July 3, 2026
How Two Basque Shepherds Are the Only Reason the Alboka Still Exists
By the 1920s, a Basque newspaper had already written up the supposed “last alboka player,” treating the instrument as a curiosity on its way out. It wasn’t extinct…
Blog
Category: History & Culture
Explore Pamplona’s rich heritage—Roman origins, medieval kingdom of Navarre, Hemingway’s influence, bull traditions, and the cultural significance of San Fermín.
July 3, 2026
Hemingway Wasn’t San Fermín’s Only Star. Pamplona’s Own Archive Names Dozens More.
Ask most English-language guides who put San Fermín on Hollywood’s map and you get one name: Ernest Hemingway. That is true as far as it goes, and it…
July 2, 2026
Basiano Wasn’t Just “The Painter of Navarra.” He Was Pamplona’s Own Resident Painter for 41 Years.
Jesus Basiano, the painter of Navarra, spent 41 years painting Pamplona from a Cathedral studio. Why the city still has no museum of its own.
July 2, 2026
San Fermín Wasn’t Martyred in July, and He May Never Have Existed
Every account of San Fermín the saint follows the same script: born to a Roman senatorial family in Pamplona in the third century, converted to Christianity as a…
July 1, 2026
San Fermin’s Medieval Roots Are a City War, Not Just a Relic
Every retelling of the medieval history of San Fermín repeats the same two facts. A relic of the saint arrived in Pamplona in 1186. The church later merged…
March 17, 2026
How the Encierro Route Connects to Pamplona’s Old City
The encierro route does not exist in isolation. Every meter of the 875-meter course runs through Pamplona’s casco viejo, the medieval old city, and the path it follows…
March 15, 2026
Why the Encierro Route Has Not Changed in Centuries, And Why That Matters
The encierro route that runners take every morning during San Fermin is often described as ancient and unchanging, a path that has been the same for centuries. This…