a bite of history...
Hondarribia (in Spanish “Fuenterrabía”) is a small village in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, laying on the Bay of Biscay. It is located in a strategic position, right on the border between France and Spain. It is little wonder this location brought battles continuously to the town. In fact, it is known that in the 9th century a group of Vikings settled in the surrounding area, escaping from Cartago, nowadays called Tunisia.
Hondarribia belonged first to the Kingdom of Navarra and afterwards to the Kingdom of Castilla. During the reign of the Catholic Kings, the present walls were built for the town´s defense. In the 19th century, its inhabitants used to work as whalers and fisherman with rudimentary boats called “Traineras”. This was the origin of one of the Basque Country`s most popular sports “Las Regatas” (row-boat racing).
These days fishing keeps on being the main commercial activity in the town. Although there are no more whales, bluefish and whitefish continue to feed the economy of the village together with tourism.