Mikel Ayestaran

It is a small green oasis on the seashore, a mountainous, beachy and urban territory at the same time, but whose heart is inland.
I am Mikel Ayestaran (Beasain, 1975), a journalist specialized in the Middle East and a writer. I have lived in Jerusalem with my family for six years and from here I travel throughout the region to cover the news.
Gipuzkoa is a small green oasis on the seashore, a mountainous, beachy and urban territory at the same time, with a coast where Donostia or Zarautz are a showcase to the world, but whose heart is inland.
For a person who travels so much and lives 3,000 km away, Gipuzkoa means home and closeness. The dominating image of Txindoki seen from Nafarroako Etorbidea in Beasain comes to my mind. I grew up in the foothills of this Big Brother-like stone mountain that watches over everything in the Goierri area.