PLACE: Astigarraga (Gipuzkoa)

Astigarraga is situated to the north of Gipuzkoa and has been for centuries a very important small town because of its strategic location, linking Gipuzkoa with the rest of Spain and also for being part of the Pilgrimage Route to Santiago . Today, its main tourist attraction has become its cider.

The climate and the terrain has made it the ideal setting for the presence of a large amount of apple trees, an activity which dates back to the 12th century. Originally, all the country houses had their own apple orchards and many of them even their own press with which they made the cider for the whole family. Consequently, given that this beverage was drunk in many public places, it soon became a natural way of life in this typically rural environment.

The production of cider has therefore always been a natural part of these people's lives, and still remains so today. Although its production and consumption fell in the middle of last century, due to the abandoning of the mountain houses and the appearance of new drinks on the market, today the cider industry is expanding considerably with the ever-increasing popularity that it has acquired, as people flock to the places where it is made.

As well as its cider producing tradition, another significant feature is its chapel dedicated to St James the Apostle and situated at the top of a mountain of the same name. The origin of this chapel comes from the presence of a large amount of "Belemnite" fossils (in the form of a staff) and Pecten Aequivalvis (the Pilgrims Shell), a fact which is said to prove that the Apostle passed through these lands.