Mount Jaizkibel and Guadalupe

Jaizkibel is the mountain that separates Hondarribia from Pasaia, with a long ridge above the sea. From the town, the Guadalupe road climbs past Jaizkibel campsite to the Guadalupe sanctuary and the fort of the same name, and continues along the ridge towards Pasaia with viewpoints over the cliffs. You can do it by car, on a road bike or on foot along the paths that leave from Guadalupe. At sunset, in good weather, you see the coast of France on one side and that of Gipuzkoa on the other.

The mountain

Bidasoa Turismo gives the ridge a height of about 545 metres. Jaizkibel runs parallel to the coast and forms part, with Ulia and Igeldo, of a single flysch formation laid down between 45 and 54 million years ago. On the sea side, to the west, the cliffs drop sheer for up to 240 metres; on the east, the slope is gentler, with small coves and gullies. In the eastern zone there are rare plants, such as some tropical ferns, and yellow-legged and lesser black-backed gulls nest on the cliffs; the Balearic shearwater can also be seen, and reptiles such as the ocellated lizard live here.

Guadalupe

The Guadalupe sanctuary, on the slope that looks onto Txingudi bay, was built in the 16th century. Hondarribia Turismo notes that its first written mention dates from 1526, when Juan Sebastián Elcano left it six gold ducats. During the French siege of 1638, the image of the Virgin was brought down to the parish church, and the victory of 7 September was attributed to her: ever since, the town has celebrated it with the Alarde and, every 8 September, goes up in procession to the sanctuary. Inside are ship models as votive offerings, a high altarpiece from 1748 and a carving of the Virgin from the 14th or 15th century, one of the seven black Virgins of Gipuzkoa.

Next to it is the Guadalupe fort, which Bidasoa Turismo describes as one of the most beautiful defensive buildings of the modern era in the Basque Country.

Walking on Jaizkibel

Several waymarked routes cross the mountain. The Talaia path (Talaia ibilbidea), a GR, links Hondarribia with Pasai Donibane, following the old whaling lookouts on the coast. The first stage of the Camino de Santiago along the coast leaves from Irun or Hondarribia and crosses Jaizkibel and Ulia. And the trans-Pyrenean Higer–Endara route starts from the Bay of Biscay, passes through Hondarribia and Irun and climbs towards Peñas de Aia. For a short walk, leave the car near Guadalupe and walk along the ridge to the first viewpoint; the full stage to Pasaia is already a day in the mountains.

Up there you are exposed to the weather: in fog the views and the path markings are lost. Take water and a jacket.

Getting there and what to combine

By car, take the Guadalupe road from Hondarribia; it passes Jaizkibel campsite, a good base for going up the mountain. From the sea, the boat trip along the Jaizkibel cliffs shows the face you cannot see from the road. In the evening, go down to dinner in the Marina or head to the Higer lighthouse, at the tip of the mountain.