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Spain With Michael Portillo - Season 1 Episode 3 - Bilbao And San Sebastian
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00:00Come with me on a voyage through Spain.
00:08Buenos dias mi capitán.
00:10As I reveal the secrets.
00:12What an amazing building.
00:14That is magnificent.
00:15Of places you think you know.
00:17Look at the size of this.
00:19I like it.
00:21And the little known regions.
00:23That is spectacular.
00:25Just waiting to be discovered.
00:27This is very nostalgic for me.
00:29Smell the money.
00:31Ooh.
00:32Suddenly we're on the Riviera.
00:33But I'm inside the barrel.
00:35Together we'll go beyond the hot spots.
00:38Absolutely spectacular.
00:39It's so remote.
00:41Arriba!
00:42Fuerte!
00:43To the places where the magic is made.
00:45You have to love heat and smoke and flame.
00:48Yay!
00:50I can't wait to show you.
00:52Today I'll show you secrets in Spain's Basque country.
01:02We'll enjoy the best food.
01:04Absolutely mouth-watering.
01:06And drink.
01:07Oh, it's been marvellous. Thank you.
01:09Discover rugged traditions.
01:11You have to love heat and smoke and flame.
01:15And extreme sports.
01:18Yes!
01:21In a region to which I am so emotionally attached.
01:24None of us would have been born if it weren't for that ship that set sail from near.
01:29Yes.
01:39My journey revealing the surprises of Spain continues in its stunning northeastern corner.
01:46A region renowned for its distinctive culture.
01:55A unique language.
01:56A stunning coastline.
01:58And two of Spain's most exciting cities.
02:01I'll show you the royal resort of San Sebastian.
02:06With its beautiful beaches.
02:08Elegant architecture.
02:09And astonishing cuisine.
02:11Wow.
02:12What a beautiful market.
02:14But our journey begins in the region's biggest city, Bilbao.
02:20Where billions of euros were spent to raise this city like a phoenix
02:25from the wasteland of its decayed port and industries.
02:31Bilbao, at the end of the 20th century, was in bad shape.
02:35The port area and industrial zones were derelict.
02:39Unemployment was high.
02:41And the Basque government commissioned a Guggenheim museum.
02:46Specifically to change the image of Bilbao to a city of culture.
02:52And the extraordinary result in titanium and stone by the architect Frank Gehry has been a phenomenal success.
02:58Attracting 1.3 million visitors a year, of whom the majority are from abroad.
03:04And so many other places have tried by the same means to repeat the economic miracle.
03:10But none with the success of what is now known as the Bilbao effect.
03:15The Guggenheim must be seen both for its arresting exterior and the art within.
03:26But what of secret, Bilbao?
03:27We start in the heart of the old town, with the Basque tradition of chiquiteo, or bar hopping,
03:34where we'll pair local wines with bar snacks, or pinchos.
03:39Hi! Hello!
03:41My guides, Irene and Olaya, have promised the best.
03:46Que gustoveros! How lovely to see you both!
03:49Encantaba!
03:50The Plaza Nueva, the new square.
03:51Exactly.
03:52This is where some of the best bars for pinchos are located, in the Horville Baos.
03:57Now, what is a pinchon?
03:58Well, a pinchon is these little dishes that are very typical from the Basque country.
04:03It's a finger food, more like a snack.
04:06Well, it sounds like a tapa.
04:08No, we don't call it tapa here.
04:10And, also, originally a tapa was more like a sharing plate,
04:14where you will, like, eat something, you will eat with a fork.
04:17And a pinchos is, like, individual, like a piece of bread,
04:21something of Basque food on it and a stick.
04:24Time for some chiquiteo.
04:27I like this neighbourhood very much.
04:28Yeah, full of bars.
04:30The old town, my favourite.
04:32This is where I grew up.
04:33Really?
04:34Yeah, the old town.
04:35You're so lucky.
04:37The first bar, chosen by Irene and Olaya, makes pinchos the traditional way.
04:44Oh!
04:45Gracias!
04:46A few simple ingredients on a cocktail stick.
04:49And they come with their own etiquette.
04:51How do we eat these?
04:52All in one.
04:53Yes?
04:54Otherwise it doesn't work.
04:55OK.
04:56The perfect mix of flavour in your mouth.
04:58Wow.
05:01There's no dainty way of doing this.
05:03It's the sort of food you can enjoy only with your closest friends.
05:07Mmm.
05:08Mmm.
05:09Mmm.
05:10Mmm.
05:11It's spicy.
05:12There's olives.
05:14There's anchovy.
05:16It's hot.
05:17What's that?
05:18Peppers?
05:19The pepper.
05:20Yes.
05:21Wonderful.
05:22Wow.
05:23Bilbao now feels like a lovely city.
05:25Yeah, it is.
05:26When I knew Bilbao, it was industrial and it wasn't in any way fashionable or chic.
05:32No.
05:33So how much change have you seen?
05:34A lot.
05:35After the Guggenheim they started putting a lot of attention into art and architecture
05:40and that was like the rebrand of Bilbao.
05:42Presumably you love your life in Bilbao, do you?
05:45Yes.
05:46For sure.
05:47I was travelling around the world for a few years but my Basque blood was bringing me
05:53back here.
05:54Wonderful.
05:55Topa!
05:56Where should we go next?
05:59Much like Bilbao, Basque Pinchos culture has evolved and become more refined.
06:04Hola.
06:05These look absolutely mouth-watering.
06:09Bars now compete to create the prettiest and tastiest pinchos.
06:14Here, for example, the pinchos has evolved from simple ingredients on a toothpick to great
06:21sophistication.
06:22Oh, here are the tapas.
06:24Tapas?
06:25Oh, the pinchos.
06:26Here are the pinchos.
06:27Carcasco, picasco.
06:28Gracias, carcasco.
06:29This pinchos is quite complicated.
06:32They are very elaborated.
06:34This is an award-winning pinchos.
06:36Wow.
06:37You have to break the quail egg.
06:39You have to break it and mix it with the soup.
06:41Oh, here's my egg.
06:42Mmm.
06:43Mmm.
06:44Mmm.
06:45Mmm.
06:46I'm not surprised that won an award.
06:48Mmm.
06:49That's delicious.
06:50What a wonderful pinchos.
06:52Topa.
06:53Topa.
06:54Topa.
06:55Let's go.
06:56Vámonos.
06:57Adios.
06:58Hasta luego.
06:59Where next?
07:00Our final bar hop is Irene and Olaya's favourite.
07:04So, over here, one of the oldest bars in Bilbao.
07:08Excellent.
07:09Very close by.
07:10Hola.
07:11Hola.
07:12So many lovely-looking pinchos.
07:14Yes.
07:15Topa.
07:16Topa.
07:17Topa.
07:18Pincho takes its name from the little wooden skewer that traditionally held the ingredients
07:23together.
07:24Here, that's how most of these little delicacies are still served.
07:30This is where my grandparents, they used to bring me when I was a kid.
07:36Mmm.
07:37Not to drink wine, but to drink grape juice, which we call it mosto.
07:40But they give it to you in a wine glass, so you feel more important.
07:43Has it changed much?
07:44No.
07:45No.
07:46The bars are still the same.
07:47Yeah.
07:48What about the pinchos?
07:49Have the pinchos changed?
07:50The pinchos changed, yeah.
07:51Yes.
07:52Different.
07:53They're pretty, aren't they?
07:54They're colourful.
07:55Yeah.
07:56Very beautiful.
07:57I fancy that one.
07:58Yeah.
07:59That one is good.
08:00Good choice.
08:01Good.
08:02Mmm.
08:03Mmm.
08:04It's very good.
08:05What is it?
08:06So, it's pork belly ribs, cooked low temperature for a long time.
08:10Mmm.
08:11And it has pickled onion on top and a glass of barbecue sauce.
08:15Extraordinary.
08:16Very nice.
08:17Mmm.
08:18The pork is fabulous.
08:19And then the barbecue sauce, very, very tangy.
08:21Yeah, very tender.
08:22Mmm.
08:23So, you start to understand the difference in between the pincho and the tapa?
08:29Well, I think I understand this.
08:31When I'm in the Basque Country, I must only say pincho.
08:34Exactly.
08:35And when I'm in the rest of Spain, I can say tapa.
08:37That's perfect.
08:38Perfect.
08:41Next, I get up close with Basque Country Sports.
08:45You have to learn the cuts.
08:46You have to practice like mad.
08:48And reveal a dark period in its history.
08:51This is a terrible British atrocity.
08:54Is there anti-British feeling in San Sebastian because of this?
08:57My search for the unexpected in Spain has brought me to the Basque region and two of the country's
09:14most exciting cities.
09:16I'm starting out now towards San Sebastian.
09:20But as I leave Bilbao, I want to show you a little known structure, not far from the Guggenheim,
09:26that was, like the museum, once an emblem of the city's modernity, when it was famed for its industries.
09:34This is the Nervyon River, which is really the heart of the matter because this is where the port was that made Bilbao so great.
09:44Iron, steel and shipbuilding defined the city.
09:49Wow.
09:50That is amazing.
09:52Setting it at the heart of the Spanish economy until the second half of the 20th century.
09:59The oil-inspiring Puente de Vizcaya, across the Nervyon River, was the world's first transporter bridge when it opened in 1893.
10:09Four towers, 61 metres high, a 160 metre span, from which dangles a vehicle which is rather truly called a gondola,
10:18actually crammed with pedestrians and vehicles.
10:21The bridge was damaged during the Spanish Civil War, but it has been restored,
10:25and is now recognised as a piece of industrial heritage of global significance.
10:31I'll return to Bilbao at the end of this journey, by way of a pilgrimage to a spot of huge significance to my family and me.
10:40For now, we head along the coast towards San Sebastián, a trip that I last made when I visited in the 1980s,
10:48in the years after the end of Spain's dictatorship.
10:52In the 20th century, during the years under General Franco, the Basque language was very much banned and suppressed.
10:59And then, when the dictatorship came to an end, there was a sort of counter-revolution,
11:04and Basque names were used everywhere.
11:07I once arrived at Bilbao Airport and hired a car.
11:12I was headed for San Sebastián, but no-one had told me that its name in Basque was Donostia.
11:19And so I drove around for hours looking for San Sebastián, unaware that all the signs to Donostia would have got me there in a trice.
11:29Just outside San Sebastián, I've been alerted to a very special event in a pretty town called Tharawis.
11:41A week of celebrations is ending with parades of giant figures called Big Heads,
11:47who represent traditional Basque occupations such as farming and whaling.
11:53The highlight of the games displays incredible feats of strength and stamina, known as Basque rural sports.
12:00Activities like stone lifting and log chopping, based on the traditional skills required in Basque rural life.
12:09Shabbat Polar!
12:1128-year-old competitor Shabbat will strengthen my knowledge.
12:16There are, like, 14 different sports.
12:19Really?
12:20They are very unusual.
12:22We have to lift a 100 kilos stone 20 times.
12:2620 times?
12:2720 times, yeah, to the shoulder.
12:29Then we have to do chopping, yeah?
12:31It's very traditional, and it's hard, but I like it, yeah.
12:36Why do you do this sport?
12:38It's a very spiritual sport.
12:41My family is a farmer.
12:43When I was a child, I saw this sport, and I like to practise too.
12:49I started when I was 12 years old, yeah.
12:53Are you fearful that this tradition could die out?
12:57Ten years ago, we had problems because there are not young people to practise this.
13:04Post-pandemic, a lot of girls started practising this sport, and today we have a lot of young people practising that.
13:13That's fantastic.
13:15These rural games are now recognised by the Basque government as official sports.
13:20Amateur competitions like this one are regularly held throughout the region.
13:25They are well attended, and both competitors and spectators reveal the regional culture.
13:32The athletes, both men and women of various ages, have come forward.
13:37They've wrapped themselves very tightly.
13:39They've bound their guts so they don't have a hernia during the efforts they're going to make.
13:44Some of the guys are sort of standard tough guys.
13:47Some of the young women, you'd be surprised to know what they can lift and what they can chop.
13:52First, it's the stone lifting.
13:56Each competitor is chasing a personal best, lifting a stone of the appropriate weight, shape and size.
14:05It took one minute and 51 seconds, and in that time she lifted 1,000 kilos.
14:11The cube stone weighs 63 kilos.
14:14It doesn't roll up the body the way that the cylinder does.
14:17Much more effort to get it up on the shoulder.
14:19Yes!
14:23Now for the men, and Shabbat is first up.
14:30Shabbat begins by lifting a spherical ball, weighing 100 kilos ten times.
14:38Ten lifts.
14:41Next is Shabbat's cousin Mikkel, competing in the top category.
14:45This is a brute of a stone, 135 kilos and irregular in shape.
14:53Oh, this looks very difficult.
14:56Mikkel's going to have one more go, but he's not going to win this.
14:59He has tired.
15:03Tired enough.
15:04No more.
15:05Tired enough.
15:07Wood cutting is one of the most skilled and dangerous events.
15:11In the Basque countryside, logs must be hewn for fence posts, firewood and charcoal.
15:16Each competitor stands on the log, and using a variety of axes cleaves it in twain.
15:22The fastest wins.
15:23When we start the cut, we use a bigger axe to move more or cut more in the coups,
15:33looking for a little bit of power and less speed.
15:36That one is very heavy.
15:38But it weighs a lot, and then it hurts a lot.
15:39Yeah.
15:40So, as they get towards the middle of the block, they're going to use smaller axes.
15:45They're going to go faster.
15:47Each blow is less effective, but they'll be able to speed up.
15:52It makes for a thrilling spectacle.
15:55I can hardly look as he hacks dementedly within a hair's breadth of his toes.
16:01You have to be very physically fit.
16:03You have to learn the cuts.
16:04You have to learn the technique.
16:06You have to practice like mad.
16:11Yes!
16:14Good boy.
16:15Good boy.
16:20Time now to continue our journey.
16:25A short drive along the coast is one of my favourite places.
16:30The picture postcard city of San Sebastian,
16:34which at one time was the seaside resort of the Spanish royal family.
16:40I have been to San Sebastian.
16:41I've holidayed there.
16:43It's really elegant.
16:45It's so well looked after the whole city.
16:48It's the place of the aristocrats and royalty.
16:51I stayed in the best hotel, the Maria Cristina,
16:54and I sampled the high life.
17:01You can see the appeal.
17:03I'm here at the height of summer,
17:06when people from most of Spain want to flee the heat.
17:09The ocean breeze from the Bay of Biscay
17:12keeps temperatures in San Sebastian in the comfortable mid-twenties.
17:17I find very often that seaside resorts are past their best.
17:23If you're trying to imagine them in their heyday,
17:26you have to overlook the faded paint and the boarded-up windows.
17:30But that doesn't happen in San Sebastian.
17:32Everything here is pristine, ship-shaped.
17:36You don't have to imagine the golden age, you can actually live it.
17:39To learn how San Sebastian became one of Spain's most elegant resorts,
17:47I'm meeting local historian Osane.
17:50The setting of San Sebastian is astonishing, isn't it?
17:54This bay, this beautiful green hill at the end, just perfection.
17:59It is the pearl of the Cantabric, or the Paris of the south.
18:03It's a postcard indeed.
18:04And this is what started everything.
18:07It was common at the time, we're discussing the 1840s all the way until the 1890s.
18:13People would travel for health purposes.
18:16The most popular thing, after Brighton and Nice,
18:20was taking cold sea bathes into the ocean.
18:24How did tourists and visitors reach San Sebastian?
18:27It was a very long travel.
18:30About five days in carriage with horses.
18:34So, if you decided to come all the way here from Madrid, let's say,
18:39you needed to make sure you were going to be staying for a long time
18:42to make it worth the trip.
18:45As the city developed, investment flooded in,
18:49and elegant new buildings were built in the Parisian style,
18:53with grand promenades and gardens.
18:56One of the things they liked the most was gambling.
18:59The roulette, mostly, in poker.
19:00So, we built the casino that you have right behind you.
19:05If you can see those two wonderful towers, it was known as Saint Mary of the Roulette.
19:09And you've got a royal palace as well.
19:11On the other side of the bay, it looks like an English manor.
19:15That was the vacation resort for Maria Cristina, the Queen Regent.
19:18She vacationed here for 42 full years.
19:22Fantastic.
19:24There's one more place Orsani wants to show me.
19:28Set back from the seafront, deep in the heart of the Old Town.
19:34Visitors flock to the 31st of August Street to enjoy its many bars and restaurants.
19:40What's in a street name?
19:43It recalls the most destructive day in the city's history,
19:48followed by its rebuilding as the Paris of the South.
19:53What happened on the 31st of August?
19:56It was a day when the city changed forever.
19:59We're talking the 31st of August of 1813.
20:01It was right at the end of the Peninsular Wars here,
20:05when the Duke of Wellington arrived,
20:07and with the Anglo-Portuguese army and the Spanish allies,
20:11and they took the city and, unfortunately, they burned it to the ground.
20:16Napoleon Bonaparte's forces had invaded Spain and Portugal,
20:21and Britain fought the Peninsular War to expel them.
20:25San Sebastian was one of the last cities to be held by French troops.
20:29British forces, led by the future Duke of Wellington,
20:33with the help of Spanish and Portuguese fighters,
20:36laid siege to the city.
20:38When they at last regained it, they rampaged through its streets,
20:42killing indiscriminately, and raised San Sebastian to the ground.
20:47That was the 31st of August, 1813.
20:51This is really a terrible British atrocity.
20:55Did anything survive from the old city?
20:57A handful of buildings, really.
21:00Part of the city that survived that night was the street that we're walking on.
21:05And the left side of this street is the one that remains almost untouched.
21:12Out of the 600 buildings, approximately 30 survived.
21:16It's just a handful.
21:18Very, very moving indeed.
21:19Is there an anti-British feeling in San Sebastian because of this?
21:22Not at all. That was a long time ago.
21:24And it was also a reason to start from scratch,
21:27and this revival and reinvention of the city that came after.
21:31Sometimes out of disaster comes something quite good.
21:33That's a silver lining we like to think of.
21:36Next, I joined a secret supper club.
21:41Now, here comes the tortilla.
21:44Here comes the tortilla.
21:46Here comes the tortilla.
21:48And go hammer and tongs.
21:50This is spectacular.
21:53I'm revealing secrets in San Sebastian, once the summer retreat of the Spanish royal family in the region known as the Basque Country.
22:09Of all Spain's cities, this one is now most associated with world-class cuisine.
22:17San Sebastian has more Michelin-starred restaurants for a place-fit size than almost anywhere on the planet.
22:25But I want to show you the less obvious side to its food culture.
22:30I brought you to its oldest food market, founded in 1870,
22:34where many professional chefs and discerning cooks buy their produce.
22:40The Iberian Peninsula is almost entirely surrounded by sea.
22:45And even Spaniards who live in the centre are passionate about fish.
22:51The Basque Country has an important part of that coast with fishing villages
22:56and many people who make their living from the sea.
22:59And then on top of that, unlike much of Spain,
23:01here there are pastures and there are orchards.
23:05And this is the basis of the gastronomy of the region.
23:12Oh, Manuel.
23:14Hello. Hello.
23:16Manuel is heavily involved in the city's gastronomy.
23:20He's the president of an historic group of culinary societies, some over 150 years old.
23:27So I find you buying cod today.
23:29Yes.
23:30As you can see in this shop, they only have cod fish, salted or unsalted.
23:36This demonstrates to me what a centre of gastronomy San Sebastian is,
23:42that you have a store that only sells cod.
23:45The Basque love of cod, salted or not, dates to the 16th century
23:51when Basque fishing fleets sailed to Canada to hunt whales.
23:54They caught cod, which they dried and salted for the long return journey.
24:00At today's lunch at Manuel's Gastronomic Society, cod is on the menu.
24:05I was buying cod to prepare a very nice codfish omelette.
24:11Omelette? Omelette, yes.
24:12Omelette, yes.
24:13We are preparing an omelette for six, seven people.
24:15So I think with 600 grams it's okay.
24:18600 gramos, sin sal.
24:23Muy bien. Gracias.
24:24Very good.
24:28Gracias. Encantado.
24:30Bueno.
24:31Okay. Let's enjoy.
24:34Lunch is at the society's clubhouse, hidden within the back streets in the heart of the old town.
24:41Manuel, this is a beautiful building and this is your gastronomic society.
24:45Yes. And it's Gastel Uvide, founded in 1934.
24:49So how many of these do you have in San Sebastian?
24:51Well, we got 127 clubs.
24:54You can see that in 100 metres around, you got 10 gastronomic clubs.
24:58These very discreet societies originated in the 19th and early 20th centuries as private, male-only clubs,
25:08where members would socialise, cook, eat and drink.
25:13With women now admitted, the clubs continue to play a big part in the life of the city.
25:20You got something very important when you become a member of a gastronomic club.
25:25You got the key.
25:26Right.
25:27So you got full access, 24 hours per day. So they trust that you are a good fellow.
25:33How long have you been a member here?
25:35In this club, six years.
25:38In another one that I'm also a member, 34 years.
25:41Wow.
25:42So to be a member of a gastronomic club is something we appreciate a lot in our country.
25:49Am I allowed in as your guest?
25:50Yes, please. Come with me.
25:52I feel very excited and very privileged. Thank you very much.
25:54Thank you. We are very honoured. Come in.
25:57Normally, you can experience this sort of lunch by invitation only.
26:02But on St. Sebastian's Day in January, many clubs open their doors to non-members and visitors.
26:10Salud, Salud, Salud, Salud.
26:13Before we cook, a toast in cider, not wine.
26:17Mmm.
26:19The first sip of the morning is magic.
26:22In the kitchen, another member, Aizul, is in charge of cooking lunch.
26:27How do we begin?
26:28OK, this is onion, a little chilli and olive oil.
26:32I cook about three hours.
26:34So much preparation. Three hours?
26:36Three hours. It's very sweet now.
26:38OK, well, let's go.
26:40OK.
26:42You know, in Britain, in London, we have a lot of clubs.
26:46Yeah.
26:47But the missing thing is the cooking. We don't do the cooking.
26:50Yeah. I worked in a private club in London.
26:53Did you? Yeah. In Camden Town.
26:55What fun. It's great fun.
26:58This dish, known as Tortilla de Bacalao, was once a staple of farmers, served in rural cider houses.
27:05Like much traditional Basque cookery, it consists of a few simple ingredients done well.
27:14Why do you think the Basque astronomy is so special?
27:18I think it's the product.
27:20We have many, many fishes.
27:22We have a mountain.
27:24Here, in the north side of Spain, the temperature is special.
27:30What do you think of these eggs? Are they all right?
27:32More, more. More, more.
27:33Yeah?
27:35OK, let's go.
27:37OK, we have onion, we have cod, we have eggs, we have salt.
27:42And I think it's great.
27:44OK.
27:49Very important that it shouldn't stick.
27:51Keep it moving.
27:52A Spanish classic is a Spanish omelette, which is basically potato, onion, egg.
27:57I've never had a cod omelette before.
28:00And now...
28:03Oh, excellent.
28:06Please, my God, please, please.
28:09Now comes the tortilla.
28:11Here comes.
28:13Sharing simple food with newfound friends is hard to beat, no matter where you are.
28:18But if you fancy sophisticated restaurant food, San Sebastian offers you glorious possibilities.
28:26This is superb.
28:28I could never have guessed that an omelette begins with three hours of cooking the onion.
28:32Yeah.
28:33That's why it is so good.
28:34And I see there are photographs here of your choir.
28:38Yeah.
28:39In this table we are two members of the choir, like Jose, who is the youngest member of the choir.
28:45Do you sometimes begin a meal with a song?
28:48Yes, yes, yes.
28:49Of course.
28:50Before we sing, before we eat, we sing a song that is very famous.
28:54It's called Hambre, Hambre.
28:56And it's to be able to start eating all of them, right?
28:59Jose, please give us your rendition of Hambre, Hambre.
29:04Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre.
29:06Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre, Hambre.
29:18The lyrics are really profound, he says.
29:21Thank you so much for your welcoming here today.
29:23My pleasure.
29:24Oh, it's been marvellous, thank you.
29:25The vast connection to history and tradition is everywhere on display.
29:36San Sebastian's beautiful bay is called La Concha, which means the shell.
29:41It has a beautifully regular crescent shape.
29:45We cross to its far side, where I can take you to a sheltered village
29:49hidden in a deep ravine.
29:51These houses, with their pretty painted balconies,
29:56have a sort of alpine feeling to them.
30:01Buenos dias, mi capitán.
30:03Buenos dias.
30:03Iñaki, encantado.
30:06A beautiful little gorge with a village clustering on its slopes.
30:13You can reach the port of Pasaya via a short boat ride across the harbour.
30:18Not many visitors to San Sebastián experience it, but then they are missing out.
30:29Like...
30:30Look at that.
30:36It's absolutely beautiful.
30:38This remarkable replica ship, the San Juan, has been under construction for more than 11 years
30:46and is open to visitors.
30:49It's part of a project to preserve Basque maritime heritage.
30:54Here, artisans use only the techniques and materials that built the original ship almost 500 years ago,
31:01during the golden age of the Basque fishing fleets.
31:04Miquel, ah!
31:06Miquel specialises in maritime heritage.
31:09Encantado, Miquel.
31:10Very pleased to meet you.
31:11This ship is absolutely amazing.
31:14I love it.
31:15What is it?
31:16Well, this is the San Juan.
31:17It's an exact replica of a 16th-century ship.
31:20Archaeologists found it in Labrador, Canada, in very good condition,
31:26considering that it has been nearly five centuries underwater.
31:30What was the original San Juan doing in Labrador?
31:32Well, lots of Basques used to go from the Basque coast to Canada for cod fishing and whale hunting.
31:39And the San Juan was one of those.
31:41The Basque whaling fleet was one of the largest in the world.
31:48Its ships returned to Europe laden with whale oil,
31:52the fuel that lit the lamps in Bristol, London and Flanders.
31:57On one such trip in 1565, the San Juan sank off Newfoundland.
32:05Will the San Juan ever be in the water?
32:07Of course.
32:08That's the idea.
32:10And not only be in the water, but also it would sail.
32:13To where?
32:14To Canada.
32:15We are planning to go to the same place where the original San Juan has been found.
32:23Look forward for me to the day when this ship sails.
32:26What will that be like for you?
32:28I don't know.
32:29I might start crying.
32:30I think you might.
32:32It would be really impressive for many people and for me as well.
32:36An astonishing achievement.
32:38Since this awe-inspiring project began in 2014, hundreds of people of every age have brought
32:45an impressive variety of skills from all over Spain to work on the San Juan.
32:51Hello, David.
32:52I'm Michael.
32:53Nice to meet you, Michael.
32:54And you are the blacksmith.
32:5634-year-old David came from Galicia to work on the San Juan three and a half years ago.
33:03Show me what you're doing, please.
33:05What have you got in there?
33:06Now we are hitting this piece to make the form something like that, but bigger.
33:11Yes, yes.
33:12And the idea here is like when you put an iron in a wheel over the wood.
33:16And then it contracts.
33:17You put water and it contracts.
33:19And it grips this piece of wood.
33:21And then this will be used to put a rope through there.
33:27That is an awesome sight.
33:29What temperature do you work at?
33:31800, 1,000, and 200, more or less.
33:35So between 800 and 1,200 degrees.
33:37The steel glowing red.
33:39Oh, and the heat coming off at the moment.
33:41Whoa.
33:42Being a blacksmith is not a trade for wimps.
33:46Give it a good pounding.
33:52The wood goes in.
33:54Oh, my gosh.
33:55The wood actually bursts into flames.
33:58Haha, what a sight.
34:01I think if you're going to be a blacksmith, it helps to be a little bit of a pyromaniac.
34:04You have to love heat and fire and smoke and flame.
34:13This is spectacular.
34:16Has it come out well?
34:17You can get it.
34:17It's a little bit hotter, but you can.
34:19Okay, so I can take that.
34:21Yeah.
34:22Oh, of course, it's quite heavy.
34:23Yeah.
34:24And it's a little bit hot, but I have it.
34:26Well, no.
34:27Good work.
34:28Oh.
34:29How many of these do you have to make?
34:32A lot of them.
34:33Is it especially satisfying to be part of this historic project?
34:37For me, it's so important, this project.
34:40I love working by hand, welding in the fire.
34:43Every day you learn new techniques, and here we have the opportunity to make this type of work.
34:49Next, I take an emotional trip back in time.
34:54Here at the port of Santurce, frantic mothers and fathers say goodbye to their kids.
35:01And turn dedicated follower of Basque fashion.
35:05Here, we like it rounded back and flat in the front.
35:08Our journey through the secrets of Spain's Basque country continues where it began.
35:24I'm heading back to its biggest city, Bilbao, to share a very personal story with you.
35:31It begins in the city's docks, which today are the busiest in northern Spain, welcoming cruise liners and cargo ships.
35:41Almost a century ago, they witnessed a traumatic event, without which I wouldn't exist.
35:48In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the town of Guernica, which had an ancient oak tree,
35:55which symbolised Basque aspirations to be independent and to have a parliament, was bombed,
36:02with terrible loss of civilian life.
36:04And such was the international outrage that the British government was persuaded to take some children as refugees,
36:13provided that they were unaccompanied by their parents.
36:17Here at the port of Santurce, which I'm visiting for the first time in my life,
36:22frantic mothers and fathers said goodbye to their kids,
36:27not knowing whether they would ever see them again,
36:30but believing that they had a better chance of survival in Britain.
36:344,000 bewildered children crowded onto a ship called Habana,
36:40which sailed across stormy seas in the Bay of Biscay to dock at Southampton.
36:47The Basque refugee children were dispersed around Britain,
36:52and a group of them settled near Oxford, where my mother Cora was an undergraduate studying Spanish.
36:58She befriended the children.
37:01And then, two years after that, my father Luis also became a refugee from the Spanish Civil War,
37:07and he arrived in Oxford, and he went to visit the children, and there he met Cora.
37:13And love was in the air.
37:16My mother proposed, which was pretty bold for the time, and for a girl's bounty,
37:21and they went on to have five sons, of whom I am the youngest.
37:26And none of us would have been born if it weren't for that ship Habana that set sail from here.
37:40The repercussions of the Spanish Civil War still reverberate through Spain today.
37:45During the dictatorship of General Franco, the identity of the Basque country, along with other regions,
37:51was stifled and repressed.
37:53A terrorist campaign raged for decades.
37:56In the tranquility of recent years, Basque culture has re-emerged assertively,
38:01evidenced in its language, customs, and costumes.
38:05Hidden in the heart of Bilbao's Old Town is a shop, little frequented by the visitor.
38:11It sustains an important tradition.
38:14One item of Basque clothing is iconic and politically significant.
38:20I love to see a shop that is wedded to tradition.
38:24Yes. Well, this shop has been open since 1857.
38:28I am the eighth generation, the fifth of my family, so it's been a while.
38:33Ander's shop sells many styles and types of hat.
38:37I'm targeting just one.
38:40The Basque berry.
38:42Basque, way of calling it, is a chapella.
38:44And you've got different colours. That surprises me.
38:46I thought they were always black.
38:47Yes. That's the one that is mostly used.
38:50I guess part of the uniform for the people working in the mountains with animals, you know.
38:54It's made in wool, so it keeps you warm and dry when it's raining.
38:58It's linked to nationality, because when the Civil War happened, after we had the detector, Franco,
39:04he forbid most of the things that were not supposed to be Spanish, so not only the language, but also, you know, if you dressed a certain way, if you acted upon some things, you know, you would be punished.
39:18The beret was taken up by Basque fighters battling against Franco during the Civil War.
39:24Even after his victory, the Basques continued to wear them discreetly.
39:30People went down in size.
39:32So if you were not looking for trouble, you wore a smaller beret in those days?
39:36Yes. And when Franco died, when the, you know, we went to democracy, people went overboard, you know, that they went bigger.
39:44And here you have the different sizes and colours that are associated with different communities in the Basque country.
39:50So how does one wear it?
39:51So you would grab it from the back, forehead goes on the opposite place, and you push your head inside, and I have to shape it.
39:58Here we like it rounded back, and flat in the front.
40:01Almost like a peaked cap.
40:03Yes, really similar.
40:04Could I try that, please?
40:05Of course.
40:06I've grabbed it by the back, I've got my forehead the opposite side, and then rounded to the back.
40:12Yes.
40:13There you go.
40:14Is that ilbao style?
40:15Yes.
40:16Could you show me other styles?
40:17Yes.
40:18So instead of going round in the back and flat in the front, here we're going to go round in one side, and flat in the other.
40:24More of a French Basque style.
40:26And then if you go to France, you know, the Parisian style, I guess.
40:30Oh, yes.
40:31Now you are going to paint something.
40:35Bon.
40:36But actually, I think I should go back to Bilbao style.
40:40Yes.
40:41Very good.
40:42You don't mind selling to foreigners?
40:44Not at all.
40:45We feel like it's a celebration of our culture, you know?
40:47I'm very happy to celebrate, indeed.
40:49I shall certainly take it and wear it with great pride.
40:52Many thanks.
40:53Our time in this proud and unique region of Spain is almost up.
41:01And I hope I've shown you what makes it such a special area to explore.
41:06Off the tourist trail, burrowing deep into the heart of two of Spain's most exciting and vibrant cities.
41:14I have discovered that the Basques are tough and proud and distinct.
41:22As a people, their history is longer than that of Christian Spain.
41:27In the 20th century, there was conflict with the authorities in Madrid who wanted a homogeneous Spain.
41:33And after years of suppression and of separatist violence, the region is now at peace and joyously celebrates its language and its heritage.
41:45It welcomes visitors who enjoy culture and history and great food and cider and wine and beaches and mountains.
41:55I have enjoyed taking you off the beaten track within its beautiful cities and to see spectacular Basque customs.
42:03Now, not everyone gets to experience those, so please keep them under your hat.
42:10Next time, I'm getting into my stride.
42:14I'll show you Valencia.
42:16This part was a river.
42:18And they moved it.
42:19This is the size of a salmon.
42:21I find this frightening.
42:24This has been absolutely idyllic.
42:27I'll never forget this hell, I think.
42:28OK, everyone, lunch is ready.
42:30This is so full of flavour.
42:32Oh, you're strong.
42:33Off we go.
42:35More chata.
42:39And you can join Michael again at the same time next Thursday.
42:42Jane's either stumbled across Brazilian rocks that actually sing, or she's been in the sun too long.
42:47Her pole-to-pole adventure continues brand new tomorrow at 8.
42:50And two chaps braving the conditions and showing us the true meaning of survival.
42:56It's Ben Fogel's new lives in the wild, new next.
43:02Outro Music
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