The Urumea ( or , stemming from

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 ...

"ur" 'water' + "me(he)a" 'thin') is a river in the Basque Country at the north of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. It's one of a series of Basque rivers flowing into the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

(

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

basin) and is best known for being the river flowing towards the sea by the city of San Sebastian.

Course of the river and water data

The river is 59.4 km long from its source in the

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Goizueta, and 33 km of it runs through the province of

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 ...

. The average temperature is 13.5 °C (56.3 °F). The seasonal and year-to-year variations in water flow are less marked than in other basins of

, and the natural regulation of this basin is very high. The quality of the water is fairly good, despite a slight deterioration downstream near the mouth (moderately good condition) where the city of Donostia lies. However, lately, works have been done on the treatment and cleaning of water resulting in an outstanding environmental recovery.

Upstream river waves

The mouth of the Urumea river is known for its upstream river wave, which attracts river surfers. The phenomenon looks similar to

tidal bore Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

s, but it's caused by ocean swells instead of tides. Similar to tidal bores, the waves form in the ocean and travel up the river.

Fauna

The current water quality allows for a stable fish fauna with five species populating the river, namely

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

(extinct in 1940 and restored thanks to the re-population programs of the 1980s),

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

common minnow The Eurasian minnow, minnow, or common minnow (''Phoxinus phoxinus'') is a small species of freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It is the type species of genus ''Phoxinus''. It is ubiquitous throughout much of Eurasia, from Britain and ...

loach Loaches are fish of the superfamily Cobitoidea. They are freshwater, benthic (bottom-dwelling) fish found in rivers and creeks throughout Eurasia and northern Africa. Loaches are among the most diverse groups of fish; the 1249 known species of ...

and

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

Basin

The lower stretch of the river has wide and flat banks fit for crops and urban development, which has resulted in the most inhabited drainage basin in

, with 212,564 inhabitants. The main towns on the river are Hernani with its first industrial estates located upstream on its banks (paper and chemical industry, an aluminium mill, lift manufacturing, etc.);

Astigarraga Astigarraga is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is famous for its hard cider and the cider houses. References External links Official Website Informationavailabl ...

, renowned for its cider houses; and Donostia with a final long stretch of the river snaking through different parts of the town. The main focus of

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

houses concentrates on a strip along the left bank in Hernani and on a minor road sloping up from the right bank at the limit between

and the outer lands of Donostia.

References

{{coord, 43, 19, 34, N, 1, 58, 56, W, region:ES-GI_type:landmark_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Gipuzkoa

Course of the river and water data

Upstream river waves

Fauna

Basin

See also

References