The 18th century also began with incidents, this time caused by the visit of the new Bourbon king, designated heir to the Spanish throne by the last will of Charles II, in 1701. Hondarribia, according to Gorosabel, intended that one of its mayors should go to Irun with a company formed of its own townsmen to perform all the salutes and guards for His Royal Majesty.
"This was based on the consideration that Irun was under its jurisdiction, and that the province had ordered that each mayor perform such honors in their respective town in the usual manner. The inhabitants of Irun, offended by this claim, mixed their complaints with threats; and they were reportedly prepared not only with powder for the salutes, but also with bullets to resist the people of Fuenterrabia if the public rumors were true. The Deputation sought to prevent a confrontation the two towns; and after reviewing the documents in its archives, it found that on several previous occasions Irun had provided its company independently of Fuenterrabia.
The province therefore wished Hondarribia to abandon its insistence, but in vain. In this situation, to avoid a clash and thus a scandal that would have discredited both towns and even the province itself in the eyes of a monarch setting foot in Spanish territory for the first time, the Deputation reported the matter to His Majesty upon his arrival in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, so that he could issue the most appropriate resolution.
Upon learning of the case, the king ordered that, since it was not his intention to harm either town in this matter, the garrison entering Irun should consist of soldiers from the San Sebastián presidio, without involvement of the townsmen. In a further communication to the province explaining this royal order, he expressed that it would be to his royal pleasure that neither the mayor of Fuenterrabia nor the captain of Irun go out to receive or bid him farewell, and this was accordingly carried out."