From cooking classes and jamón carvings, to visiting wineries and local mercados, to simply hitting the old part of town for a fun night of pintxo bar hopping, this is San Sebastian.

San Sebastian is a coastal city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. Spanning across the Northern Spain coastline, it comprises of two bays surrounded by hills and with the hazy mountains further away. The main beach La Concha is simply spectacular. Adding to the scenery is some beautiful 18th century architecture, blending ashlar fronts with ornated balconies and stonelaid pedestrian paths.

People in San Sebastian are always happy and outgoing, talking too loud and enjoying the best of life. San Sebastian is the city with the highest Michelin star ratio per person in the world. You can’t walk into a bar without admiring a long line of plates with little pintxos. They may call them tapas elsewhere in Spain, but in San Sebastian pintxos is what you need to look for.

The city was selected as European Capital of Culture for 2016 (shared with Wrocław, Poland) with a basic motto, “Waves of people’s energy”, summarizing a clear message: people and movements of citizens are the real driving force behind transformations and changes in the world.

Every year on 20 January, marked on the calendar as the feast of Saint Sebastian, the people of San Sebastián celebrate a festival known as the “Tamborrada”. At midnight, in the Konstituzio plaza in the Old Part, the mayor raises the flag of San Sebastián and 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.