Spain’s Basque Country is known for a lot of things: A beautiful coastline and amazing wine among them.
But did you know it’s also home to one of Europe’s heaviest waves?
Roca Puta, when it’s on (which isn’t often) resembles Mavericks on the drop, but with a slab section down the line. And if you fall too far inside? You’ll end up pinned against a breakwall, with nowhere to go and fighting for your life, as Xabi Lopez found out the hard way. Basically, it’s a terrifying wave. And over the weekend, it roared to life.
“Winter might be over in the northern hemisphere, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way,” writes Surfline, who produced this clip. “A huge swell made its way across the North Atlantic last week, but with strong SW wind, most regions of Western Europe were simply a write-off. The Basque Country was a different story. Mundaka looked very much the part, especially through our surf cam. Conditions were somewhat challenging but a few gems were available in the small window around mid-tide. And while that was happening, the Basque’s big wave spot of Roca Puta lit up for the first time in a while, a tight-knit crew waited patiently for the afternoon swell to fill-in and the wind to swing offshore. Come see the likes of Aritz Aranburu, Natxo Gonzalez and Indar Unanue take a swing at this thing, as well as a close-call getting back in for charger Xabi Lopez.”
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