Santutxu is a neighbourhood of the Spanish city of
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
. It belongs to the 4th urban district, named
Begoña
Begoña or more puristically but also more rarely spelled ''Begoina'', meaning 'the lower foot' (of Mount Artxanda), is a historical municipality of Biscay ( Basque Country, Spain) which was incorporated into Bilbao in 1925.
Originally it includ ...
. It is a popular residential neighbourhood which has a significant number of small businesses and has received some waves of immigration in the last years, particularly Romanians. The Begoña district consists of three neighbourhoods: Santutxu, Begoña and Bolueta.
According to research on
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
, and data from the Bilbao City Council, Santutxu has the third most densely populated sq/km in Europe, with about 41.378 residents per sq/km, when considering districts of a certain size coming in third place after
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; es, Hospitalet de Llobregat), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a municipality of Spain, located to the immediate southwest of Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is part of the Bar ...
in
Greater Barcelona
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality
* ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
* "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014
*Greater Bank, an Australian ...
and
La Goutte d’or in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, neighbourhoods which have slightly more than 50.000 residents per sq/km. However, there is a popular myth among locals that Santutxu is the most densely populated neighbourhood in Europe.
History
Santutxu (meaning ''little Saint'' in Basque), owes its name to a hermitage which was dedicated to
Francisco de Paula. This hermitage was founded in 1737 by ''Francisco Fernando de Barrenechea'' among others, and was built with the sole purpose of enabling its colonists to hear masses without moving to
Begoña church. Since both the hermitage and the Saint figure inside were small sized, it was popularly given the name Santutxu, Santuchu in Spanish. Moreover, the word Santutxu is the result of the union of two basque words, santu which means holy in basque and txu which is a diminutive suffix, also in basque.
In those first years, every second of April was celebrated in honor of ''San Francisco de Paula'' with a Major Mass of great solemnity. Representatives of the Hall of the ''República de Begoña'' would attend this event, as well as members of the clergy that would take part in every religious event back in those days, where rockets, drumming and of course, a typical homemade Basque wine named
txakoli
Txakoli (pronounced ) or chacolí (pronounced ) is a slightly sparkling, very dry white wine with high acidity and low alcohol content produced in the Spanish Basque Country, Cantabria and northern Burgos in Spain. Further afield, Chile is als ...
or ''chacolí'' in Spanish, were the order of the day.
In 1925, the church of Begoña was annexed (and with it, the neighbourhood of Santutxu) to Bilbao. In the 20th century it went from being a semi-rural zone with great sandlots, to a highly populated neighbourhood, especially after the building and demographic growth of the 1960s.
Luis Briñas Public school is a detached building in Santutxu, located on Iturriaga street, near the ''Campa de Basarrate''. It is monumentally protected and was designed by the architect ''Pedro Ispizua Susunaga'' (Bermeo, 1895 - Bilbao, 1976), who also designed the ''del Tigre'', the ''Mercado de la Ribera'', the pergola of ''Parque Casilda Iturrizar'' or the ''Kiosco del Arenal''.
In Santutxu, according to the Bilbao Hall census data of 2008, there are 33,346 inhabitants.
Famous people from Santutxu
*
Javier Salgado
Javier Salgado Martín, more commonly known as Javi Salgado, is a retired Spanish professional basketball player.
Early career
After being formed at Maristas school in Bilbao, Salgado started his career at SD Patronato in 1998. The next year, he ...
, player for
Bilbao Basket
Club Basket Bilbao Berri S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Bilba ...
, formerly of
CB Estudiantes
Club Baloncesto Estudiantes, S.A.D., known simply as Estu and as Movistar Estudiantes for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball team based in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is a member of the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto (ACB). Founded in 19 ...
and
Lagun Aro Bruesa Gipuzkoa Basket
*
Ibai Gómez
Ibai Gómez Pérez (born 11 November 1989) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger.
He achieved La Liga totals of 226 games and 28 goals over 11 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao (two spells) and Alavés. He ...
, footballer, player for
Deportivo Alavés
Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...
.
*
Aitor Mazo, actor.
Events in Santutxu
* "Santutxu pintxotan" is a gastronomic event and contest for catering professionals from Santutxu which takes place once a year in some bars of the neighbourhood.
* "Premios Santutxu y más" is an event created by the journal of the neighbourhood to give awards to those relevant people, organisations or entities that have appeared in its pages during the last year.
Organisations related with Santutxu
* Santutxu families' association, which was created in 1967.
*
Santutxu FC
Santutxu Fútbol Club is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1918, it plays in Tercera División RFEF, Tercera D ...
: Santutxu football team.
* Storekeepers' association
* Begoña's teenager area: Free time area for teenagers (from 13 to 17 years) from Santutxu, Begoña and Bolueta neighbourhoods
* Social center for the Santutxu elderly
* "Bizit Santutxu": Associative project of crowdfunding, which seeks sponsorships for the neighbourhood's sports clubs, but also to foment the consumption in local shops.
Transports
Bilbobus
Bilbao Underground
There are two underground stations (
Metro Bilbao
The Bilbao metro ( es, Metro de Bilbao, eu, Bilboko metroa) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bilbao and the region of Greater Bilbao. Lines 1 and 2 have a "Y" shape, as they transit both banks of the river Ibaizabal and then combi ...
):
*
Santutxu station, which has two exits, one in Karmelo Street and another one in Zabalbide Street.
*
Basarrate station which exits to Basarrate Square.
References
{{Authority control
Districts of Bilbao