What you can see on the Vitoria-Gasteiz webcam
From a rooftop about 525 m (1,720 ft) above sea level on the northern edge of the city, the camera looks over modern buildings and red roofs, a belt of trees and fields, to a line of blue mountains on the horizon that includes Gorbea. Much of the frame is sky, and that is the point: the most active weather fronts reach the city from the north, and the camera shows them coming.
Vitoria-Gasteiz and the mountains of Gorbea
Meteoweb, a small weather website with stations in Vitoria-Gasteiz and Laredo, runs this camera on a rooftop in the north of the city, about 525 m above sea level. It looks north over a large modern building and the red roofs of a residential street, a band of trees and fields on the plain, to a line of blue mountains on the horizon that includes Gorbea, the highest summit in Álava and Biscay.
Most of the picture is sky, which is why the owner chose the view: the most active weather fronts reach the city from the north, so the camera shows the cloud arriving, the rain sweeping across the plain and, in winter, the first snow on the mountains.
Wellington's battle and the old cathedral
British visitors may know the name from history: on 21 June 1813, at the Battle of Vitoria, a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under Wellington broke the French army of Joseph Bonaparte on the plain outside the city, a decisive step towards victory in the Peninsular War. A monument raised in 1917 stands in the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, the main square, at the foot of the medieval old town. On top of the hill, the Gothic cathedral of Santa María has been under a long restoration that visitors can walk through in hard hats, under the motto Open for Works; Ken Follett chose its portico to launch World Without End, the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, in 2008. Vitoria is one of very few cities with two cathedrals: the second, the New Cathedral, is a neo-Gothic building of the 20th century.
When to watch Vitoria-Gasteiz
Spain is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. On its high plain, Vitoria is cooler and greyer than the coast in winter, with frosts, fog and the odd fall of snow, and pleasantly warm in summer. Gorbea, at 1,482 m (4,862 ft) the highest summit in Biscay and Álava, is often white from late autumn.
Around Vitoria-Gasteiz
The green ring of parks and paths round the city is easy to explore on foot or by bike. Within an hour's drive are the salt valley of Añana, the wine villages of the Rioja Alavesa around Laguardia, and Bilbao with the Guggenheim.
Getting to Vitoria-Gasteiz
Bilbao airport, with flights from the UK and Ireland, is about 34 miles (54 km) away as the crow flies, and the ferry port at Santurtzi, with sailings from Portsmouth and Rosslare, about 40 miles (64 km).
