We are not in the tranquil waters of the Spanish Levant, nor does our journey today unfold through the paradisiacal landscapes of that cradle of intrepid navigators who, from the infinite distances of Polynesia, transformed the voyage and the adventure into a truly transcendent Odyssey.
On the contrary, our adventure today, sheltered atop some dizzying cliffs, takes place in the Bay of Biscay, whose waters, peaceful at times, but generally temperamental and wild, have always tended to fill the pages of catastrophes and the most awe-inspiring legends.
Given this background and not forgetting that Cantabrian sailors have written glorious chapters of daring and sacrifice throughout a history that stretches back to the dawn of time, it shouldn't be so surprising to appreciate the interest in one of the most exciting and, at the same time, most dangerous sports in existence: surfing.
Besides Mundaka, a coastal town that has always enjoyed the fame of its left-hand wave, which for many years has attracted the attention of American and Australian surfers, any other town along this majestic natural landscape that is the Biscayan coast offers the metaphorical rider of the foam the opportunity for a challenge that involves, in addition to putting into practice the necessary test of courage to face that which surpasses us, the opportunity to feel talents emerge from within, talents that motivate that eternal desire to always go further, overcoming all obstacles and inconveniences.
It could be said, then, that practicing this sport in waters traditionally hostile to humans is another way that human daring has found to break down barriers in its constant quest for freedom. Advances and setbacks, falls amidst foaming waves, and the perseverance to get back up regardless of failures or the fallacy of pride that is breaking records, could be considered one of the best therapies for breaking biases and conditioning. Simply attempting to confront that which surpasses you, trusting in your ability and a simple wooden shield, always represents a vital test, a way to prove to yourself, far from others, just how far you can go.
And on these shores, where the odd windmill still stands—giants, in essence, that never witnessed the charge, lance in hand, of that great knight of the imagination, Don Quixote of La Mancha—the surfer, alone or in company, faces, especially in these summer months, his struggle with another, even more dangerous giant: the Cantabrian Sea.
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