Getaria, Gipuzkoa, a coastal town in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa
Its most famous sons are Juan Sebastián Elcano, capitain of the Nao Victoria, Admiral Miguel de Oquendo, who commanded the Guipúzcoa Squadron of the Spanish Armada, the explorer Domingo de Bonechea, and the couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre.
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In May 2012, a two-man team from Getaria won Google's "Model Your Town" competition by creating a complete 3D representation of their hometown.
Actually, the linguist Henri Gavel put down the name of the town to the Gascon word getari, 'post for watching' (the whales), while this assumption has been disputed by current linguists, who trace the name back to latin caetaria, 'fish processing facility', supported by archaeological evidence unearthed both in Guéthary and the same name Getaria from Gipuzkoa.
Whaling was, for a long period of time, an important industry in the Basque Country, which is illustrated by the shield of the village of Getaria in Lapurdi
In 2010, Fundaciónn Eduardo Domínguez Lobato and Círculo de Artesanos, in collaboration with the City Council and the promoters of the idea, grant the first Circumnavigation to Culture and History Awards, being first winners the cities of Sabrosa (birthplace of Ferdinand Magellan in Portugal), Getaria (birthplace of Juan Sebastián Elcano) and Sanlúcar de Barrameda itself (start and end of the expedition trip).