Barakaldo

Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAR : Barakaldo

Coat of arms

Devil's Bridge over river Kadagua between Barakaldo and Bilbao

Entrance to Bagatza Metro station

Barakaldo (not to be confused with the Cuban and Guinean cities called Baracaldo), is an industrial river-port municipality in the southern Basque Country (the Spanish side). It is located in the Biscay (Bizkaia) province, administratively included in the "Basque Autonomous Community" (that includes three of the four southern provinces of the Basque Country), on the south bank of the river Nervión (in Basque, Nerbioi). Barakaldo is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area (Gran Bilbao), and has 100,000 inhabitants.

History

The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica wrote of Barakaldo (spelling the name with the now-archaic "c"):

Pop.(1900): 15,013. Few Spanish towns have developed more rapidly than Baracaldo, which nearly doubled its population between 1880 and 1900. During this period many immigrant laborers settled here; for the iron works and dynamite factory of Baracaldo prospered greatly, owing to the increased output of the Biscayan mines, the extension of railways in the neighborhood,and the growth of shipping at Bilbao. The low flat countryround Baracaldo is covered with maize, pod fruit and vines.

Barakaldo is going to close its last factory and is recovering from the recession, former industrial land is being rebuilt with residential buildings, parks and shopping malls. A big exhibition centre (BEC, Bilbao Exhibition Centre) has recently been built in the outskirts of the town.

References

See also

• [Spanish article about Barakaldo (updated)]