A touch of parish pride in northern Spain

Glad to be back: I was in northern Spain for a few days last week — the Basque Country specifically, and San Sebastian to be precise.

God knows I have bored on here about the glories of San Sebastian in the past — the tortillas! the txakoli! — and last week was as pleasant as ever. Strolling Fermin de Cableton, though, I noticed white and blue flags aplenty: all for the local soccer team, Real Sociedad, no doubt.

Wrong. Though the colours were the same, they belonged to the local rowing side, who were competing in a coastal rowing regatta — part of the Euskal Jarriak, the Basque festival of culture.