San Sebastián

Archeological research has unearthed remains from a small settlement of the Roman age.
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.

1936 The military coup is defeated by resistance lead by the Basque Nationalists.^[2]

1936 The province falls to Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War.^[3]

1953 The San Sebastián International Film Festival begins.

Recreation

Donostia-San Sebastián is the home city of the football (soccer) club Real Sociedad, who have recently been demoted to the La Liga Second División after 40 years in the Spanish top flight. The city's Anoeta Stadium also hosts rugby union matches featuring Biarritz Olympique. Each summer the city is host to the well known bicycle race, the one-day Clásica de San Sebastián.

Culture

Donostia Jazzaldia

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 will take place July 22-27, 2008. San Sebastian Jazz Festival

San Sebastián International Film Festival

The most important Spanish international film festival and one of the most important film festivals in Europe is held in this city, the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Popular celebrations

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Aerial view of Donostia - San Sebastián

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 Konstituzioa plaza in the "Alde Zaharra/Parte Vieja" (old city), 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.)

A festival called Semana Grande in Spanish and Aste Nagusia in Basque ("Big/Main Week") is held every year in August. There is a fireworks competition - every night there is a fireworks presentation over the bay and, at the end, a winner is declared.

San Sebastián is known for its Basque cuisine and pintxos (tapas) and restaurant district near the port.

Twin Cities

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Miramar Palace, built in 1894

Notes

^ The nickname of la bella Easo ("beautiful Easo") comes from a 19th-century identification of the town as the Roman port of Oiasso. Other locations seem now more probable.
^ Hugh Thomas, Spanish Civil War, (2001), p. 226
^ Hugh Thomas, (2001), p. 397.