Etxalar (Sp. Echalar) is a town and municipality of the Foral Community of Navarre, located in the Pamplona merindad, in the Cinco Villas region, Atlantic Pyrenees, Spain.
Cinco Villas de la Montaña or simply Cinco Villas (in Basque, Bortziriak or Bortzerriak) is a region and a sub-zone located on both sides of the Bidasoa River, in the north of Navarre. Bordering France and Basque country, it is made up of the five municipalities of Arantza, Yanci, Lesaka, Etxalar and Bera and is part of the Merindad de Pamplona. It is an area with a Basque-speaking majority.
Tourism
Etxalar stands out for its traditional popular architecture, very careful, which earned it the National Tourism Award for beautification and improvement of the towns.
Both the town and the surroundings are worth visiting and enjoying.
Despite its small size, Etxalar offers a wide variety of tourist accommodation, ranging from rural houses (full rental and by rooms), hotels, hostels, tourist apartments and pensions.
It also has a varied gastronomic offer.
An interesting place to visit is the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, which highlights a calvary from the year 1600, a baptismal font from the XVIII century and a beautiful organ from the beginning of the XX century.
In the gardens of the Church there are numerous funerary steles, which were found in the foundations of the walls of the church warehouse.
In addition to the same houses that we can see in the town, other places of interest for tourists are the Errotagaraia lime kiln, the Molino del Medio, the Chapel of Fátima and the Santa Cruz Hermitage.
How to get to?
From Pamplona 58 min (63.4 km) via N-121-A
From Madrid 4 hr 47 min (496 km) via A-1 and AP-1
Main information
Area: 47 km²
Coordinates: 43°14′01″N 1°38′14″W
Population: 828
Languages: Spanish, Basque
Currency: Euro
Visa: Schengen
Time: Central European UTC +1
