SAN SEBASTIN

town, capital of Guipzcoa provincia, in the Basque Country comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), north-central Spain. It is a fashionable seaside resort at the mouth of the canalized Urumea River on the Bay of Biscay, east of Bilbao, near the French frontier. First mentioned in a document of 1014, it was granted a charter of rights and privileges by Sancho the Wise of Navarre in about 116090. In 1813 the town burned after Anglo-Portuguese troops took it from the French during the Peninsular War. It was formerly the summer residence of the Spanish royal court. Its old Basque name is Donostia. The old town and harbour occupy an isthmus between the mainland and Mount Urgull, on whose summit stands the 16th-century Mota Castle. The well-planned modern town extends across both banks of the Urumea and to the broad beaches on La Concha bay, site of the famous regattas that take place on the Feast of Saint Sebastin (January 20). In the old town are the Gothic church of San Vicente (1507), the Baroque church of Santa Mara (174364), and the former convent of San Telmo (153151), now a museum with a Basque ethnographic section. The new town has the notable neo-Gothic cathedral of El Buen Pastor (The Good Shepherd). Aside from tourism, the chief sources of income are fishing and the manufacture of cement, chemical and metallurgical products, phonograph records, beer, and chocolate. La Concha beaches attract thousands of visitors annually, as do annual international jazz and film festivals. Pop. (1986 est.) 175,507.