SAN SEBASTIÁN DAY: 100 YEARS SINCE THE FIRST FLAG RAISING

Bagera, gu ere bai…

Only a few hours remain until midnight. In just a short while, we will welcome San Sebastián Day, the day of our city’s patron saint. Before long, the familiar notes of the San Sebastián March will fill the streets once again, and we will sing and drum from the first moment until the day comes to an end.

January 20th is known above all as a day of celebration. It is a day that truly reflects who we are as people of San Sebastián: joyful, musical, and always ready to celebrate. To understand this spirit, one only has to look back to the origins of our anthem.

At the beginning of the 19th century, during the War of Independence, San Sebastián was occupied by French troops. In those days, the sound of military drums was a constant presence in the city. Local water carriers and cooks turned those rhythms into playful imitation, using barrels and spoons to echo the soldiers’ beats and spreading the sound throughout the streets. By the end of the century, composer Raimundo Sarriegi and writer Serafín Baroja transformed that popular tradition into the march that continues to move us today.

On January 19th, 1926, the flag of San Sebastián was raised for the first time in Plaza de la Constitución, marking the beginning of the celebration as we know it today. In just a few hours, we will be marking 100 years since that first night when the square came alive with drums, smiles, and the excitement of welcoming the most special day of the year. If this feeling has returned year after year for the people of San Sebastián, what awaits us tomorrow truly needs no words.

At Hotel Parma, just a short walk from Plaza de la Constitución, we are also celebrating, dressed in the colours of our beloved city. You are warmly invited to join us.

Gu beti pozez, beti alai!