Kaixo Kaptain Kenny readers!

What’s the word ‘kaixo’ you ask? Well it’s ‘hello’ in the local tongue of the city of San Sebastian. “They don’t speak Spanish there?”

Nope.

I have heard a lot of people remark that they wanted to go to San Sebastian for a Spanish language holiday, only to find out that the local tongue was Basque.

“Basque (/bæsk/ or /bɑːsk/; Basque: Euskara, IPA: [eus̺ˈkaɾa]) is a language isolate ancestral to the Basque people. The Basque are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, the Basque Country, a region that spans the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France.”

Now before I receive a threatening email from San Sebastian’s tourism board, I can assure you that there are Spanish-speaking language schools which do offer this to foreigners. The difference however will be your application of the language. Last year I went to Valencia for a month to do an intensive Spanish course and after class you really want to put your newly learned skills to the test at the supermarket, in restaurants, at cafes and so on. So in my humble opinion, I’m just not 100% sure that San Sebastian is the right choice for this. (In saying that, Valencia does have its own dialect of Spanish but most people can speak regular Spanish too.)

However…..

It’s an absolutely perfect day trip if you’re in the area! I was surprised really by how picturesque it was (and *calm*) in relation to other Spanish cities. We were based in a small seaside town in France near Biarritz and decided to hop in the car (about an hour) and drive to San Sebastian for a day.

As you can see from the photos, it was a good choice! I’ll let them tell the story but like always, if you have any questions, just get in touch 🙂

Kaptain Kenny has an Instagram account with the latest photos from trips so be sure to follow us. Click here.

“Basque (/bæsk/ or /bɑːsk/; Basque: Euskara, IPA: [eus̺ˈkaɾa]) is a language isolate ancestral to the Basque people. The Basque are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, the Basque Country, a region that spans the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France.”