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chronogram · 2026 · survey 20 citations · 7 min read

Donostia
Tech  · 2026

A year of IT & tech events in Donostia-San Sebastián, plotted month by month and shaded by how well each one pairs with a weekend trip anchored on a Michelin dinner.

today · 2026-05-28 happening now · ISC′2026 high pair medium pair niche / academic
tl;dr · three pairings, in date order from today
PICK 01 · ★ HIGHEST SIGNAL
19–20 Jun · 3 weeks out

EuskalHack Security Congress IX

Two days of offensive sec at Olarain, right above Ondarreta beach. ~200 attendees, €85–€190, cybersec crowd dense in Euskadi. The next thing happening and the best fit. [2]

PICK 02 · CINEMA × AI
18–26 Sep · with the film festival

Zinemaldia & Technology

Industry track of the 74th SSIFF — AI, blockchain, VFX in audiovisual. Book early: festival drives hotel prices up sharply. [17]

PICK 03 · CITY-WIDE STACK
mid–late Nov · two events overlap

Donostia Week-INN + Berrilan IV

City innovation week (20+ free sessions: AI, cyber, quantum) overlapping the construction-tech summit at Anoeta. Best week to sample the regional scene. [8]

The Year at a Glance

HIGH MED LOW NOW PAST Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Jan
01 / 12
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
— no listed tech event —
Feb
02 / 12
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
— no listed tech event —
Mar
03 / 12
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31
MUBIL Mobility Expo 5
25–26 · Ficoba (Irun)
Apr
04 / 12
 
 
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Debug′Em All — Cider House
11 · CEMEI / Sustapena
May
05 / 12
TODAY · 28
 
 
 
 
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ApplAI 2026
13 · Kursaal
ISC′2026 NOW
27–29 · UPV/EHU
Jun
06 / 12
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EuskalHack Security Congress IX
19–20 · Colegio Mayor Olarain
Jul
07 / 12
1
2
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5
summer lull · jazz festival owns the city
Aug
08 / 12
M
T
W
summer lull · Semana Grande / fireworks
Sep
09 / 12
 
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Zinemaldia & Technology
18–26 · Kursaal + festival venues
Oct
10 / 12
 
 
 
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quiet · academic conferences only
Nov
11 / 12
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Donostia Week-INN
mid-Nov TBC · city-wide
Berrilan Basque Tech Summit IV
19–21 TBC · Anoeta
Dec
12 / 12
M
T
W
— no listed tech event —

Worth Planning Around

04 upcoming · sorted by date
EuskalHack Security Congress hero PICK 01 · HIGH
Fri–Sat · 19–20 June 2026 · 3 weeks out

EuskalHack Security Congress IX

Ninth edition of the Basque ethical-hacking association’s flagship con at Colegio Mayor Olarain — a residence-hall venue on Paseo de Ondarreta, walkable from Ondarreta beach. Programme spans reverse engineering, vulnerability development, mobile attacks, APTs and AI-in-cybersecurity, with an open-space block Friday evening running into Saturday morning. [3] Capacity ~200 — small enough that buying late means risking sold-out. This is the highest-signal event to pair with a Michelin dinner.

Tickets
€85 / €125 / €190 [2]
Capacity
~200 attendees
Venue
Olarain · Paseo de Ondarreta 24
Track
Offensive sec, RE, AI-sec
San Sebastián Film Festival PICK 02 · MED
Fri–Sat · 18–26 September 2026

Zinemaldia & Technology

Industry track of the 74th San Sebastián Film Festival, co-organised with Vicomtech and Tecnalia. Centrepiece is the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge — €10,000 each for Spanish and European audiovisual-tech startups (AI, blockchain, streaming, VFX). [16] Caveat: hotel prices spike, book months ahead.

Format
Industry programme
Prizes
2 × €10k startup challenge
Venue
Kursaal + festival venues
Theme
AI · VFX · streaming
Donostia Week-INN cover PICK 03A · MED
mid-November 2026 · TBC · city-wide

Donostia Week-INN

Annual innovation week run by Fomento de San Sebastián. 2025 ran Nov 15–20 across Kursaal, Anoeta, EKINN and Hotel María Cristina, with AI, cybersecurity, quantum and talent as core threads. [8] DIPC and other Basque research centres participate. [9] Format is 20+ smaller sessions — good for sampling, less good for a single deep dive. Most events free.

Format
20+ sessions, free
Threads
AI · cyber · quantum · talent
2025 ran
15–20 November
Venues
Kursaal / Anoeta / EKINN
Berrilan Basque Tech Summit PICK 03B · LOW (niche)
Thu–Sat · 19–21 November 2026 · TBC

Berrilan Basque Tech Summit IV

Fourth edition at Anoeta (Real Sociedad’s stadium complex). Verticals are construction-tech and smart-city: BIM, GIS + digital twins, industrialised construction, asset management, sustainable urbanism. Gold sponsors include Hexagon Voyansi, Saltoki, Allplan. [7] Niche unless built-environment is the angle, but it’s the largest pure-industry tech summit on the calendar and often overlaps Week-INN.

Format
Industry summit
Speakers
~30
Venue
Anoeta stadium complex
Track
BIM · GIS · smart city
already missed · jan–may 2026
13 MAY · KURSAAL
ApplAI 2026
Year’s biggest applied-AI day for Basque industry. Pilar Manchón (Google Research), Anna Schlegel, Javier Del Ser, Nerea Aranguren. 34 sponsoring entities. Free, full-day. Track for 2027. [1]
25–26 MAR · FICOBA
MUBIL Mobility Expo 5
Southern Europe’s lead sustainable-mobility expo: 110 exhibitors, France as strategic partner, autonomous-vehicle and electric-bus demos. Ficoba is in Irun (~20 km east), not Donostia proper. [4]
11 APR · CEMEI
Debug′Em All — Cider House Ed.
Niche analytics-engineering meetup, free entry with optional €50 cider-house dinner. Travelling community con — returns to a different city each year. [10]

Between Conferences

ongoing local scene

Tech Connect Donostia

monthly · evenings · english

487 members, 4.8/5 across 40 prior events, organiser Luis S. at Drop, Larramendi Kalea 3 [12]. Easiest weekend-of drop-in: relaxed format, English by default.

Saturdays.AI Donostia

saturdays · 9am–2pm · cycles

ML/DL course cycles, 7–14 sessions, €179–€249, Demo Day at Impact Hub Donostia in Tabakalera [13]. WEF-recognised [14].

EuskalHack Association

year-round · online + olarain

First Basque ethical-hacking non-profit. Runs the IX congress [2], plus year-round community programming online and at Olarain.

Impact Hub Donostia

daily coworking · tabakalera

Hosts most non-affiliated community tech events from the 3rd floor of Tabakalera — the old tobacco factory turned culture centre, worth visiting in its own right [19].

Venues to recognise

①
Kursaal Congress Centre
Rafael Moneo’s two cubic glass “stranded rocks”; 20,000 m², 1,806-seat auditorium, 300+ events / 600,000 visitors a year [20]. Default venue for the biggest events.
②
Colegio Mayor Olarain
University residence on Paseo de Ondarreta; intimate; EuskalHack’s home [18].
③
Palacio Miramar
Queen María Cristina’s former summer palace overlooking La Concha; the more academic conferences (statistical learning, materials science) [18].
④
Ficoba (Irun)
Large exhibition halls 20 km east; MUBIL’s home; requires a transfer.
⑤
UPV/EHU — Escuela de Ingeniería de Gipuzkoa
Engineering campus; ISC′2026 and other academic-industrial events [18].
⑥
Anoeta
Real Sociedad’s stadium complex with conference facilities; Berrilan Summit’s home.
⑦
Impact Hub Donostia (Tabakalera)
Community-event base in the old tobacco factory turned culture centre.

Common misses

Codemotion, DevOps Spain, JSConf, etc. — these cluster in Madrid and Barcelona, not Donostia.
Cyber Intelligence Europe 2026 — Brussels, not San Sebastián, despite Basque speaker representation.
Donostia Tech Week — historic city-led brand (2017–2019 era); domain unreachable as of this run; programming appears folded into Donostia Week-INN.
Bilbao events (BIG Conference, Euskal Encounter, DOK) — an hour away by car/bus; pairable, but not in Donostia.

Kursaal · the default stage

Kursaal Congress Centre

ApplAI, Week-INN headline sessions and the Zinemaldia industry programme all land here [20].

Sources

20 citations · official-heavy
[1] news
ApplAI 2026 — Deia
deia.eus
[2] official
EuskalHack Security Congress IX
securitycongress.euskalhack.org
[3] news
ESC San Sebastián listing
10times.com
[4] official
MUBIL Mobility Expo 2026
mubilexpo.eus
[5] vendor-blog
ISC′2026 listing
systemdynamics.org
[6] official
ISC′2026 — EUROSIS
eurosis.org
[7] official
Berrilan Basque Tech Summit
basquetechsummit.com
[8] official
Donostia Week-INN
weekinn.fomentosansebastian.eus
[9] official
DIPC × Week-INN
dipc.ehu.eus
[10] official
Debug′Em All — Cider House
eventbrite.es
[11] official
Tech Connect Donostia
techconnectdonostia.com
[12] forum
Tech Connect — Meetup.com
meetup.com
[13] official
AI Saturdays Donostia
donostia.saturdays.ai
[14] official
AI Saturdays Euskadi — WEF
weforum.org
[15] official
Zinemaldia & Technology
sansebastianfestival.com
[16] vendor-blog
Zinemaldia Startup Challenge VI
vicomtech.org
[17] official
74th SSIFF — Euskadi Tourism
tourism.euskadi.eus
[18] official
SS Convention Bureau — Agenda
conventionbureau.sansebastianturismoa.eus
[19] official
Impact Hub Donostia
donostia.impacthub.net
[20] official
Kursaal Congress Centre
kursaal.eus
read alongside · this trip’s siblings
↑ EXPEDITION
A weekend in Donostia-San Sebastián, anchored on a Michelin dinner
The parent — how the whole weekend plans backwards from dinner.
→ SIBLING · SURVEY
Michelin 2 and 3-star restaurants in Donostia-San Sebastián
Five restaurants, which to book for what — the anchor of the trip.
→ SIBLING · EXPEDITION
Things to do in Donostia-San Sebastián
Bay walks, pintxos crawl, a half-day trip, and the food-and-drink layer.