Monte Pagasarri

This guide to Monte Pagasarri, the forested peak above Bilbao, opens with a coin-collecting scheme that funded the summit's Fuente Tarin fountain in the early twentieth century, after generations of thirsty hikers found no water at the top. It reaches further back to the mountain's ice pits, cut into the slope as early as the seventeenth century, where workers packed rolled snowballs into blocks that mule trains hauled down to the city. You'll hear how that ice cooled fever patients and spiked lemonade with txakoli wine long before refrigeration existed. Bring water for the climb, or trust the fountain's namesake tradition.