Costa de Lekeitio

The Costa de Lekeitio unfolds along the mouth of the River Lea on the Cantabrian Sea, in the Lea-Artibai district of Bizkaia. Lekeitio is a seafaring town that prospered as a whaling port in the Middle Ages and as a deep-sea fishing base well into the twentieth century. That maritime past has left a historic centre of narrow streets, manor houses bearing noble coats of arms, and a Gothic basilica — the Asunción de Nuestra Señora — whose fifteenth-century Flemish altarpiece is considered one of the most important in the Basque Country. The old-town streets retain their original medieval layout, with covered arcades offering shelter from the rain and small squares where locals gather in the evening.

Isuntza beach occupies the bay formed by the harbour, with fine sand and waters relatively sheltered from open swell. From the sand itself, the view reaches the island of San Nicolás (Garraitz in Basque), a wooded islet connected to the mainland at low tide via a stone-and-sand causeway. Walking across to the island when the tide drops is an experience governed by the sea's timetable: check the tide tables and allow enough time, as the water rises quickly and can strand visitors. The island once housed a Franciscan convent that served as a quarantine hospital during plague outbreaks, and remains of its walls still stand among the vegetation that has colonised the islet.

Karraspio beach, on the far side of the headland, is longer — about 500 metres — and more exposed to swell, making it a spot for surfing and bodyboarding. The cliffs flanking both beaches offer coastal paths with views of the Cantabrian Sea and the Bizkaia shoreline. The local flysch — alternating layers of limestone and marl sculpted by the sea into stepped forms — is visible in the intertidal zone and is part of the same geological formation extending along the entire Basque coast from Deba to Barrika.

Lekeitio's cuisine centres on fresh Cantabrian fish. The harbour maintains daily fishing activity, with landings of anchovy, mackerel, bonito, and hake depending on the season. The old-town bars serve fish-based pintxos at the counter — marinated anchovy, hake croquettes, baby squid with onion — and several restaurants work with catch brought straight from the auction hall. Lekeitio anchovy, prepared in traditional brine curing, has a local tradition predating the industrialisation of canning on the Basque coast.

The San Antolín festivities in the first week of September feature the antzar jokua tradition (the goose game), a test of strength and balance in which participants hang from a rope stretched across the harbour. Documented since the seventeenth century, this event draws the entire district and retains a format essentially unchanged over centuries. Trails leading from the harbour towards Mendexa and Ea follow cliff sections where green pasture reaches the very edge of the drop — a coastal landscape typical of the eastern Cantabrian, where cattle grazing land meets the dark blue of the sea.