Martín Zubimendi has a simple answer to the noise that comes with Premier League football: go to Uztárroz. The Arsenal midfielder is described as using the tiny village in the Pyrenees of Navarre as a refuge, a place where the pressure drops away and the routine is reduced to quiet walks with his dog Lea.
That is what makes Uztárroz so striking. It is not a footballer’s usual escape hatch of private gyms, busy cities or luxury hotels. It is a secluded village in Navarra, with just 139 inhabitants in its official census, and a setting that feels deliberately detached from the pace of elite football.
Why Uztárroz stands out
The village’s appeal is tied to its landscape and its sense of remoteness. Set in the Valle de Roncal, Uztárroz is framed by rural scenery that gives it a very different rhythm from London or any other Premier League centre. It has the feel of a place where time moves more slowly, which is exactly why it can work as a retreat for a player under constant public scrutiny.
There is also a cultural side to Uztárroz that gives it character beyond the football link. Its streets were used to film Obaba and Lo nunca visto, and at one point a Japanese production team found the village after searching for an ideal European landscape. A Japanese family even moved there permanently, which says something about the pull of the place beyond Spain.
A village with more than one identity
Uztárroz is not only about scenery and seclusion. It is tied to natural bathing, cheese heritage and the wider identity of Roncal in Navarre, with links to the Museo del Queso y la Trashumancia and the Denominación de Origen Protegida tradition that helps define the area.
That mix matters because it explains why the village is more than a postcard backdrop. It is a living rural place with its own history and texture, which makes Zubimendi’s choice feel personal rather than performative. For an Arsenal midfielder now operating under the demands of the Premier League, that kind of escape can be valuable.
What this says about Zubimendi
The picture that emerges is of a player who knows where to switch off. Zubimendi is described as fleeing media noise in Uztárroz, and that detail fits the broader sense of a footballer who values calm, routine and a setting where football is not the only thing that matters.
For supporters, it is also a reminder that elite players often look for simplicity away from the game. Uztárroz, with its 139 inhabitants and its secluded place in the Pyrenees of Navarre, is the kind of refuge that can make the demands of Premier League life feel a little more manageable.
