San Sebastian is always special and in January even more

The small city of San Sebastian, located in the Gulf of Biscay, in the north of Spain, is one of the most special cities in the country. Every year, more and more tourists decide to travel to San Sebastian. This Spanish city is becoming one of the main touristic capitals of Spain. Our theory to explain the rise of tourism in the city, is that San Sebastian is unique. It might be the Bay of la Concha, the architectonic masterpieces located in the city or the atmosphere that is present in the city. But each year, more tourists decide to rent apartments in San Sebastian.

It is always a good option to travel to San Sebastian, however, in January there are many things that take place in the city, that makes the travel experience more special. In this article we show you why January is one of the best times of the year in San Sebastian.

First, the 5th of January, the Three Wise Men arrive to San Sebastian!

Every 5th of January, Melchor, Gaspar and Balthasar, the Three Wise Men, arrive to the Port of San Sebastian by ship, and from there, they begin a parade along all the city centre of the city. During this parade, to which thousands of kids and families go, the Three Wise Men give out sweets to all the kids.

After the parade, the Three Wise Men go to prepare their route to gift all the kids during the night-time. It is magical!

Then, on the 20th of January the Tamborrada takes place

The 20th of January is the day of the patron of San Sebastian, so it is a very special day for the people from the city. The party begins at 00.00, with the raise of the flag of the city in the Constitution Square.

Once the flag has been risen, it is when the Tamborrada begins. The Tamborrada consists of parades of people with drums that play different melodies. It is really worth to see it!

In January, the season of Txakoli opens up in San Sebastian

Every 17th of January, the new crop of Txakoli is presented. Txakoli is a type of grapes that are used to produce the Txakolin or the wine that is typical from the region of San Sebastian. During the day of the 17th of January, different wineries offer bottles of wine to the people that assist to the act. But January is not only time for the season of the wine...

During this month the cider season gets started too

The big party of San Sebastian, every 20th of January, sets the beginning of the season of the sider in the region, as the season of the sider begins the last Friday before the 20th of January.

The season of the sider lasts until the month of April, and it is the time when Basque people prefer to drink sider. Moreover, restaurants also take advantage of this time to create exquisite recipes related to the sider.

In January the International Cross of San Sebastian also takes place

After having opened the seasons of the Txakoli and sider, a little bit of sport sound very well! The International Cross of San Sebastian, is a cross country running race, that is celebrated in San Sebastian every month of January. This cross has been celebrated since 1956, and many professional and Olympic runners have participated in it. As you can see, if you decide to travel to san Sebastian during the month of January, you will never get bored, as you will always have many plans to do!

UPDATE: the organisers of the International Cross of San Sebastian have decided to permanently move the dates of the event and future editions to November from now on. The reason behind this change is that the new date will encourage more athletes of international level to attend and will consolidate November as a month that focuses on this sport.

The author of this article is Leyre Ínigo Lázaro. She studied a double degree in International Relations and a bachelor in Global Communication at the University Of Comillas in Madrid. Leyre is a very creative and determined person. She always has new projects in mind and loves to overcome challenges.