Astigarraga’s Erbetegi-Etxeberri cider press to open to the public on 24 and 31 October

The cider press at the Erbetegi-Etxeberri farmhouse, which the Dolareak project is restoring in Astigarraga, can be seen up close this autumn. Sagardoetxea, the Basque Cider Museum, has scheduled two guided tours on Saturday 24 and Saturday 31 October, at 12:00, as part of the European Heritage Days in Gipuzkoa. It is one of the new features of the museum’s autumn programme.

How to sign up

According to the programme of the Heritage Days published by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the meeting point is at Troia ibilbidea 18, unit A7, in Astigarraga. The tours will be in Basque and Spanish, free of charge and open to adults and children, but places are limited and must be booked in advance. Bookings can be made by phone on 943 550 575 or at info@sagardoetxea.eus; Noticias de Gipuzkoa adds that the autumn activities can also be booked on the Sagardoaren Lurraldea website. The venue is served by Lurraldebus lines BU12, BU13 and BU14 and Ekialdebus line E06.

The tours also extend the celebrations for Sagardoetxea’s twentieth anniversary and are part of Udazken Zaporez, the autumn programme the museum is running until 1 November. At the launch, the mayor, Xabier Urdangarin, recalled that work to recover the press began a year ago with vocational training students from Labourd, Navarre and San Sebastián, and that this year it was time to introduce it to the public through the Heritage Days.

A press whose history is yet to be dated

Dolareak, promoted by the Peio Martikorena Foundation with Astigarraga Town Council and co-funded by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Euskadi Navarre Euroregion, got under way in October 2025. Carpentry students from CIP Donibane, EASO Politeknikoa and Compagnons, who are in charge of the restoration, are taking part.

The sources disagree on how old the press is. The Peio Martikorena Foundation presents it on its website as a 17th-century piece. The Heritage Days programme and Noticias de Gipuzkoa do not talk about when it was built but about its use: according to both, the press played a key role in cider production from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, and was then stored away for years.

This year’s Heritage Days in Gipuzkoa focus on heritage at risk, under the motto “Gure eskuetan. El patrimonio en nuestras manos” (“In our hands. Heritage in our hands”), and bring together 157 events in 36 towns and villages.

Sources

• Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa: “Jornadas europeas del Patrimonio 2026 Gipuzkoa”, official programme. Entry for the tour: dates, time, meeting point, languages, price, booking, transport and description of the press (in use from the late 19th to the mid-20th century); motto and figures for this edition.
• Noticias de Gipuzkoa, Aitziber Muga: “Astigarragako Sagardoetxea museoak 20 urte beteko ditu”, 3 September 2026. Tours within the Udazken Zaporez programme (until 1 November), the period the press was in use and booking on the Sagardoaren Lurraldea website.
• Donostitik, A. E. / Newsroom: “Sagardoetxea cumple 20 años con hasta 11.000 visitantes anuales y una mirada cada vez más internacional”, 15 September 2026. Tours on 24 and 31 October as a continuation of the museum’s anniversary and part of the European Heritage Days.
• Naiz: “Sagardoetxeak 20. urteurrena ospatzeko egitarau berezia antolatu du”, 3 September 2026. Statements by the mayor, Xabier Urdangarin, on the start of the work and the tours; booking phone number and email.
• Peio Martikorena Foundation: “Dolareak”. Project page: 17th-century press according to the foundation; promoter, Town Council, Euroregion co-funding and participating schools.