Two initiatives linked to cider heritage are moving forward in Astigarraga. On the one hand, carpentry students from three vocational training schools are restoring the cider press of the Erbetegi-Etxeberri farmhouse, a 17th-century piece more than 400 years old. On the other, the mayor, Xabier Urdangarin, announced on 20 November, at the Sagardo Forum technical sessions, that the former Cementos Rezola factory will be refurbished to house heritage related to wood, apples and cider.

Dolareak, a three-way workshop

The restoration of the press is part of Dolareak, a project run by the Peio Martikorena Foundation in collaboration with Astigarraga Town Council and three schools from the New Aquitaine–Euskadi–Navarre Euroregion: CIP Donibane, from Navarre; EASO Politeknikoa, from Gipuzkoa; and the Compagnons centre, from Lapurdi. The Euroregion co-funds it through its 2025 Euroregional Citizenship call. According to the call’s project sheet, the training placement would last fifteen days for twelve students.

The project was presented on 23 October at the municipal warehouse, where the students demonstrated their work live. Urdangarin summed up its aims in three: restoring old cider presses, training young people in traditional carpentry trades and fostering cross-border cooperation through a multilingual programme. “This is the continuation of a journey that began 5 centuries ago, but this is not its last stop,” said the mayor.

The students will clean the wood to assess its condition, apply a protective treatment and learn how a press was put together. Iban de la Fuente, a teacher at Compagnons, pointed out that old wood usually ends up being burnt and that, unlike new wood, “it has to be worked by hand”. Once the press has been assembled, the wood will be dated and a 3D scan will be made for use in teaching materials. The Town Council is looking into where to install the press, which is very large, so that it can be visited.

A double-screw press

The Erbetegi-Etxeberri farmhouse was divided into two homes, lived in by the Goikoetxea and Izeta families. Its press is the only one known to survive with a double screw and an animal-driven matxaka, the crusher. The press was operated by hand and each screw needed four people. Most of the must was sold in the bars of San Sebastián. Each pressing filled a barrikote (barrel) and, when the cider was ready, the neighbours were called to taste it by playing the txalaparta. The Goikoetxeas were crucial to preserving that instrument: it was with them that Juan Mari Beltran and the brothers Joxean and Jesus Mari Artze learnt to play it.

Rezola, a space for wood and cider

The former cement works still stands on the banks of the Urumea, in the Ergobia district. According to Urdangarin, the refurbishment will be carried out in collaboration with the Peio Martikorena Foundation and the new space will be opened to the public with participatory initiatives. The design will be in the hands of the Navarrese architect Jabier Lekuona, whose studio, Lekuona Arkitektura, renovated the Albaola shipyard in Pasaia, a project that won the 2016 Egurtek Award.

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