Mundaka is on fire

As Hurricane Epsilon spun off the coast of Europe, Mundaka, the Basque Country’s mythical point break, woke up from its summer slumber to bring Natxo González, Kepa Acero, Aritz Aranburu, Leo Fioravanti and friends 24 hours of classic conditions.

Febrero en Mundaka

Febrero en Mundaka from margruesa.com

Some of the highlights of February.

Natxo González starts the year in the best way

Natxo González and friends spend the first hours of 2018 in Mundaka.

Photo: Jon Aspuru

Kepa Acero, reflections after the accident in Mundaka.

Kepa Acero broke his neck at his most favourite wave in the world. "Reflections" tells his story of the incident, his five month rehab with the aim of getting back where he belongs - Mundakas sand dredging rivermouth.

Save Mundaka

It’s always been a fickle wave, sure. But after the wave failed to show up in 2004 following a huge dredging project stripped away some 300,000 cubic meters of magic barrel-making sand from the mouth of the Oka river, Mundaka’s left was simply gone. For two years. Then, slowly, it began to come back to life as its precious sand was naturally replenished, and it resumed its freight-training ways, much to the delight of Europe.

But now the same forces that conspired to de-sand the bank back in 2004 are at it again. Local authorities have commenced dredging the mouth of the Oka again, this time a mere stone’s throw from the Atlantic, all in an effort to rebuild nearby Laida Beach. Just like a decade ago, a combination of severe winter storms and a lack of rain have stripped away much of the sand at Laida, an important tourist beach across from Mundaka that generates truckloads of Euros for the local community. In response, the beach fronting the break at Mundaka, which is positively loaded with sand, is being sacrificed to rebuild its neighbor.

Unlike 2003/2004 however, local surfers, backed by the Save The Waves organization, are armed with Twitter and (more importantly) economic statistics that show the importance of surf-tourism to the town of Mundaka. Local surfers are waging a social media campaign to #SaveMundaka, and should you feel so inclined, here is a petition you can sign to show your support.

Save Mundaka!!

Oier Bartolome vs Barrels

From the hand of Javier Sobrado Lasheras comes this edit with surfing manufactured by

Oier Bartholomew and gopro in some good tubes in Mundaka and Landes.

SAVE MUNDAKA!!