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The left bank of the
Estuary of Bilbao The Estuary of Bilbao (Spanish: ''Ría de Bilbao'' / Basque: ''Bilboko Itsasadarra'') lies at the common mouth of the rivers Nervion, Ibaizabal and Cadagua, which drain most of Biscay and part of Alava in the Basque Country, Spain. In this inst ...
(
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 Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, ''Margen Izquierda'' /
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
, ''Ezkerraldea'') is a part of the
Greater Bilbao Greater Bilbao ( Basque: ''Bilboaldea'', Spanish: ''Gran Bilbao'') is an administrative division of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven comarcas of Biscay and the most populated one. The capital city of ...
region, its main towns are
Barakaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo h ...
,
Sestao Sestao is a town and municipality of 27,296 inhabitants located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is in the left bank of the Estuary of Bilbao and part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. ...
, Santurtzi and
Portugalete Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The town has 45,766 inhabitants (2019 census) and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located a ...
and in addition to the iron mines (''Zona Minera'' or ''Mehatzaldea''), was the heart of the intense industrialisation 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. ...
. Thousands of workers from all Spain came to the area during the 19th and the 20th century to work in the major
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...
and
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...
industries like
Altos Hornos de Vizcaya Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, S.A. was a Spanish metallurgy manufacturing company. It was the largest company in Spain for much of the 20th century, employing 40,000 workers at its height. The business began in 1902 in Bilbao with the merger of three ...
and La Naval. Hence it was one of the birthplaces of the worker movement in Spain. The Socialist leader
Indalecio Prieto Indalecio Prieto Tuero (30 April 1883 – 11 February 1962) was a Spanish politician, a minister and one of the leading figures of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the years before and during the Second Spanish Republic. Early life ...
and the Communist Pasionaria found their initial audiences here. There was a geographical and political-economical counterposition between the left bank where the workers lived and the
Right Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...
where the industrialists and bourgeois had their villas. Estuary of Bilbao Geography of Biscay {{Basque-geo-stub