Hull vs San Sebastian: Which city of culture is better?
How does the UK City of Culture 2017 compare with the European co-Capital of Culture 2016?
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Your support makes all the difference.Hull has unveiled its cultural calendar for next year, as UK City of Culture 2017. Coincidentally, one of the current European Capitals of Culture is another mid-sized maritime city: San Sebastian in Spain. So how do the two compare on a range of measures?
Population
San Sebastian: 186,000
Hull: 256,000
What Lonely Planet says about it …
San Sebastian: "It’s impossible to lay eyes on San Sebastian and not fall madly in love. This stunning city is cool, svelte and flirtatious by night, charming and well mannered by day."
Hull: "Though it’s not going to win any prizes for prettiness, the city has a gritty appeal for those who appreciate Britain’s industrial past and enjoy getting away from the beaten tourist path."
Average high temperature in January/July
San Sebastian: 13C/25C
Hull: 3C/16C
Aquarium
San Sebastian: The handsome Aquarium, opened in 1928, features sea creatures that are not (yet) on the menu of the city's many renowned restaurants.
Hull: The Deep is the city’s prime tourist attraction, a spectacular Millennium project that soars above the confluence of the Hull and Humber rivers — and focuses on aquatic enlightenment.
Beaches
San Sebastian: “The scallop-shaped bay of La Concha (‘The Shell’) protects a long, broad, safe and sandy beach.” (The Independent)
Hull: The nearby beach of Withernsea “is part of a strip of sand and shingle that stretches for miles in both directions”. (RNLI)
Notable football team fact
San Sebastian: The name of the local team, Real Sociedad de Futbol, translates as “Royal Society of Football”.
Hull: The only top-flight English team whose name has no letters you can colour in is Hull City.
Local dish
San Sebastian: Pintxos, the Basque take on tapas, such as bites of steak or tuna in heavenly sauces.
Hull: The Hull pattie: mashed potato with a pinch of sage, deep-fried in batter (or sometimes breadcrumbs).
Local drink
San Sebastian: The rough-edged local cider, sagardoa.
Hull: Uncertainty Principle IPA, brewed by Atom Beers.
Notable twin town
San Sebastian: Plymouth, Devon
Hull: Szczecin, Poland
Access from the capital
San Sebastian: Six flights daily from Madrid airport.
Hull: Eight trains daily from London King’s Cross.
Notable resident
San Sebastian: Queen Isabel II, who was chased away in the Glorious Revolution of 1868, leaving the property to serve as a casino, then a hospital, and now the Hotel de Londres y Inglaterra.
Hull: The poet, Philip Larkin, whose statue greets new arrivals at Hull’s Paragon railway station, and who wrote: “Sexual intercourse began in nineteen sixty-three (which was rather late for me)."
Last featured in The Independent’s 48 Hours series
San Sebastian: June 2016
Hull: Never
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