BEING THERE

Sea, sand and San Sebastián Spain's seaside resort par excellence during the Belle Epoque, San Sebastián has been the watering hole for the Royal Family, the aristocracy and even a young Luis Buñuel (who watched as women poked pins through the holes in their beach-huts to discourage peeping Pepes, a scene he filtered into El).
The town still retains an air of classical glamour. It is also one of the two largest cities in the still-troubled Basque Country and the site of Spain's most important film event, the San Sebastián Film Festival (14-23 September 1995).
This is the key time to network with Spanish and Latin American film industry professionals - whose presence has been strengthened from 1993 by new festival heads Manuel Pérez Estremera and Diego Galán - and the best time to capture the heady elegance of the city.

Go one up on the devil While you will probably say 'San Sebastián', many people call the city Donostia. This is Basque.
It is said that the devil studied Basque for seven years and only managed to learn three words. So take a feather out of his cap with: agur (hello/goodbye); bai (yes); Ez (no) and eskerrik asko (thanks).

Basque cuisine In the Basque Country, chefs are treated like football stars hosting cooking shows on Spanish TV.
San Sebastián has, by common consent, some of the best restaurants in Spain, a mixture of French quality, rural healthy fare and superb seafood.
Basque food, especially nouvelle cuisine, is often accompanied by light, fruity txacolís, a 'green' wine drunk young and cold.
After lunch/dinner if you haven't got any pressing business engagement where you have to appear the slightest bit sober try a pacharán or six, a sweet blue-berry liqueur drunk with ice.

The countryside The Basque Country has stunning countryside. One of the best days out is to order a chauffeur - Nasser, if possible - from Vallina, and get him to drive you down the coast to Getaria, to eat in the port.
Beyond that, arrange to take a few days off, buy the guide to Pequeño Hoteles con Encanto, edited by El País, and head along the northern Spanish coast past Santander and into the heart of the Picos de Europa.
San Sebastián-ites have a social religion which entails walking around the Concha Bay to walk off lunch.
Join them and go right round to the Peine de los Vientos for spectacular views of one of the most beautiful seascapes in Europe.

[Home ] [Content ] [The Sponsors ] [The Team ] [Comments ] [Help ]