Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran ( eu, Trapagaran, es, Valle de Trápaga) is a town and

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 ...

located in 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 ...

, in the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of Basque Country, northern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is located near

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 ha ...

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

Ortuella Ortuella is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. Nowadays part of Greater Bilbao region, until ...

Iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

has been mined here since Roman times and the two parts of the municipality, which are at different altitudes, are linked by a

funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

. According to the 2019 census, it has 11,985 inhabitants.

Geography

Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran is located from

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

in the Triano mountain range in the province of Biscay. The municipality is divided into two zones. Ninety percent of the population live in the lower zone in the neighbourhoods of Durañona, El Juncal, Elguero, Galindo-Salcedillo, Valle de Trápaga, which is the administrative centre, Trápaga-Caused and Ugarte. The upper zone is in the mountains of Triano, and the neighbourhoods here are La Arboleda, Matamoros-Burzaco, Parcocha-Barrionuevo and La Reineta. The

European route E70 European route E70 is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from A Coruña in Spain in the west to the Georgian city of Poti in the east. Itinerary The E 70 routes through ten European countries, and includes one sea-crossing, ...

running along the north coast of Spain passes the town. The upper zone is connected to the lower zone by the BI-3755 road and by a

; the funicular is the only one in the country with horizontal cabins, and allows panoramic views over 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 insta ...

. The town of Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran expanded with the mining activities and most of the buildings date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The church of San José Obrero is built in Romanesque style while the church of San Juan Bautista is neoclassical, as is the city hall, which was built in the first decade of the twentieth century. Iron ore has been mined here since

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

and there was a great increase in mining activity and residential development in the upper zone after the building of the railway in the late nineteenth century. The iron ore deposits became exhausted in the mid-twentieth century and now the area is residential and recreational, although traces of its industrial past remain. Many of the former mines have been flooded and turned into recreational areas with sports facilities and lakes stocked with fish.

References

External links

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Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa – Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
Municipalities in Biscay Estuary of Bilbao {{basqueCountry-geo-stub