BASQUE COUNTRY - France 2014 - page 801

Tourist Information: The TI faces the fish market next to the harbor (July-Aug
daily 10:00-14:00 & 16:00-20:00; Sept-June Tue-Sat 10:30-13:30 & 16:00-19:00, Sun
10:00-14:00, closed Mon; tel. [phone], www.lekeitio.com ).
Sleeping in Lekeitio: $$ Emperatriz Zita Hotel is the obvious best bet for your
beach-townbreak.It'snamedforEmpressZita(wholivedhereinexileafterherHabsburg
family lost World War I and was booted from Vienna). Zita's mansion burned down, but
this 1930s rebuild still has a belle époque aristocratic charm, solid classy furniture in 42
spacious rooms, real hardwood floors, and an elegant spa in the basement. Located on the
beachafewstepsfromtheharbor,withhandyfreeparkingandaviewrestaurant,it'safine
value (Sb-€60-77, Db-€70-101, Db suite-€103-134, views—ask for vistas del mar —are
worth it, prices can be higher July-Aug and Sat all year, extra bed-€25, breakfast-€10, el-
evator, free Wi-Fi, Santa Elena Etorbidea, tel. [phone], www.aisiahoteles.com , lekei-
[e-mail] ). The hotel also has a thermal seawater pool, a Jacuzzi, and a full-
service spa (all available at reasonable prices).
Eating in Lekeitio: Although it's sleepy off-season, the harbor promenade is made-
to-order in summer for a slow meal or a tapas crawl. Restaurante Kaia offers a mostly
seafood menu, with a €15 fixed-priced lunch (Tue-Sat lunch and dinner, Sun dinner only,
closed Mon, on the harbor at Txatxo Kaia 5, tel. [phone]).
Guernica / Gernika
The workaday market town of Guernica (GEHR-nee-kah) is near and dear to Basques
and pacifists alike. This is the site of the Gernikako Arbola—the oak tree of Gernika,
whichmarkedtheassemblypointwheretheregionalBasqueleaders,theLordsofBizkaia,
met through the ages to assert their people's freedom. Long the symbolic heart of Basque
separatism, it was also a natural target for Franco (and Hitler) in the Spanish Civil
War—resultinginaninfamousbombingraidthatleftthetowninruins(see“TheBombing
of Guernica” sidebar), as immortalized by Picasso in his epic work Guernica .