Debabarrena (English: ''Lower Deba'') is an '' eskualdea / comarca'' located in

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

, Basque Country (Spain). It has an area of 180,3 km². It is north from the comarca of

Debagoiena Debagoiena ( es, Alto Deva) is one of the seven eskualdeak/comarcas of Gipuzkoa, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( ...

, east from the province of

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, and south from the Gulf of Biscay. The municipalities which compose Debabarrena are

Eibar Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eusta ...

, Soraluze/Placencia de las Armas, Elgoibar,

Mendaro Mendaro is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The Mendaro Valley is the town's namesake. There is little agreement on the origin or meaning of the word itself. Surrounded by ...

, Deba and

Mutriku Mutriku ( es, Motrico) is a coastal town located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country in northern Spain. It has a population of around 5000 and provides access to the Bay of Biscay. It is the site of the worl ...

. Eibar is the biggest one with about 28,000 inhabitants. The second biggest one is Elgoibar, with about 11,000 inhabitants, and the other municipalities have less than 10,000 citizens.

Natural environment

Debabarrena is surrounded by many mountains, which are not very high. The higher ones have a height of around 800 metres. Urko (791 metres), Arno (612 metres) and Andutz (610 metres) are the highest ones. All the region is full of forests and prairies, and also has many streams, most of them tributaries of the

Deba river The Deba River ( eu, Deba ibaia; es, río Deva) is a river in the Basque Country, Spain. It rises in Arlaban, into Araba province lands, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean, in the Bay of Biscay, in Deba Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzc ...

, which names the comarca. These streams are usually short and have a high level of contamination, despite the fact that the level of contamination has been reduced considerably since the 1980s. Mutriku portutik 2010-07-04

Communication

Debabarrena is located in the centre of the Basque Country, which benefits the region's communications. The main highway is the AP-8, which connects Debabarrena with

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

and the French border, but also the AP-1, which connects Eibar with Debagoiena and Araba/Álava. The railway line that communicates Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastian is also used in Deba,

, Elgoibar and

mainly as a short-distance train. The harbours of Deba and

are not used for goods and passengers.

Population

The total population of Debabarrena is about 72,000 people. The city with most citizens is

, with nearly 28,000 inhabitants. Elgoibar is the second biggest one with 10,000, and the other small towns with less than 5,000. There is also a notable rural population in the ''baserri'' (Basque) or ''caseríos'' (Spanish), the farmhouses that are typical of the Basque Country. The region had around 100,000 inhabitants in the 1950s and 1960s because of the big industrial development and the resulting immigration. But, the industrial crisis of the 1970s and 1980s made the population decrease.

Economy

The economy of the region is highly industrial, but the primary sector is also notable. In the primary sector, there is a big number of small exploitation lands, around 1,000, most of them for

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

and

bovinae Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwe ...

livestock. Fishing is only significant in

. Industry is the primary activity in the region, and more than half of the population works in that area. The industrialization was very important until the mid-20th century, when sewing machines and bicycles were produced, but since then the metal industry has had a very big importance, together with the automotive industry. The service sector also has a lot of activity, with the 40% of population working on it. It is very remarkable in

, and tourism in

and Deba.

External links

Official siteTourism site
{{Comarcas of Basque Country Comarcas of Gipuzkoa