Getaria

Getaria is a working fishing town twenty-odd kilometres west of the city, a single steep street folding down to a harbour beneath the whale-shaped headland of San Antón. This is grill country: the smell of charcoal and the great whole turbot and rodaballo cooked over open flame in wire baskets define the place, a tradition the world knows through Elkano. Around the port the txakoli vineyards climb the hills and the catch comes in steps from the boats to the embers, while Kaia-Kaipe holds the same clifftop seafood faith. Birthplace of both Juan Sebastián Elcano and Cristóbal Balenciaga, it pairs maritime history with the purest expression of Basque coastal cooking.