Since the beginning of my traveling history, San Sebastián It has been placed in my personal top of the most beautiful and charming cities that you can visit in Spain.
It was at the beginning of the first trip I took by car through Europe, when I was barely 18 years old, when I discovered the incredible charm of this city.
Since then, several of its corners and experiences have remained in my traveling memory, so over the years I have tried to repeat them.
The beautiful image of the Playa de la Concha (the most beautiful in Spain?), or the Barri Vell and its tapas bars, where I discovered the genuine charm of this gastronomic experience.
El fishing port, with that flavor that the Cantabrian ports had then; or the Mount Igueldo, with its 1912 funicular, the charm of its almost toy amusement park, and its spectacular panoramic views of the bay.
But, without a doubt, what specifically impacted me the most on that first trip was finding with Alfonso Sanchez, the most popular and television film critic of the time.
The traditional international Film Festival which since 1943 has taken place every September, and in this fortuitous meeting I dared to exchange a few words with him when he was leaving the Hotel Maria Cristina to go to the next Victoria Eugenia Theater, main venue of the event.
Since then, said hotel was also associated with my image of this beautiful city of Euskadi.
But actually the Hotel Maria Cristina It has always been part of the image of tradition and special charm that this Basque city has.
Since its inauguration in 1912, elegance and glamor with style Belle Epoque They are characteristics of the hotel that bears the name of the queen regent who inaugurated it.
Designed by the architect of the Ritz hotels, Hotel Maria Cristina During its long history it has received the most illustrious visitors to the city.
But this story is especially linked to that of the aforementioned film festival, since all the big stars who have attended it have stayed in the luxurious hotel.
The list is endless, and includes directors like Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel, Francis Ford Coppola o Steven Spielberg.
Also actors like Kirk Douglas, Richard Burton o Fernando Rey, and actresses like Deborah Kerr, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor o Argentine Empire.
With a five-star rating since 1987, in the Hotel Maria Cristina A comprehensive renovation was carried out just before its centenary celebration, reopening its doors in July 1912.
El Hotel Maria Cristina maintains in the decoration of rooms and common areas the classic style of the Belle Epoque that have always characterized it, although with the inclusion of more feminine colors such as gray, turquoise, lilac and gold.
In this way, your luxury and glamor remains associated with the traditional image of the city of San Sebastián.
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For me San Sebastián is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, it has style, class and elegance. I only stayed at the María Cristina once, and it was wonderful. To how beautiful the city is we must add its magnificent gastronomy and pintxos culture. A place I return to again and again