Getxo
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Getxo is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the North of Spain. It's part of Bilbao's metropolitan area (Gran Bilbao) and has 83,000 inhabitants. It is mostly an affluent residential area and also the third largest municipality of Biscay.
History
Getxo was a parish (elizaldea), originally a rural area, including a large beach at the mouth of the Estuary of Bilbao, centered around the little fishing village of Algorta. The popular council met at the church of Santa Maria de Getxo (Our Lady of Getxo), not far from Punta Galea cape.
Its coat of arms has an oak with two cauldrons chained at its branches and the motto Kaltea Dagianak Bizarra Lepoan ("He who makes evil, the beard at his back").
With industrialization, in the 19th century some parts of Getxo evolved in the residential areas of the rich burgueois class that built a residential area there: Neguri (Winter Town). The village of Algorta grew around the church of San Nicolas and the canalization of the firth, provided for the colonization of the beach, where a district called Las Arenas (The Sands) was built. Near Las Arenas (Areeta in Basque) on the other side of the rairoad to Bilbao, grew a worker district called Romo (Basque: Erromo) as near Neguri did another smaller one (Neguri Langile). Finally, in the 20th century, urban development reached the rural areas of Santa Maria de Getxo.
Getxo, as well as the surrounding area known as Uribe-Costa, grew rapidly in the last decades of the 20th century. While in the early 80s the town had only 25,000 inhabitants, it has now more than 83,000. The surrounding towns of Leioa, Berango and Sopelana have also seen multiplied their population in the same period.
Administration
During the Spanish Republic (1931-1936) the Mayor of Guecho was Jacinto Araluce Ajuria, a non-nationalist Catholic conservatist who had good relations with the PNV nationalists.Getxo's office of Mayor has been continuously in the hands of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) since democracy was restored in 1978. Traditionally the major opposition party has been the non nationalist conservatives in their various incarnations. Other parties represented in the Town Council are PSOE, Eusko Alkartasuna and EB-IU.
Getxo has five different districts, which serve only for administrative and electoral purposes: Algorta, Las Arenas (Areeta in basque), Romo, [Santa María de Getxo (Andra Mari in basque)]] and Neguri.
Transport and Tourism
It is possible to travel to Guecho from Bilbao using the city's modern underground Metro system which has 5 stations in the town. Guecho is also accessible from Portugalete, by means of the Puente Colgante transporter bridge. The ferry Pride of Bilbao reaches to Portsmouth from neighbour Santurce and the International Airport is also not far away in Loiu.
Guecho has some touristic appeal with rapid access to several beaches, and to the regional economical capital of Bilbao. It has a yachting harbour, a golf course, several sport complex, both public and private, a very dynamic semi-autonomous Culture Department organizes regularly many events, including several international music festivals in the styles of jazz, blues and folk.
The town has many houses of architectural interest, starting by the Town Hall, several churches and more than one interesting palace of the Biscainne rich industrial class. The Old Harbour district of Algorta and several parks with views to the Abra bay are also worth a visit.
External links
- [GETXO in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)] Information available in Spanish
- [link]
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