Coast of Bascay
7/25/2025
We did a private tour to visit several small towns and sights around the Bay of Biscay.
First stop - San Juan de Gaztelugatxe! Better known as Dragonstone from Game of Thrones. It is a bit of a hike to get out there, but so cool! You walk out/down quite a ways along a path and then across the iconic stone bridge before the ascending up 242 stairs. At the top is a chapel – there is not a castle as depicted in Game of Thrones. That castle is made from TV magic.
Pro tip – if you ever go here (and you should – especially if you are a GOT fan!), ignore the website that indicates you need tickets! It is very misleading! Here is the reality… During the summer months, they control the number of visitors to 1100 per day during peak hours from 10am-7pm. Entrance is free (yes… FREE), the tickets are simply for crowd control. But tickets go fast. We weren’t able to get tickets, but learned from our guide that you can simply walk in if you arrive before 9:30am or after 7pm. And you aren’t among the crowd of ticket holders! We arrived around 9:00 and there were hardly any other people. It was AWESOME!
Second stop was a small town called Mundaka. To be honest, it wasn’t that interesting. It has a really nice beach and is known world wide for its surfing. We saw a small stone church, walked along the water front and saw the port. That’s about it.
The next town we visited was Bermeo which was a really cute port town. Unfortunately it was raining when we were there. We could sort of see the cuteness, walked around a little bit and had lunch in a nice little restaurant. I would have liked to have spent more time there if the weather was better and if we had the time available – which we didn’t that particular day.
Our final stop of the day was Guernica. This town has a really interesting story! It was bombed in 1937 by Hitler. Apparently, Hitler wanted to test out his new incendiary bombs (you know, a little prep work for WWII). Since he and Franco (dictator of Spain) were buds, Franco approved for him to test his new weapon in Guernica, a city of no strategic military value – just civilians! It was history's first aerial saturation bombing of a civilian population. They even chose to do it on a Monday when more of the community would be out and about because it was market day (i.e. to intentionally kill more innocent civilians so they could really see how effective this new bomb was). How’s that for MESSED UP!!
The bombing lasted about 3.5 hours and the town continued to burn throughout the next day. And to prevent the fires from being put out, the municipal water tanks and the fire-station were the first targets! Terrified civilians fleeing to the surrounding fields were herded back into Guernica by machine-guns from German fighter aircraft that circled the town in what was called “the ring of fire”… There was really no limit to the ruthlessness of this attack! 85% of the buildings were completely destroyed.
Picasso did a famous painting based on the events of April 27, 1937, in Guernica. The original painting is in Madrid, but there is a large replica mosaic in the town.
There is also a tree that that stands in front of the Basque parliament building in Guernica that holds some historical relevance. Since medieval times, the Tree of Gernika has been intertwined with Basque history. It’s nothing special… it’s an oak tree, but this particular oak is a national monument and symbol of the traditional freedoms of the Basque people. All laws and decisions for the Basque country were decided and voted upon under the “Guernica tree”. It has served as a place of oaths for the Lords of Bizkaia, who pledged their honor to respect the ancient laws that governed the region.
The “Father Tree”, the oldest known, was planted in the 14th century, starting a tradition that continues to this day. Although the original tree has been replaced by successive offshoots over the centuries, each has maintained the symbolism and importance of the first.
And this is cool… remember that bombing I mentioned above? Well, when it was planned, Franco asked Hitler not to destroy the Guernica tree. Yep… aim for the market and all the people, just don’t kill the tree!
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