Sebastian, and Easter eggs. It's safe to say that San Sebastián's colonial and "German" roots are still very present among its residents today, and they are often proud of them, so much so that even the local first name is "Sebastianenses" or "Alemanes." But... what about the language? Why has nothing of the language of these settlers survived to this day? The majority of the population was, of course, German, since the French settlers also came from German-speaking areas. It is believed that the first settlers and their children spoke exclusively German. However, when they came into contact with the locals, they had to learn Spanish. Therefore, it is quite possible that for several decades they spoke German among themselves, especially at home, and Spanish on the street or at work. Certainly, there were German expressions used when speaking Spanish, or words from both languages were mixed when speaking (as happens today in Gibraltar, where they speak the famous "Spanglish," a mixture of English and Spanish). Over the years and across generations, the German language fell into disuse until, almost 250 years later, it reached what it is today. It is striking that (at least as far as I know) there is not a single vernacular word or expression in German or of German origin. Proof that German expressions continued to exist in everyday life even when the Sebastianians spoke Spanish was provided to me by a good friend from the city named Sebastian. This man, about 55 years old, remembers how, when he was very young, his grandmother, who was already very old, fed the chickens instead of calling them with a voice of "PITAS, PITAS, PITAS!" He called them in German: KOMM, KOMM, KOMM! (come, come, come).