Village
Seafaring, border town of Gipuzkoa, in the Bidasoa Beherea comarca, next to the Bay of Txingudi. Founded as a town in 1203 through a founding charter granted by the Castilian king Alfonso VIII. Population of 17,014 inhabitants (Eustat, 2021; the 2025 INE gives a somewhat different figure, 16,788, due to differences in counting method). Altitude of the town center: 16 m, with a territory that reaches 543 m at Mount Jaizkibel.
Monument
Parish church whose construction began in 1474 and which was consecrated in 1549. Its Baroque tower was added in the early 18th century by Francisco de Ibero.
Monument
Medieval fortress remodeled in the 16th century, located in the upper part of the historic center. It was restored in 1968 and converted into a Parador Nacional, a use it retains today.
Monument
Bastioned fortification system surrounding the old town, built during the 16th and 17th centuries to defend the border stronghold against France.
Monument
Fort built in 1900 on Mount Jaizkibel as part of the defensive system of the Bay of Txingudi.
Historical milestone
Civic-military parade commemorating the town's defense during the 1638 siege, held every September 8 since 1639, as part of the patron saint festivities running from the 7th to the 11th of that month.
Food and drink
Local tradition whereby, on April 25 (the feast of San Marcos), godmothers give their godchildren an opilla de San Marcos, a sponge cake with hard-boiled eggs.
Monument
Hermitage and sanctuary located on Mount Jaizkibel, next to the Fuerte de Guadalupe, where Hondarribia's patroness is venerated. Every 8 September the image of the Virgin is carried in a pilgrimage to the parish church of Santa María, as part of the Alarde festivities.
Monument
Small hermitage located on Mount Jaizkibel, one of the minor religious sites dotting the massif alongside the Guadalupe sanctuary and the watchtowers.
Monument
Hermitage located on the first stage of the Camino de Santiago de la Costa as it passes through Hondarribia, a landmark for pilgrims entering the peninsula via the Bidasoa border.
Monument
Former defensive structure in Hondarribia, listed in the municipal heritage inventory alongside the Castillo de Carlos V and the Fuerte de Guadalupe as part of the fortification system that protected the town and the bay of Txingudi.
Monument
Remains of another of Hondarribia's historic fortifications, included in the municipal heritage catalogue among the set of castles and bastions that defended the border town.
Monument
Six watchtowers built on the ridge of Jaizkibel during the last Carlist War (1872-1876) to establish communication between strongholds and visually control the coast; remains of five survive, two of them within the term of Hondarribia. Most have a hexagonal floor plan about 3.3-3.5 m per side, except the one closest to Guadalupe, which is square.
Monument
One of the historic gates of Hondarribia's walled enclosure, the main access from the port to the historic center, listed in the municipal heritage catalogue alongside the Puerta de San Nicolás.
Monument
The second of the preserved gates of Hondarribia's medieval wall, part of the defensive layout surrounding the historic center declared a Conjunto Histórico-Artístico.
Monument
18th-century Baroque palace built by Pedro Ignacio de Zuloaga on a former tower house, on Calle Mayor in the historic center. Its facade bears a shield with the founder's four surnames. It now houses Hondarribia's Historical Archive and Municipal Library.
Monument
Former fishing quarter outside the walls, with narrow streets and wooden houses painted in bright colors with typical balconies. Together with the walled historic center, it forms one of Hondarribia's recognized monumental complexes.
Nature
Lighthouse located at Cabo Higuer, at the mouth of the Bidasoa, between the sea and Mount Jaizkibel, right on the border with Hendaye. The current building, the work of engineer Francisco Lafarga, replaced the previous one (demolished after being damaged in the Carlist wars) and was first lit in 1881.
Nature
Coastal mountain range between the port of Pasaia and Hondarribia, with cliffs over the Cantabrian Sea crossed by the GR-121 trail. It holds the hermitages of Guadalupe and Santa Bárbara, the Carlist watchtowers, and wide views over the bay of Txingudi.
Historical milestone
Between July and September 1638, during the Franco-Spanish War, a French army of about 18,000 men under the Prince of Condé besieged the then-named Fuenterrabía after taking Irun, Oiartzun, Lezo, Errenteria and Pasaia, bombarding the town with thousands of projectiles. The city held out until, on 7 September, a relief army under the Admiral of Castile, Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera, defeated the French. Philip IV granted the town the title of "very noble, very loyal, very valiant and ever faithful".