The Secret Hideaway of Martín Zubimendi: A Tiny Village of 139 People with a Natural Pool and Spain’s Most Wanted Cheese

Imagine playing soccer at the highest level, with cameras and fans watching your every move. It can feel like too much! Martín Zubimendi, a famous midfielder who now plays for Arsenal, found the perfect cure for the pressure of the Premier League in a tiny place that most people can’t even find on a map.

Forget fancy mansions in London or crowded beaches in Ibiza. This player from San Sebastián escapes the noise by hiding in a quiet stone treasure in the Navarrese Pyrenees (a mountain area in northern Spain). The village has only 139 people living in it according to official records.

His choice is making people who love “unplugged” vacations super jealous!

The Peace Bunker of the Trending Player

The Arsenal star uses this spot like a personal reset button. (Yes, we would also trade city stress for this oasis if we had his busy game schedule!) Here, he drops all public attention and becomes just another neighbor in the Roncal Valley.

We are talking about Uztárroz, a village in Navarra known for its awesome sloped roofs and stone-paved streets.

• The player walks his dog Lea on endless trails.
• The only sound breaking the calm is the wind from the Pyrenees.

Uztárroz is not a place you just pass through. It is a quiet fortress where time seems frozen to protect anyone who wants to be left alone.

A River Pool and the Birthplace of a Tasty Treasure

The big summer attraction of this small town is its amazing river pool. It is a natural calm spot right in the local river, turned into the social hub when the mountain gets hot.

But the village is not just about clear water. Uztárroz is proudly the birthplace of Roncal cheese — the first dairy product in Spain to earn a special label called Denominación de Origen Protegida (meaning “Protected Designation of Origin,” like a stamp saying it’s the real deal from that area). The town has a Museum of Cheese and Livestock Movement, showing hundreds of years of shepherds moving animals.

What you get as a visitor:

• High-quality handmade food
• Top-level hiking paths
• A chance to reset your mind and body away from fake modern luxuries

Magnet for Movies and International Love

The stunning looks of this 139-person village caught the eye of big movie directors. The streets of Uztárroz were used to film movies like Obaba and the comedy Lo nunca visto.

Fun fact: Japanese TV fell in love with the village too! A Japanese team searched for months for the ideal European landscape and got fascinated by the Navarrese walls. The actor Ken Ogata loved it so much he built a forever bond with the village, even inspiring a Japanese family to move there permanently.

Because sports stars are vacationing here, trips to the Navarrese Pyrenees are booming. Rural lodgings are seeing record-high demand for peak season.

Heads up: If you want to visit the Roncal Valley, rooms are very limited because the place is so small. Will you miss swimming in the same natural pool as the engine of the national team?

Summary

Martín Zubimendi escapes Premier League stress in Uztárroz, a hidden Navarrese Pyrenees village of 139 people. It has sloped roofs, stone streets, a natural river pool, and is the home of Roncal cheese (Spain’s first protected-origin cheese). Movies and even Japanese fans love it. If you want a quiet getaway, book early because lodging is scarce!

FAQ

1. Who is Martín Zubimendi?
He is a well-known soccer midfielder from San Sebastián who now plays for Arsenal in the Premier League.

2. Where is Uztárroz and how many people live there?
It is a village in the Navarrese Pyrenees (northern Spain) with only 139 official residents.

3. What is special about Roncal cheese?
It was the first dairy product in Spain to get the Protected Designation of Origin label, meaning it is officially unique to that region.

4. Why is the village popular with filmmakers?
Its beautiful streets and mountain setting attracted directors for films like Obaba and a Japanese TV crew looking for a perfect European landscape.

5. Can I visit the natural pool?
Yes, the river pool is open in summer, but because the village is tiny, places to stay are limited so plan ahead.