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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Ed McCambridge

'Antoine Griezmann was considered too small but we saw something in him' Real Sociedad, Athletic Club and Basque Country 'quarries' defy transfer-obsessed modern football

A panoramic view of the Basque Country showcasing a cityscape with mountains in the background, illuminated by rays of sunlight.

No one has ever fallen for the Basque County quite like Archduchess Maria Christina.

An exquisite pianist and polyglot, she left the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy to marry King Alfonso of Spain in 1879, and built a palatial holiday home on the shores of San Sebastian following a beguiling stately visit. In her Basque hideaway, she swam in the Bay of Biscay, gambled in a Monte Carlo-style casino she had erected and drank cocktails with renowned guests, the UK’s own Queen Victoria among them. Today, her statue overlooks La Concha beach, gazing eternally across a corner of the world Maria Christina believed possessed a certain kind of magic.

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