News

In terms of international fame, Donostia-San Sebastian ranks higher than Bilbao, though the latter is bigger and more varied. We still favour Bilbao above anything else, but Donostia has a lot of assets and recently became a candidate for the European Capital of Culture 2016. The sea, the food, the culture and even the climate make it the city that currently ranks amongst the most expensive within Spain when it comes to property prices. Given that the mountainous terrain of the Basque Country already increased building plot prices, one can imagine why a home in a beautiful and touristy city like Donostia is now an almost elite affair.

Pintxos-heaven

Onto the good stuff: Donostia is seen as the culinary centre of not only the Basque Country, but of the whole of Spain. Everywhere in the country - and all over Europe - the city is famous for its excellent cuisine. You can find a lot of exquisite restaurants in the city and its surroundings, some of them world famous and with Michelin stars. Of course, you''ll have to pay up if you want to try these and unfortunately us Erasmus students don''t have a budget to spend on three-star restaurants.

That is why we regularly stroll through the oldest and most touristy part of the city-centre (La Parte Vieja), which is home to dozens of pintxo bars, one after the other, making it very hard to choose. One could wonder how none of them lose out on business given the number of competitors, but the customers just keep on coming.

Zurriola

When people think of Donostia, they most likely imagine the beautiful ''Concha'' bay, with the small Islet de Santa Klara in the middle. So did we when we first arrived, knowing only the standard, idealistic postcard pictures. Not a lot of visitors realize that the beach in the old part of town, Zurriola, is actually a more interesting choice. Zurriola is smaller, less crowded and therefore less touristy, which is a big plus in our opinion.

Because of the much higher waves, it''s a hotspot for surfers so you''re bound to see some spectacular manoeuvres. Don''t get put off though; apart from being a surfer''s paradise, it''s also a nudist beach. Don''t worry, you''re not obliged to strip down, but there were some quite unexpected views the first time we went to Zurriola…

On top of it all, Zurriola beach is located by the Kursaal Congress Centre, one of Donostia''s most important venues with a quite peculiar and modern architecture which stands out against the old town''s buildings. The Kursaal is one of the main locations of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, which we visited with some Basque students in September.

Feud

Back then, we''d noticed some differences - it came close to rivalry - between inhabitants of Guipuzcoa and Biscay. It became clear that the people from Biscay weren''t really too fond of Donostia, just as those from Guipuzcoa would never root for Bilbao. It seemed as if our Biscayan companions were only there that day because the film festival just happened to take place there and they didn''t have a choice. We noticed quite a lot of sneering at the city when we were walking through it. It''s sort of a Bilbao-Donostia feud, which is also noticeable in football. After just one sports conversation with someone from Gipuzkoa, you will never again ask if Bilbao is a better team than Donostia, even if the latter play in the second division. Just don''t!

Of course, when talking about it rationally, most people will admit that the animosity isn''t that serious and often more of a joke, but it''s still amusing to see how people from both provinces react when you play this card.

To conclude, although we haven''t yet discovered Donostia the same way as we did Bilbao, the city has been the setting of some of our best memories here. Just driving up there is in itself worth the time. Passing trough the hills and then all of a sudden seeing the bay arise in the distance, it''s a sight that always mesmerizes me. The touristy and conventional part of the city may be a bit harder to avoid than in other big cities, but we''re convinced it can be done. We just need to find the right path.