Donostiako Bulebarra

This guide to the Boulevard in San Sebastian opens on a rainy Monday in May 1863, when half the town turned out to watch centuries of fortress walls finally come down. For generations the ramparts had locked the old fishing town in each night, gates shut on a timer, and the city had begged the crown for permission to tear them apart. Civil governor Benito Canella Meana and mayor Eustasio Amilibia were both on hand for the moment, and sections of the original stonework are said to still lie buried beneath the car park under this promenade.