Three Years ago I visited Basque Country, in Northern Spain. I remember the weather was great even though it was December, right before Christmas.

On Dec 21st in San Sebastian there was The Fair of Santo Tomás (Saint Thomas). A must if you find yourself there at the time of event! All the locals (or a really big majority of them) who attended the event were dressed in traditional clothes. Women wore a traditional skirt or dress, while men wore a black beret and a blue and white bandana around the neck.

The atmosphere was amazing, people laughing, talking loudly, everyone very relaxed… typically Spanish 🙂

And the unusal thing was that the center of the event was a pig! Yes, a huge pig that everyone had to see.

Santo Tomás Fair is a hugely popular major farmers’ market in Basque Country. The Fair dates back to the mid-19th century, when most land was cultivated by farmers who would traditionally come to San Sebastián to pay the landowners their annual rent. The leaseholders would take advantage of this day to sell their wares and buy other products which they couldn’t obtain in their own villages.

The star attraction of the fair is always a pig on the Constitution Square (locally known as la Consti).

The pig in the photo was named Maikruz and weighted 380 kilos. 

An interesting name for a pig 🙂