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HISTORY, ART AND CULTURE
The dantzaris, dressed in their traditional costumes, pay tribute to the Privilege of the Union in front of the Pamplona City Hall
Travel notes
Navarre is a crossroads. To the nor-
th lies Nouvelle-Aquitaine (France),
to the east Aragón, to the south La
Rioja, and to the west the Basque
Country. Its accessibility and con-
nections with the rest of Spain are
excellent. From Madrid (396 km), you
can arrive either by road or by tra-
in —with the high-speed AVE taking
just three hours— and flying is also a
convenient option, with a flight time of
around one hour.
Accommodation
For a city that hosts one of Spain’s
most popular festivities (San Fermín),
Pamplona has only about 52 hotels of
varying categories. Among them, Ho-
tel Maisonnave and Hotel Pompae-
lo, both located in the heart of the old
town, are perfect bases for discovering
every corner and the true soul of the
city, as well as experiencing the Privile-
ge of the Union from the front row.
Where to eat, dine or enjoy
some pintxos
One of Pamplona’s most remarkable
gastronomic experiences is offered
by Restaurant VERDUARTE, loca-
ted inside the Baluarte Conference
Centre and Auditorium of Navarra.
Under the direction of Nacho Góma-
ra, this restaurant places the spot-
light on the essence of Navarre: its
vegetables. Blending tradition with a
generous dose of creativity, Nacho
delights diners with the best of the
local orchard, complemented by su-
perb river and Basque coastal fish,
as well as some of the finest Nava-
rrese meats.
But if Pamplona is known for
anything, it is for its pintxos—small
bites, sometimes not so small, sha-
red in the city’s most emblematic
spots with your cuadrilla or family,
always accompanied by excellent
Navarrese wines. It’s hard to choo-
se favourites, but here are a few:
Chez Belagua, La Vieja Iruña, El
Bosquecillo, Terraza Baluarte…
And at weekends, don’t miss the
local ritual of “echar el frito” du-
ring the aperitif hour (to understand
what it involves, the best advice is
simply to go and try it).
No visit to Pamplona is complete
without tasting the legendary “Ga-
rroticos de Beatriz”, perhaps the
city’s most iconic pastry. Lourdes,
its owner and a sweet soul in every
sense —not merely a literary me-
taphor— transports you through
her stories into the world of Pam-
plona’s artisans, who remain an
essential part of the city’s identity.
I would also like to express my
gratitude for two exclusive expe-
riences without which this article
would have been far more difficult
to write: enjoying a traditional meal
at the GURE-LEKU gastronomic
society and experiencing, first-
hand, a session with a pelotari—
Mikel Idoati—at Labrit.
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