donostia are rare, but as a seat of municipal government it is frequently the starting point of demonstrations. At the very best, you may just have to budget a bit of extra time because of some congestion around the building, but at worst you may want to rethink your plans if the demonstration could get ugly.

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The Alde Zaharra or Parte Vieja (Old Town) is the heart of the tourist scene in San Sebastian and, although it has few official installations or institutions to visit, compared to other cities, it has an irresistible charm that draws people into its narrow streets. This is not the oldest part of town – that role is played by the Antiguo barrio – but it certainly lays claim to the historic heart of the city. Donostia was only founded in the 11th century, so don’t expect to find Neolithic remains here, despite the ancient roots of the Basque people. This area was built around the port and was larger populated by fishermen, which explains the various easy access routes to the Bay. Donostia was official declared a town by the King of Navarre in 1180, and that explains why there are few Romanesque churches here, if any, rather than the greater presence of Gothic and Baroque buildings. It used to be that this area was heavily nationalist in an unfriendly sort of way – that is, the sort of elements that might give rise to kale borroka. In the ten years or so between my visits to San Sebastian, however, the Alde Zaharra has been converted to a very touristy area and the outward signs of militant nationalism you are likely to see are on keychains and t-shirts made in China and on sale for twenty times their actual value. Nevertheless, this is a great place to come at night, when the bars and restaurants really light up and the patrons spill out onto the street with their cider and plates of pintxoak.

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Askatasunaren hiribidea or Avenida de la Libertad is very similar to the one in Lisbon, with the exception that it has a lot less traffic. It extends from the Udaletxe or Ayuntamiento and the Bahia de la Concha all the way across to the Urumea, effectively providing a buffer between the Alde Zaharra and the Ensanche. It is one of the primary commercial streets in the city and is also where the main tourist office is located (so make sure to mark it down on your maps). The street has a wide park that follows the traffic and shields the walkers and the shops from the cars. This is one of the best places to come to in the evening if you are looking for somewhere to promenade before dinner. Donostiarrak (the people of Donostia) of all ages come out here in couples and families to eat ice cream and pass the time while listening to the various buskers and musicians. Many times you’ll see the same people (or pretty much the same people) you saw in Barcelona and Madrid: the Andean musicians, the break dancers and those people who do some sort of cross between martial arts and the samba. Occasionally, however, there will be traditional performers and Basque singers who perform folksongs in the various dialects of the North. You can tell them apart – the tourists usually create a throng around the Brazilian-cum-taichi dancers, while the Basques, especially those trying to pass on the language to their children, seek out the traditional Basque performers.

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The Konstituzioko plaza or Plaza de la Constitución is a square in the Alde Zaharra (Parte Vieja) that follows the standard plan of any Plaza Mayor. It is a wide square ringed by buildings that provide a seamless arcade all along the sides of the square. During the day and night it is generally filled with cafes and buskers, much like Plazas Mayores in other cities. The one difference from, say, Madrid, is that this square is far from being the centre of traditional social life in the city. It is true, there are various events held here during the Aste Nagusia, but the sea and the bay are just too beautiful to leave them out of the city’s nightlife, while those who prefer bars and good food seem to be drawn to the smaller streets of the Alde Zaharra and their numerous establishments.

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The Paseo Nuevo is a winding road that skirts Monte Urgull and provides an incredible view of the sea and the bay, especially if you are walking it on a clear day. Sometimes, especially around the Aste Nagusia period, there are all sorts of carnival type stands put up along the Paseo, although some of them, I believe, are permanent fixtures. The Paseo Nuevo provides the same sort of area as the Malecón in Havana or other coastal Caribbean cities. I don’t know if it is technically a Malecón (sea wall), but it does occasionally get battered by stormy seas. You can also get a glimpse of some of the impromptu fishermen along the Paseo, some of whom have pretty good luck.

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The Iglesia San Vicente, like the Basílica Santa María, is one of the stone churches that services the city’s Parte Vieja. The original church on this spot was built in the 1300s; it was destroyed by fire. In fact, most of the city (which consisted mainly of Antiguo and Parte Vieja) was reduced to cinders in the fire of 1489, which led to the reconstruction of the entire town with stone in the following centuries. The Iglesia de San Vicente was completed in its current form in the 1500s. The church is rather interesting because of its clean simple lines. It is obviously too late to have been Romanesque, but it doesn’t show the obvious signs of being Gothic or Baroque. Although the 1500s would technically belong to the renaissance period, it is also largely devoid of the Classical elements typically associated with renaissance architecture. This was, of course, constructed during the Siglo de Oro, but I doubt that that was the motivation behind the style employed in this project. Rather, I like to think that the design was preempted by the general need to rebuild the city (and a church would have been absolutely essential) and also the concentration on fortifying San Sebastian rather than making it beautiful. In any case, it blends quite well with the general architectural traits of the Parte Vieja.