Drone Videos of Spain's Basque Country

Planet Pixels created this magnificent aerial view of the great Basque city of San Sebastian, one of the most famous tourist destinations in Spain.  Sometimes called Donostia, it's the capital of Gipuzkoa, the northeasternmost of the three provinces of the Basque Country region.  Situated at the mouth of the Urumea River, San Sebastian was the site of a key battle during the Peninsula War of the Napoleonic years, and later was an epicenter of some of the worst violence of the Spanish Civil War.  

Gorobel is the Basque word for 'Sierra de Sálvada', a mountain that marks the natural limit between the Basque Country in northwestern Spain and the neighboring region of Castille. Its steep slopes in the north frequently produce the Föhn effect, by which the humid air that rises from the valley condenses, forming clouds and rains.  Contributor Toniobodon used a drone to create a stunning aerial view of this magnificent mountain, which has an altitude of just under 1.2k meters (about 3.8k ft).  

Contributor Toniobodon created this stunning drone video of a hike to the top of Anboto, the highest peak of the Urkiola Mountains in the Basque Country of northwestern Spain.  The mountain stands just over 1.3k meters (about 4.4k ft) above sea level, and the Urkiola Mountains form the drainage divide between the Mediterranean and Atlantic Basins of Europe.  In recognition of its natural beauty as well as its importance to Basque culture, the mountain and its surroundings are now part of a national park.  

Contributor Aitor made this very creative video reminding us of the turbulent history of Spain's Basque provinces.  Basque Country was one of the key theater's in Spain's brutal civil war, which raged from 1936-1939.  Basque Country was one of the critical areas in the so-called War of the North, which raged throughout much of 1937.  The War of the North included the pivotal Battle of Bilbao and the deliberate terror-bombing of the city of Guernica, the latter memorialized by Picasso's famous painting.  

Spain's Basque Country region was once one of the most important iron mining areas in the world, and its iron ore resources served as the base to create what was once one of the world's most advanced metalworking industries.  In this drone video by contributor and pilot dronostia, you'll get a bird's eye view of an important reminder of this rich industrial history.  It's the remains of an iron ore loading platform near Zarautz in Gipuzkoa, the northeasternmost of the three Basque Country provinces. 

Contributor dronostia used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 to create this beautiful aerial of a famous church in Northwestern Spain.  It's the San Sebastián Cathedral, and it's located in the city of the same name in the Basque semi-autonomous region.  With a design inspired by the Cathedral of Cologne (Germany), the church was consecrated in 1897 and upgraded to cathedral status in the 1950's.  San Sebastián Cathedral is considered one of the biggest cultural attractions in Basque Country.  

Spain's Basque Country is home to one of the geological wonders of the world.  Along the Bay of Biscay coast near the town of Zumaia is one of the longest continuous rock formations on earth.  The formation runs for about 8 km (around 5 mi.), with Zumaia roughly in the middle.  In this drone video by contributor and pilot dronostia, you'll get an aerial view of the Itzurun Beach, which lies on one side of Zumaia.    The beach is also home to the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe islet, kinown to Game of Thrones fans as Dragonstone.

Contributor Alvaro55 used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this stunning aerial video of Urkulu, a mountain in Spain's Basque Country.  Part of the Western Pyrenees, the mountain has a height of just over 1.4k meters (about 4.6k ft.).  It sits more or less on the border with France, to the southeast of the port of San Sebastian (also known as Donostia).  Topped with a Roman tower, the moutnain is one of the more idyllic spots in the northwestern part of Spain and is accessible without climbing gear.  

Check out this drone video of a famous monastery in northern Spain, compliements of contributor Alfonso. The Monasterio de Leyre is located in the region of Navarre, an autonomous region of Spain which sits between Basque Country and Aragon.  The structure dates to the 9th century AD, although it was more or less completely rebuilt in the 16th century.  The monastery is located on the Camino de Santiago, a historical pilgrimmage route which ends in the Galicia region in the country's northwestern corner.  

Alvaro55 used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this marvelous aerial tour of the rural landscapes in Spain's Basque Country.  Basque Country is a historical region which covers the areas around the "corner" of the Bay of Biscay, on both the French and Spanish sides of the border.  Geographically isolated, the territory was late to be conquered by Rome and then never fully subjugated compared to the rest of France and Spain.  These and related factors combined to produce a highly distinctive, seafaring culture.  

Spain's Basque Country is home to some of the most beautiful scenery in Europe.  Unusually, there is really no real coastal plain here - the mountains essentially drop right down to the sea.  The ample rainfall turns the mountains a deep shade of green, and the red roofs of many of structures in the area present an amazingly colorful display.  In this drone video by EBMDrone, you'll get an aerial tour of the area around Ibarranguelua, a town which lies a short distance northeast of the city of Bilbao.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is a tiny tidal island which lies just meters/feet off the coast of Spain's Basque Country, on the Bay of Biscay.  This fairly obscure spot was seen by millions for the first time when it appeared as a filming location for Season 7 of HBO's Game of Thrones, which first aired in the summer of 2017.  Since then, it's become known as "Dragonstone" the CGI-generated castle which sits atop the island on the fictitious "Blackwater Bay" and was the name of the Season 7 premiere episode.    

Txindoki is one of the iconic mountains of Spain's Basque Country.  Like the other mountains which run through this semi-autonomous region of nothern Spain, it sits just a short distance inland from the Bay of Biscay coastline.  It forms the westernmost major peak of the Aralar Mountains, a subchain of the larger Basque Mountains system.  Seen here in this drone video, the mountain is sometimes called the Basque Matterhorn in reference to its symmetrical shape.  It's a popular rock-climbing destination.  

Check out this drone video from Spain's Basque Country, compliments of mikelra.  It was filmed in the area around the Maroño, which is part of the municipality of Alaya in the province of  Álava.  Álava is the southernmost of the three provinces which make up the semi-autonomous Basque Country region.  Unlike the other two provinces (Biscay and Gipuzkoa), Álava is an inland province.  It's also the most lightly populated of the three provinces, despite being the largest in terms of land area.  

The Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) was one of Europe's most important pilgrimage routes.  The most-traveled portion of the route ran westwards through northern Spain toward the ultimate destination: the Camino de Santiago in Galicia.  In this drone video by Alfonso, you'll get an aerial glimpse of one of the more important churches on the fabled route: the Church of Saint Mary of Eunate.  It's located in the semi-automous region of Navarre, which lies between Aragon and Basque Country.

Alvaro55 created this nice aerial view of a forest in the western Pyrenees Mountains in northern Spain.  It's called the Irati Forest, and it's one of Europe's largest beach-fir forests.  It's primarily located in the Spanish semi-autonomous region of Navarre, with a portion in the adjacent part of France.   The forest occupies some of the most remote territory in Spain.  While Navarre is considered one of the Basque provinces along with the three provinces in the Basque Community region to its west. 

The area around the town of Zumaia in Spain's Basque Country region was fairly well known long before the Game of Thrones filming crews descended on this area along the Bay of Biscay.  What it was known for in the first instance is its highly unusual rock formations along its coastline known as the Flysch.  These rocks were formed by patterns of sedimentation and erosion which are nearly unique in the world.  Seen in this drone video by Occi Vids, the Flysch are part of the Basque Coast UNESCO Geopark.  

Spain's culturally distinctive Basque Country region is home to a maritime tradition that goes back many centuries.  One of the best ways to appreciate this heritage is to visit the Basque Maritime Museum.  It's located on a natural harbor in the town of Pasajes San Pedro, just east of the city of San Sebastian in the Gipuzkoa province.  In this drone video by contributor dronosia, you'll get a bird's eye view of the museum as well as the surrounding area along the water.  The video was shot with a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone.