How long have you been surfing in Zurriola?

Janire Virgala (J.V. ): I have been here for about ten years, despite the stops I have made. Since I started surfing in Zurriola, and also in Zarautz.

Jabi Iraizoz (J.I. ): I started about 20-22 years ago.

June Torrealdai (J.T. ): I surf here and in Zarautz, about sixteen years ago.

Arkaitz Bardaji (A.B. ): I started about twenty years ago, and I usually surf in the Zurriola, but like the other surfers, I do whenever I can, depending on the conditions of the sea: In Ipar Euskal Herria, in Zarautz, etc. La Zurriola is our daily beach.

What drew you from surfing?

J. Virgala: At first I was attracted by the desire to know the sport, but then, above all, the connection you feel with the sea. It connects you to nature and yourself; after all, the wave and you are confronted.

J. Iraizoz: My first contact with surfing was at 14 years old, with a BZ brand cork, on the old beach of Zurriola. Then, I learned how to surf with some old tables that someone brought, starting from scratch. For me, surfing is a habit, it's not just a sport. It has a physical aspect, but it goes much further: it has always been there, in the face of all the difficulties that my life has created. When you have a problem, even if you feel bad, you say: “Go into the water, you’ll be better.” I've never regretted getting into the water, because I think it always makes you feel better.

J. Torrealdai: I've been playing sports since I was young, and for many years I played soccer in Añorga. But when I was about 18 years old, I had the opportunity to surf, and I saw that it was a sport that besides having a great connection with nature, for me it was therapeutic. When I had bad moments, I would somehow save myself, because in the water you forgot all the bad things. In addition, I was very attracted by the close relationship between surfing and nature and the environment in the surf world: at that time there was a lot of atmosphere in the water. The surfing philosophy itself hooked me up a lot, and the monitors I had helped me a lot.

A. Bardaji: I've always liked to play sports. I lost many years in football, before I had to start surfing [laughing]. Surf is very good, because you can do it alone, because you can do it with your friends, because it puts you in touch with nature, etc. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter what your level is, because the same pleasure is felt by a professional who takes a wave of five meters, a normal surfer who takes three meters and another who takes the metro and a half. For example, when my children take a five-centimeter wave, the happiness you see in their faces is the same as when a professional makes a three-meter tube. What I love most about surfing is that it gives you immediate satisfaction. You get easily hooked up by that.

What is the surf community of the beach of Zurriola?

A. Bardaji: There is a surf community and indeed we all have friends that we have made around surfing; we four, for example, have known each other about surfing. However, it is not a closed community of yesteryear, it is very changing. Small groups are often created depending on the place where they shower or the monitors they have had. That has many advantages, but it also has its drawbacks, as surfing is a very selfish sport in many ways.

J. Iraizoz: However, for me, we now have a good opportunity to bring the community together, within the framework of the artificial waves project. That is, it is a good opportunity to awaken and raise awareness to those people who do not feel part of a community, and also to debate among us. So we realize that we're not just fools who spend the whole day in the water, and we can do a lot of things together.

Is awareness of the Antondegi project intensifying?

J. Virgala: Yeah, because surfing gives you that. I mean, what you owe to the sea; I, at least, have lived it like this. So even though I was previously environmentally conscious, I've become more aware of surfing, because I want to take care of the environment that I enjoy. For example, when I get out of the water, I pick up all the plastics I find along the way, and I do things as small as these. And a project like Antondegi's goes against all of that. In fact, it comes from destruction and economic and particular interests.

J. Torrealdai: I participated in the creation of the Women Surflari project precisely for these reasons. To improve the situation of women surfers, we saw the need to weave networks, and we managed to make them more visible. To develop this networking, my colleague Lo Eizagirre and I shared with surfers what it was for us and how we lived what the sea gave us. The project of artificial waves doesn't give you that, because in addition to the destruction it will cause, it breaks all that philosophy. In my opinion, this is an exclusively competitive project, as it has the sole objective of turning children into professional surfers. But surfing is much more than competition.

What is the opinion of the surf community of Donostia on the Antondegi project?

A. Bardaji: There are many contradictions. There is everything, but I believe that our arguments are very clear: they will cause a tremendous ecological damage four kilometres from the sea to make an unnecessary artificial wave. If you thought about destroying a section of Ulía at the tip of the mountain to make a bullring, people would say, we're crazy!

But what about the artificial wave? I think all the surfers of the world would like to surf in that wave, because it's very tempting: the wave is always the same and it's perfect for working the movements and the technique. So I say there are a lot of contradictions in the community, surely because many people think the same thing as me, but the desire to surf in that wave blinds them. It makes no sense for an artificial wave to be made four kilometers from the sea and on public land, and it is also assumed that the company [Wavegarden] has 60 projects open around the world, so it does not need to develop a project of this kind here. In addition, the massification of San Sebastian would increase, and the city no longer needs anything else to attract tourists, because it has enough charm to do so.

The company has sold the facilities as a water park in other countries, such as South Korea and Australia, where artificial wave parks have already been built. Will it not be the same? Of course! It's a candy, and a lot of people will come to Donostia with the excuse of the artificial wave, but they'll also go to the beaches, and they'll become even more crowded.

J. Iraizoz: Citizens do not have enough information, and we are offering that information so that people can speak on the beach. Many animals live in Antondegi and it is a particularly important area for birds: According to the societies of Aranzadi, SEO-Birdlife and Itsas Enara, there are between 15 and 18 species of mammals and 109 species of birds living there are either resting or nesting. In addition, it is a key space in the city's ecological corridor network. The arguments are very logical, but they trick us into visual caramel and they don't let us see everything underneath. I mean, what are the agreements behind this? Why is the project of a public plot awarded directly to a single company? In the plenary we are taking steps in that direction, and when I got into the water, I see that people are very grateful for the work that we are doing.

This type of project has stopped in some places.

J. Virgala: They sell it to us as a cutting-edge project, as if every city wanted to have one, but it's not that nice. In Catalonia, Málaga and San Juan de Luz projects similar to those of Bengoetxea VI and Valencia have been paralyzed.

J. Iraizoz: On the other hand, currently the main plant of the company is located in Aizarnazabal, 25 kilometers from here. However, another argument used by Wavegarden is that there are few accesses to the web to get there. If you look at the environment through Google Earth, you'll see that there are accesses and that, with what's already degraded in that area, there's room to make three artificial wave pools. There's nothing like that in Antondegi. On the other hand, I would say that since the installation of Wavegarden in Aizarnazabal, they have not organised an open day for the Gipuzkoans. On the contrary, they have invited many professional surfers and influencers. This helps you learn about the company’s modus operandi. Furthermore, if all the Gipuzkoa conservation associations tell you that the Antondegi project is an aberration against the environment, what environmental research are you going to take to argue that it is sustainable? We live in the age of green bleaching, and that's very dangerous.

J. Torrealdai: In addition, in the current situation, after the pandemic has left people, are we going to spend public money on such a project? Perhaps it would not be wrong to turn around the hostels in San Sebastian. How many people are on the street in the city? We have to prioritize, but we know who the people they send in the city hall are, and the project of artificial waves will serve to extol themselves. Everyone wants to put their medal.

Has the City Council contacted the surf community?

J. Virgala: No, and in Wavegarde too. The company has contacted some individuals in the group, but nothing else.

A. Bardaji: The City Council has never taken us into account at all, for example, it has never contacted us to take action on ratios in surf schools. Other information: In the Zurriola there are collective cabinas, but they only open in summer. That's why, in winter, those who come from other municipalities to surf pass in the street, at zero degrees. At the Concha, the cabins are open all year for people who bathe every day.

J. Iraizoz: We also don't have emergency responders throughout the year.

A. Bardaji: If the City Hall took the surf community into account in a project of this kind, things could be raised differently. It's not possible to agree this between politicians and business, and then make it public.

J. Iraizoz: When we made our arguments and all the information public, the company became angry and now it seems that it is a debate between the company and us. But in no way does the City Council have the last word and it should give explanations. Much work remains to be done on this very beach, as it is the most massive beach in Europe. I know that some surf schools have tried to contact the town hall to present the massification and management plans for coexistence between bathers and surfers. There is also a great deal of work to be done here in the field of relief, as surfers get a lot of people out of the water in winter.

J. Torrealdai: Invest here and here. We're full of words saying we're Donostiarras, but we're investing money for those outside.

Is the feeling of lack of relationships widespread in the community?

A. Bardaji: The City Hall has sold San Sebastian as Surf City, and the community has shown itself quite united against it. I can't speak for the whole community, of course, but the feeling is that it is. We have always said that it is not possible for the beach to be filled with tourists coming to surf, and that there are waves of three meters, a person who has never surfed can rent a table. It is not regulated.

That's why they can't sell us Antondegi's project as something beneficial to the city. The benefit for Wavegarden. If the company is so solvent, buy a land that is already degraded and build whatever it wants, but do not give it a natural public land for it. The City Council must give explanations in this regard. If the Antondegi Green-Waves platform had not been created at sea, the project would have been carried out and nobody here would know anything. Now, at least, there has been a discussion on the beach.

J. Iraizoz: I think it is time to reflect. We have to analyse who we are and what we want, as well as analyse what the City Hall’s intentions are and give the opportunity to those responsible for explaining. That is why I believe that all this will serve to make an exhaustive diagnosis of the intentions of the surf community and the City Hall.

From the technical point of view of surfing, is an artificial surf park useful?

A. Bardaji: It's undeniable that it's technically useful, because if you put the same wave all the time to train a certain movement, it's obvious that you'll improve that movement. However, it is not real, as there are no two waves at sea. It's good for technical improvement, but it's bad for those who start doing it. In fact, whoever starts there doesn't know what a current is, what is the priority in a wave, or what it is to go wrong in the water. All the principles of surfing stay in nowhere.

J. Iraizoz: This goes hand in hand with overcrowding. A lot of people who have money are going to send their kids to the artificial surf park to learn, because they're going to feel safer. After all, if you have any problems, you give it to a button and the waves will stop. They will learn to surf very quickly, but then they will come to the beach without knowing how to read the sea, and the area will be massified even more.

J. Torrealdai: Values are also lost. When you start surfing, you gradually learn the philosophy of surfing, but in the artificial wave you do whatever you want, there is no education.

J. Virgala: It's also more elitist, because you'll have to see how many people will be able to pay to be able to learn and train in the artificial surf park. Many surfers say they would go to train once a week. And is it my question, by going to train once a week, you're willing to make such a mess? We would all like to try the artificial wave, but is it worth it? And would there be room for everyone?

Has the Massification of Surfing in Donostia come?

A. Bardaji: No, it's on the rise. With the pandemic, street sports have increased, and there are more people than ever in the water. The schools and the schools that we teach our children can be part of the blame, but if you make an installation of artificial waves, the massification will increase ten times more.

J. Virgala: In addition, surf has its own natural selection: many people start surfing, but not all of them follow. But with the artificial waves, most of those starting there will continue, as they will quickly get an orderly technical level.

Will you keep fighting?

J. Iraizoz: We are collecting signatures against the project and we will continue with it for the time being, because we want to generate debate in society. On the other hand, with a view to the future, we envisage some mobilisation.

J. Torrealdai: It is essential to mobilize so that people know what is going on.

J. Virgala: Let people be clear that the project can be paralyzed.