Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants (

Eustat The Basque Statistics Office (''Eustat'') is an autonomous agency of the Basque Government answering to the Department for the Economy and the Treasury, founded on 25 November 1986 pursuant to the Basque Government Decree 251/1986. Its mission i ...

, 2018). Its chief industry is metal manufacturing, and has been known since the 16th century for the manufacture of armaments, particularly finely engraved

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

. It was also the home of Serveta scooters. It is home to the SD Eibar

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team.

Geography

Eibar lies at an altitude of 121m above sea level, in the west of the province of Gipuzkoa, right next to Biscay. Eibar has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

. The town lies in a narrow valley in a mountainous area, the highest mountains are between 700 and 800 metres high. Eibar is traversed by river Ego, which is a tributary of the

Deba Deba may refer to: Geography * Deba (crater), a crater on Mars * Deba (river), a river in the Basque Country * Deba, Gipuzkoa, a town in the Basque Country * Deba, Gombe, a town in the Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria ...

. Apart from the urban area, the municipality consists of five rural neighbourhoods: Otaola-Kinarraga, Aginaga, Arrate, Mandiola and Gorosta.

History

The city was chartered by

Alfonso XI of Castile Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

in 1346, receiving the name of ''Villanueva de San Andrés de Heybar''. The feudal families that dominated the territory engaged in the War of the Bands. Eibar, like the rest of settlements in the valley, had an industry based on finery forges and the manufacture of arms. In 1766, Eibar got engaged in a social revolt known as the ''Machinada'', and years later, in 1794, it was attacked by the French, who destroyed the town. In the 19th century, industrialisation transformed the production systems in the city and was accompanied by an important social movement. In the

Carlist Wars The Carlist Wars () were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought over claims to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Several times during the period from 1833 to 187 ...

, Eibar sided with the Liberals. Labour movement and socialism became particularly strong in Eibar. In 1931, Eibar was the first city in Spain to proclaim the Second Spanish Republic; in recognition it was given the title of ''"Very Exemplary City"''. In the Spanish Civil War, Eibar was practically destroyed by Italian bombers aiding the Fascist. The rebuilding brought important industrial development and a demographic increase, as Eibar reached nearly 40,000 inhabitants in a few years. Due to the lack of space for enlargements, several factories moved to Durangaldea and Álava. The industrial crisis in the 1980s also made Eibar lose a great part of its population. At the beginning of the 21st century, Eibar's economy is based on industry and services.

Main sights

*Church of San Andrés, built during the 16th and 17th centuries, it has a Gothic style with Renaissance and

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

elements. *Sanctuary of the Virgin of Arrate, from the beginning of the 17th century. *Hermitage of Azitain, it contains an odd 17th-century beardless Christ. *Palace of Unzueta, from the 17th century. *Palace of Aldatze, from the 17th century. *Palace of Markeskua, from the 16th century. *City Hall, built in concrete over the river Ego, designed by architect Ramón Cortázar and inaugurated on 14 September 1901. *Coliseo Theatre, inaugurated in 1947 and refurbished in 2007. Image:Eibar - Iglesia de San Andrés 13.JPG, Church of San Andrés in Eibar. Image:Eibar - Ayuntamiento 01.jpg, City Hall. Image:Arrate.JPG, Sanctuary of Arrate.

Transport

;Road Eibar is traversed by the AP-8 motorway connecting Bilbao and the French border, and the N-634 road running parallel to it. The AP-1 motorway connects Eibar and Vitoria-Gasteiz. AP-8 and AP-1 meet at the ''Maltzaga''

motorway junction In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

located in the east of Eibar. Regular and frequent bus services under Lurraldebus connect Eibar to neighbouring towns,

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao Airport.

BizkaiBus BizkaiBus is the name for bus services serving the province of Biscay, Spain. It is named after the Basque name of the province, ''Bizkaia''. The buses can be identified by their distinctive green (until 2009 yellow) livery. The bus network is i ...

provides regular and frequent bus services to and from Bilbao. ALSA runs a daily service to and from Madrid-Barajas Airport and Madrid. Eibar also has an urban bus service called Udalbus. ;Railway Eibar is located on the Bilbao-

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

line. Trains operated by Euskotren run frequently and regularly to Bilbao-Matiko station and Donostia-Amara station. Services are more frequent in the Ermua-Eibar-

Elgoibar Elgoibar ( es, Elgóibar) is an industrial town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain. Located in a valley, it is traversed by the Deba river. Elgoibar is nicknamed the "capital cit ...

section. There are five stations in Eibar, from west to east: Unibertsitatea-Eibar, Amaña-Eibar, Ardantza-Eibar, Eibar and Azitain-Eibar.

Education

The Gipuzkoa Faculty of Engineering of the University of the Basque Country has a section in Eibar. The section offers an undergraduate program in renewable energy engineering. The Escuela de Armería, founded in 1913, is the oldest vocational training school in Spain.

Sport

;Football Eibar is home to SD Eibar, which earned promotion to La Liga in the 2013-14 season. After seven seasons in the top division, it was relegated to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

in the 2021–21 season. The team plays at the

Ipurua Municipal Stadium Ipurua Futbol Zelaia (also written Ipurúa), is an all-seater football stadium in Eibar, Spain, serving as the home ground of SD Eibar. Opened in 1947, the stadium has a capacity of 8,164 seats. Ipurua has been the principal football ground in E ...

. The women's section of SD Eibar was granted promotion to

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

in the 2019–20 season and plays at the Unbe Sports Complex. ;Basque pelota The

Astelena fronton The Astelena fronton, nicknamed ''Cathedral of Basque Hand-pelota'', is a Fronton (court), fronton located in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. Astelena is a short 41 meter-long fronton wh ...

, nicknamed the ''Cathedral of Basque Hand-pelota'', is a regular venue of the hand-pelota professional circuit competitions the

Bare-handed Pelota First League The Bare-handed Pelota First League (''Campeonato Manomanista'') is the most important tournament competition of Hand-pelota category of Basque pelota. It was created in 1940, when the new Basque Pelota Spanish Federation, to have a champion of ...

, the

Bare-handed Pelota First League Doubles The Bare-handed Pelota First League Doubles known as Campeonato de España de mano parejas is the second most important tournament of Hand-pelota category in Basque pelota, after the 1st Hand-Pelota singles championship, known as ''manomanista''. ...

and the

Cuatro y Medio Euskadi Championship The Cuatro y Medio Euskadi Championship is an individual championship of Basque pelota Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball usin ...

. ;Cycling Since 2009, the city hosts an annual stage finish in the Tour of Basque Country, usually after the riders have climbed the ''Alto de Arrate''. Before 2009, this was a traditional finish in the Euskal Bizikleta, which originated in Eibar as ''Bicicleta Eibarresa''. The Arrate-finish has also been included in the Vuelta a España in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Notable people

* Francisco de Ibarra (1539–1575), explorer and conqueror *

Martín Ignacio de Loyola Martín Ignacio Martínez de Mallea, known as Martín Ignacio de Loyola (c. 1550 in Eibar, Guipuzcoa, Spain – 1606 in Buenos Aires), was a Franciscan friar, best known for his two travels around the world in 1580–1584 and 1585–1589, being ...

(1550–1606), missionary and navigator * Ignacio de Soroeta (?–17??), Governor of Paraguay *

Juan Antonio Mogel Joan Antonio Mogel Urkiza (in Spanish, Juan Antonio Moguel Urquiza) (1745–1804) was a Basque writer of the 18th century and author of one of the most important pieces of Basque classical literature, '' Peru Abarka'', the first novel written in t ...

(1745–1804), writer * Plácido Zuloaga (1834–1910), sculptor and metalworker * Ignacio Zuloaga (1870–1945), painter *

Ciriaco Errasti Ciriaco Errasti Suinaga (8 August 1904 – 8 November 1984) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender. Club career Born in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Ciriaco signed with Deportivo Alavés in 1925, from local UD Eibarresa. He was part of the squ ...

(1904–1984), footballer *

Baltasar Albéniz Baltasar Albéniz (6 January 1905 in Eibar – 29 November 1978 in Pamplona) was a Spanish football manager. He coached Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid twice (1946–1947 and 1950–1951), winning the Copa del Rey, 1950–51 Copa del Rey. He late ...

(1905–1978), football manager * Roberto Etxebarria Arruti (1908–1981), footballer *

Víctor Lecumberri Víctor Lecumberri (1913–2005) was a Spanish politician. Known as Commander Otxabiña, he was a communist politician and trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organizat ...

(1913–2005) was a Spanish politician * Miguel Gallastegui (1918–2019), Basque pelotari * Alicia Iturrioz (1927–2021), painter * Alberto Ormaetxea (1939–2005), footballer and football manager *

Luis Aranberri Luis Aranberri (born 1945 in Eibar), better known as “Amatiño”, is one of the media professionals that best represents the new school of journalism in the Basque language, or Euskara, which emerged around 1970 and which, in step with the cre ...

(1945–), politician and journalist * Javier Aguirresarobe (1948–), cinematographer *

Koldo Zuazo Koldo Zuazo (Eibar, Gipuzkoa, 1956) is a Basque linguist, professor at the University of the Basque Country and specialist in Basque language dialectology and sociolinguistics. The dialects of the Basque language Since 1998, Zuazo's work on ...

(1956–), linguist *

Enrique Zuazua Enrique Zuazua (Iriondo, second family name) is the Head of the Chair for Dynamics, Control, Machine Learning and Numerics - FAU DCN-AvH (Alexander von Humboldt Professorship) at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg (FAU). He is also Distingui ...

(1961–), mathematician *

Maite Zúñiga María Teresa "Maite" Zúñiga Domínguez (born 28 December 1964 in Eibar) is a retired Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in S ...

(1964–), athlete *

Pedro Horrillo Pedro Horrillo Muñoz (27 September 1974 in Eibar, Basque Country) is a Spanish retired racing cyclist who rode as a professional for Mapei, Quick-Step and . He was forced to retire from professional cycling after a crash in the 2009 Giro d'I ...

(1974–), cyclist * Patxi Usobiaga (1980–), climber *

Markel Susaeta Markel Susaeta Laskurain (, ; born 14 December 1987) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right winger. He spent almost the entirety of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao after making his debut with the first team in 2007, ...

(1987–), footballer * Jon Errasti (1988–), footballer *

Markel Alberdi Markel Alberdi Sarobe (born 22 October 1991) is a Spanish swimmer. He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the ...

(1991–), swimmer * Mikel Oyarzabal (1997–), footballer *

Odei Jainaga Odei Jainaga Larrea (born 14 October 1997) is a Spanish athlete and model specializing in the javelin throw. He represented Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the javelin throw. He is the Spanish national record holder in the javelin throw. ...

(1997–), athlete

References

External links

Official website

eibar.org

EIBAR in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eibar Articles containing video clips