Extreme Weather in San Sebastián

Oops.

I was crossing this bridge approximately thirty minutes before this happened—before a gigantic wave crashed so forcefully into the Santa Catalina bridge that it ripped the stone sides right off. In San Sebastián, we are used to big waves around this time of year.

The last year's temporal brought us some waves that washed out Paseo Nuevo, the street that runs around the Jesus mountain.  And this year's, which happened in the wee hours of the morning today, washed railings off of two bridges and the beautiful historic white railing of La Concha, brought the Ondaretta beach up onto the promenade and park, and flooded part of the old part. You can see this firsthand in a bunch of videos last night's partygoers uploaded to YouTube around 6am.

Today, police tape rings the city, and every single DSLR camera in the city has been dusted off and taken for a walk by its owner. And no wonder. The calm after the storm was...gorgeous.

If you could see it through the crowds, that is.

Donosti is covered in rubble. But the atmosphere is oddly festive. Moral of the story? When life gives you gigantic destructive waves, make a great Sunday plan!

#basquestuff #thesepeoplehavebeenaroundthousandsofyearsforareason