The San Sebastian Festival has signed a collaboration agreement with the Mugi pass system run by the Gipuzkoa Transport Authority with a view to improving the mobility of accredited guests while reducing emissions and the carbon footprint.

The Festival began its transition to become a more sustainable event in 2020, having worked on the basis of a clear-cut premise ever since: to reduce, recycle, reuse and make changes to its processes. At its 72nd edition the Festival has turned its attention to sustainable mobility, one of the most pressing issues at an event of this kind and a factor representing the Festival’s main source of emissions (40%), ahead of accommodation (37%) and the use of material (19%). 

There are three types of mobility at the Festival: attracted mobility, involving the movement of people coming from other cities specifically to attend the Festival; internal mobility, meaning the travel of attendees who live in the city hosting the festival; and mobility in the city, referring to movement by attendees – whether local or visiting – within the city during the dates of the event. Aiming to improve the efficiency of the latter, the Festival has joined forces with the Gipuzkoa Transport Authority (ATTG) to raise awareness of and enable access to the Mugi pass for all Festival attendees, whether accredited or visiting.

Mugi will have its own space at the Kursaal (in the multipurpose basement hall) where accredited guests can obtain information about the public transport system operating throughout the city and the province, purchase their pass and top it up on 19th-23rd September from 9:30-17:30 and on the 24th and 25th from 09:30-13:30. Two actions will be organised to reinforce the message: on the one hand, a photocall where those who upload pictures with the hashtag #MugiZinemaldian and mention @mugitxartela will enter a draw for Mugi passes; and, on the other, a bike campaign whereby four bikes will make their way round the city centre handing out Mugi merchandising.   

The single ticket rate set in motion by the Gipuzkoa Transport Authority (GGLA-ATTG) means that users can use their pass on all public transport (the municipal bus routes (dBus), the inter-urban buses running throughout Gipuzkoa (Lurraldebus), the metro (Euskotren) and the Renfe suburban trains) with prices divided into zones, so that travel within a same zone on different means of transport will have a single price. The system enables passengers to change buses free of charge, offering different types of discount and price reductions. 

The Deputy for Mobility, Tourism and Territorial Planning and Vice-President of the ATTG, Azahara Domínguez, has thanked the Festival for its “solid commitment” to promoting public transport. “That an event as important as the Film Festival so strongly advocates more sustainable means of transport is undoubtedly excellent news for Gipuzkoa and we at the ATTG will be by your side to continue taking steps in your objective to reduce the carbon footprint generated by the Festival”. “We encourage all those coming to the Film Festival to use public transport to get around”, she ended.