San Sebastián - a destination to eat and cry over

80 years old. Perhaps rejuvenated by a life of pleasures, relaxed living, good food and wine, several men roam the streets of San Sebastián - they make up a cuadrilla. I meet them at the start of the city tour.

This is a cultural phenomenon typical of the Basque Country and Navarre, characterised by a group of friends who, from a young age, have maintained a strong friendship that extends into adulthood and, in many cases, until the end of their lives.

It's inspiring and I know what it's all about, because I'm part of one of these organisations in Portugal too. gangs. Or that is, a group of friends who have been together since a young age and who get together several times a year. Whether I'll still have the energy when I'm 80 like this group of men, I can't say.

Accompanied by my guide, Maria, we stopped at the first "petrol station" of pintxos and one of the most popular in the city - Borda Berri. Maria alerts me to this group of men, while briefly explaining the concept of these groups of people.

There was just one "problem", which we would discover a few minutes later. They had come by minibus from the outskirts of Bilbao and were travelling the streets of San Sebastián, from bar to bar, glass in hand. And everyone, or almost everyone, knows about the rivalry between Bilbao and San Sebastián.

Having visited both, I definitely prefer San Sebastián. Donostia is a city where you can live, eat and drink well, with a more relaxed atmosphere and lovely scenery around the city centre.

Bilbao has the art and architecture of the Guggenheim, while Donostia - the name by which San Sebastián is known in the Basque language - has fine cuisine, good people, good life, good fish and "honesty".

800 euros for a Basque delicacy

It's common to arrive at a bar, order a drink, take off your pintxos and, at the end, tell the waiter how many you've tasted and pay the bill. Because honesty is one of the cornerstones of society owner.

However, with the growth in tourism, some bars had to stop doing this, as it might have been impossible to maintain any control. This was something that irritated the town's inhabitants, who were used to tasting pintxos in a relaxed way and only pick up the wallet at the end of the meal.

The end of this procedure was visible when, accompanied by my guide, we were asked to pay for everything immediately. In fact, it would have been more comfortable to be there tasting pintxosone after the other, accompanied by a good glass of wine.

Basque cuisine is famous and, fortunately, more than famous. We, the visitors, get to enjoy it. However, you need money, because San Sebastián is far from being a destination for the masses and those with small pockets.

Donostia is one of the most expensive cities in Spain and appears, in various studies of this kind, ahead of Barcelona or Madrid.

And if there's one place in San Sebastián where it's obvious, it's the fish market and the restaurants. I can find barnacles for €75/kg at the market, and up to €150/kg on the menu in the city's restaurants. Other examples: turbot at 29€/kg in the market and 60€/kg in the restaurant.

The highest prices, however, are for mini eels, an elixir of Basque cuisine. On the day I visit, two of the city's markets are not selling them. I don't know if this was due to a lack of eels for sale or if they had all been sold by then.

On "good" days, the price is €500/kg, although it's more common to find prices of around €800/kg. In the restaurant the price is... incalculable?

From fish to rowing in San Sebastián harbour

In the San Sebastián harbour, boats used to arrive laden with fish and shellfish. Next door, there is still one of the first fishmongers in the region.

The sign says it all: "Cocedero de mariscos". A few metres away, in the buildings with their brown tiled façades, a man and a woman peer through the green wooden windows, opened to let in the heat of the day. They seem to have some connection to the fishing industry.

The waters of the harbour are now occupied by small pleasure boats and on this day, when I'm visiting San Sebastián, by Orio boats. These are long wooden rowing boats that can carry several rowers and whose competition is fierce in the Bay of La Concha.

Dressed in the colours of the region - yellow, green, blue - the men and women first warm up their upper limbs. In rotating movements, they move their wrists and then their waists, their necks and, at the end of the warm-up period, the team members let out the battle cry, lift the heavy boat and throw it into the water, waiting there until the starting gun.

I enjoy watching this physical activity from the San Sebastian Oceanarium, while fans, friends and family encourage the rowers.

Gastronomic societies based on honesty

On two long tables in a dining room, the plates are lined up and waiting for the members of society, while the cook is already refining the flavours and raising the smells of the stew.

Unexpectedly, I walk into a mystical, almost Basque gastronomic society. These societies or brotherhoods are made up of members whose main activity is to organise snacks and dinners.

Entry is forbidden to women in many of these gastronomic societies, while in others women are not allowed in the kitchen. I wonder if this isn't the dream of many women - that they aren't allowed into the kitchen, either to cook or to wash the dishes.

And while we're at it, let the men do the ironing, wash the floors, hoover and look after the children. Perhaps societies could also be created for these domestic tasks? Or maybe they already exist...

One of the main characteristics of gastronomic gatherings is that almost everything is done on a voluntary basis. For example, a member cooks the products brought by the participants.

Other products (such as alcoholic drinks) come from the company's stock, which is also managed by the partners.

Each member pays a fee to cover common expenses such as cleaning, maintenance or the purchase of utensils. After the event, the expenses and, of course, the money are left in a box and the treasurer will keep the accounts.

If Basque cuisine can convince those travelling from Portugal, like me, where cuisine is one of the points that defines us as a Portuguese nation, imagine what it does to visitors from countries such as England, Holland and even France.

It intrigues me that San Sebastián is almost absent from national tourist brochures. Perhaps the culinary eden of the Basque Country is still, for us Portuguese, a destination hidden behind Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, or the Canary Islands.

Donostia melts in your mouth

Perhaps San Sebastián could be seen in a day, it's true, if you only thought about Donostia as a sum of points on the map to visit. Perhaps I thought (wrongly) that there was no reason to stay any longer. Ever since I took the night train Sud Express to San Sebastián, which I promised not to make that mistake.

At the end of this period, I wanted more San Sebastián, more pintxos, more delicacies from Basque cuisine, I wanted to discover other red wines from the Rioja region — without even going to that region of Spain — or refresh myself with an extra glass of Txakoli — the light donostiarra wine.

I can't get enough of the views from Mount Igueldo, the sunset on the Paseo Nuevo, not even the unseasoned water of La Concha.

The only reason I don't feel like I'm levitating is because I've ingested several (many) pintxos. I enjoy San Sebastián from morning to night. And I can still taste that cheese tart slowly melting on my tongue. Agur San Sebastián.

Extra information: I visited San Sebastián as part of my long-distance train journey from Portugal to Macau. 

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