Getaria

The earliest signs of settlement at Getaria date to Roman times, when a pre-imperial coin was found in the area. The town was formally founded between 1180 and 1194 by Sancho VI of Navarre, making it one of the oldest settlements in the province alongside San Sebastián. When Castile took control of Gipuzkoa around 1200, Alfonso VIII confirmed the town's existing charter in 1209 rather than issuing a new one — though later historians would mistakenly credit him as founder. The town was evidently damaged during the Castilian conquest, and Alfonso VIII oversaw its rebuilding.

Over the centuries Getaria accumulated useful privileges: the right to cut timber across Gipuzkoa in 1270, exemption from tolls and taxes across Castile and León from 1290, and rules governing grain unloading at its harbour from 1407. During the Comuneros uprising of 1520–21 the town backed the rebel side, and its resistance ended after the royalist victory at the Battle of Miñano Mayor in April 1521. Maritime activity has been the economic backbone of Getaria since the Middle Ages.

The old town sits on a tombolo — a strip of land connecting the mainland to the headland of Monte San Antón — and rises steeply toward a coastal ridge. Its rectangular street plan, with parallel main streets crossed by narrow alleys, is navigated by staircases and sharp slopes. Little of the original walls and towers survives, but the Katrapona passageway — a tunnel running beneath the Church of San Salvador to connect the main street with the steps down to the harbour — is a remnant of the old defences. A small fishermen's chapel, the Capilla de la Piedad, sits within it.

The Church of San Salvador is a declared National Monument. Gothic in style, it dates to at least the 14th century, with most of the building completed between the 15th and 16th centuries. The Basque province held its first General Assembly here in 1397. Its choir stalls, carved around 1560, were infamously used as firewood by British Legion soldiers in 1836.

The Balenciaga Museum, opened in 2011 and attached to the Aldamar palace, displays the work of Cristóbal Balenciaga, born in Getaria in 1895, including the wedding dress of Queen Fabiola of Belgium. Near the town entrance stands the monument to Juan Sebastián de Elcano, built in 1922–24 to mark the 400th anniversary of his return from the first circumnavigation of the globe.

Getaria sits on the N634 coast road between Zumaia and Zarautz. Two fee-paying car parks serve the town: one on the western approach from Zumaia, the other near the fishing port on Calle de Portua. Both are free after 20:00.

For free parking, turn first left on entering the town centre and follow Calle de Sahatsaga uphill. The town is well known for its restaurants serving grilled fish, and for Getariako Txakolina, a white wine with a protected designation of origin produced in the surrounding area.