© Lonely Planet 130

Basque Country & Navarran

Highlights

Playing King of the Castle at the summit of Mt Autza on the Frontier Views walk (p147) Poking your nose through Atxular’s Eye (p133) and picnicking in gorgeous alpine meadows Peering into the nests of massive griffon vultures and paying your respects at a pagan shrine on the Vultures & Vertigo walk (p149) Clinging precariously to the summit of , the scariest mountain in the Basque Country, on the : Anboto Ridge walk (p137)

Area: 22,670 sq km Average summer high: 28°C Population: 3.04 million

The link Cordillera Cantábrica and the Pyrenees in a series of dramatic east–west sierras reaching a maximum altitude of 1551m. Parting the area’s plentiful waters into those destined to wind up in the Atlantic and those bound for the Mediterranean (via the Río Ebro), these feisty, magnetic limestone ranges shelter endless walking opportunities. Inevitably, legends, curious cultural practices, or enticing history enhance the outstanding trails. Euskadi is a small region (7261 sq km) composed of three provinces – Bizkaia s (Vizcaya), Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa) and Araba (Álava) – poor in agriculture but y & r t abundant in raw materials, such as wood, iron and water. Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa renee un border the Atlantic while inland Álava is distinctly Mediterranean. Navarra, a Py

Co separate autonomous community or region in the Spanish system, shares historical ue ties with Euskadi. The name Euskal Herria refers to the historical Basque Country sq

varran where Euskara, the mysterious , was and is still spoken. The a a B N remaining three of Euskal Herria’s seven provinces are in France. Euskara bears no relationship to known languages, leading linguists to believe it’s a Stone Age survivor. Megalithic burial chambers (dolmens and menhirs) are frequently concentrated on mountain passes and high pastures oriented towards the sun. Coast-dwelling have long enjoyed prosperity through commerce, fishing and emigration. Noncoastal Basques lived in urban areas or are dispersed across the rugged countryside in largely self-sufficient farmsteads called baserria in Euskara and caseríos in Spanish (see the boxed text Basque & Navarran Farmsteads, p135). Shepherding, as practised for thousands of years, is in decline. Stone huts on the high summer pastures are still constants, but shepherds now usually leave their flocks in the mountains and make periodic visits rather than live with them.

13-wg-spa4-reg-basque.indd 130 18/12/09 12:30:59 PM lonelyplanet.com Environment • Basque Country & Navarran Pyrenees • 131

ENVIRONMENT charcoal produced by carefully burning Geologically speaking, the Basque huge quantities of wood. Limestone mountains are young when compared was also painstakingly reduced to lime with the Cordillera Cantábrica or the (to fertilise fields) in enormous ovens Pyrenees. They are composed of limestone built in the woods. Nineteenth-century and sandstone formed from accumulated industrialisation dramatically depleted ocean-floor sediments, and have been the ancient forests, leaving many hillsides shaped by karstification. This term is barren. Monterey pine was planted to used to describe how limestone – calcium reforest and is used in paper mills and carbonate – reacts over time to the eroding furniture, providing supplementary income properties of water and air. Karstification for farmers. Red spruce, Japanese larch (a is the most important erosive process at deciduous conifer) and Lawson cypress are work producing the dramatic, jagged peaks, also commonly planted for commercial rifts, caves and ravines found throughout harvest. Native mixed forests of ash, the region. The area’s only granite range, hawthorn, birch, hazel and maple are more Aiako Harria (Peñas de Aia), is near San limited in extent. Grand, extensive beech Sebastián. forests still thrive, fortunately. Exploitation of the iron-rich hills is an Apart from deer, foxes and several other ancient practice: foundries have produced small mammals, birds are the primary high-quality iron since the 9th century. wildlife you’ll encounter. Atlantic-facing By the 14th century many ironworks groves shelter woodpeckers, coal tits, lined river banks, using water to power woodcocks and the tawny owl all thrive. their hammers and bellows, and severely Above 600m, hanging out with the beech, damaging the rivers’ ecosystems in the look for black woodpeckers, thrushes process. Beech and oak woods also suffered. and the nuthatch. Griffon and Egyptian To produce 100kg of iron, smiths needed vultures and red-billed choughs reign in nine sacks of hardwood (oak and beech) the limestone heights. BASQUE COUNTRY & NAVARRAN PYRENEES

Bermeo N A T L A N T I C O C E A N B VR AN AVARR a

St Jean- sq R e s e r v a d e Elantxobe B a y o f B i s c a y Hondarribia de-Luz la Biosfera Lekeitio F R A N C E de Urdaibai BI638 Hendaye ue San Sebastián/ 4 Zugarramurdi Ondarroa Donostia Urdazubi/Urdax

Bilbao/Bilbo Zumaia Co Gernika-Lumo Oiartzun Errenteria/ Deba Py B I Z K A I A / Rentería Galdakao Zarautz Lasarte Bera/Vera 7 un V I Z C A Y A A8/E70 Hernani Bidasoa 5 N121B renee

Amorebieta/ Elgoibar Andoain t Basauri Azpeitia

Etxano r Eibar Villabona

6 & y A68 N240 Durango N634 Elizondo/Baztan

Tolosa s

Elorrio Bergara Arrasate/ Zumarraga Mondragón N1 Roncesvalles- 2 Leitza Orreaga e Ultzam Legazpi lle d a 1 Oñati Beasain P a r q u e Va 8 N a t u r a l Lekunberri N121A Embalse d e A r a l a r A15 3 Urrunaga Etxarri/ NAVARRA/ Burguete- Arantzazu Altsasu/ Uharte/ Auritz Aranatz NAFARROA a N622 Alsasua Arakil i EUSKADI/ b N135 a

P A Í S V A S C O L

e

d

A68 a

Basque Country & Navarran Pyrenees Maps r

r e

Pamplona/ i

1 Atxular's Eye p134 Iruña S 2 Urkiola: Anboto Ridge p138 3 The Wonders of Aralar p141 4 San Sebastián to Pasai Donibane p144 A15 5 Into the Witches’ Lair p146 6 Frontier Views p148 0 10 20km 7 Vultures & Vertigo p151 8 Pilgrims to Pottocks p154 0 5 10 miles

13-wg-spa4-reg-basque.indd 131 18/12/09 12:31:00 PM