Donostia-San Sebastián, Coastal municipality in Basque Country, Spain
Donostia-San Sebastián is a municipality on the Cantabrian Sea along the Basque coast, spreading around a semicircular bay between two hills. The urban area includes several neighborhoods extending from the port and old quarter to residential and commercial districts inland, with three beaches marking the northern boundary.
The settlement received a municipal charter in 1181 from King Sancho VI of Navarre, granting the right to govern the area between two rivers. During the 19th century, the location became a summer residence for the Spanish royal family, transforming it from a fortified port into a seaside resort.
Locals treat food as a social practice, gathering in private gastronomic societies called txokos where members cook and eat together in a communal setting. Groups also meet at old town bars to sample pintxos at counters, moving from one venue to another throughout the evening.
Visitors walking through the center can reach most central points within half an hour, as the old quarter, port, and main beaches sit close together. A bus network covers the outer neighborhoods and connects them to the center from early morning until shortly after midnight.
Three steel sculptures stand at the western tip of the bay, embedded into the rocks and surrounded by waves during storms. Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida designed them in the late 1970s as a dialogue between art, nature, and the elements.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
