Zarautz (, es, Zarauz) is a coastal town located in central
Gipuzkoa, Basque Country
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 dep ...
, in Spain. It is bordered by
Aia AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to:
Aia
* Aia, a small town in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain
* Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis
* Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ancient town in Greece
* ''Aia'', the collected edi ...
to the east and the south and
Getaria to the west, located about west of
San Sebastián. It has four
enclaves limiting the aforementioned municipalities: Alkortiaga, Ekano, Sola, and Arbestain. , Zarautz has a population of 22,890, which usually swells to about 60,000 in the summer.
The Palace of Narros, located adjacent to Zarautz's long beach, is where Queen
Isabella II
Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868.
Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successi ...
and
Fabiola of Belgium once spent their summer holidays. The beach is known for being the longest in the Basque Country and one of longest of the
Cantabrian cornice.
The Mayor of Zarautz since 2015 has been Xabier Txurruka (
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...
).
History
*1237: The site is founded as a town and its Navarrese
charters
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
confirmed by king
Fernando III of Castile.
*1857: The beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Zarautz, thanks to the enterprise "Fabril Linera". An era of economic growth and development begins.
*1936: The Civil War begins and Zarautz overwhelmingly supports the Republican cause.
*1936: The province falls to
Falangist
Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fa ...
forces in the
Spanish Civil War, who carry out reprisals against the Basque nationalists.
At the end of the 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th century, the popularity of Zarautz as a luxury tourist destination grew, and many well-known people began to holiday there. A number of lavish houses and mansions sprang up, particularly along the beach. Nowadays, many of these buildings have become public buildings or have been demolished and replaced by chic apartment buildings.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Zarautz became a more affordable destination, and is now perhaps best known for its surfing and water sports.
Infrastructure and transport
Road
Zarautz is connected to the European road network and to the rest of Spain by the
A8 motorway.
Gastronomy
As it is tradition in the Basque Country,
gastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
is a very important part of Zarautz. Many restaurants can be found in Zarautz, offering traditional as well as modern fine cuisine. Zarautz is home town of one of the most famous cooks in Spain,
Karlos Arguiñano
Karlos Arguiñano UrkiolaNote the mixed spelling of his name. ''Karlos'' and ''Urkiola'' are spelled in Basque, not the Spanish '' Carlos'' and ''Urquiola'', but ''Arguiñano'' is spelled in Spanish, not the Basque ''Argiñano''. (born September ...
, whose hotel and restaurant can be found right in front of the beach. He also created a prestigious cooking school called
Aiala.
As in all cities around
The Basque Country, there are a lot of gastronomical societies in Zarautz. They are very traditional and called
Txoko
A Txoko () is a typically Basque type of closed gastronomical society where men come together to cook, experiment with new ways of cooking, eat and socialize. It is believed that over 1000 of these societies exist; the town of Gernika, Spain, for ...
in Basque.
Public transport
Zarautz has two railway stations, and trains (
Euskotren Trena) connect it with San Sebastian and Bilbao.
Zarautz has two bus lines operating within the town.
Museums
There are two museums in Zarautz, the Photomuseum and the Art and History Museum of Zarautz. In "Dorre Luzea" there are frequent art exhibitions. The town also has many other picture galleries.
Churches
There are three main churches in Zarautz and many other smaller churches. Santa Maria la Real is the main church, with a very interesting altar piece and a Romanesque structure. Santa Clara is also quite interesting, built in a baroque style. Finally, Franciscanos church, which has been virtually rebuilt, features a very interesting library.
Recreation
Zarautz has first class sporting facilities, such as an old and elegant Golf Club. But Zarautz is renowned worldwide as a surfing destination. Over the last few years, it has become incredibly popular among surfers, and even a number of surfing schools have been established (Zarautz, Pukas).
Sport
Zarautz is the birthplace of the Basque Weightlifting Federation as well as the Gipuzkoa Weightlifting Federation. Since 1968
weightlifting
Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...
(ZKEhalterofilia) has been one of the sports that can be practiced at the local sports club (Zarautz Kirol Elkartea). Since then, every summer an international weightlifting event has taken place in the town. At first, very famous athletes took part in that competition such as
Serge Reding
Serge Yvan Arthur Reding (23 December 1941 – 28 June 1975) was a Belgian heavyweight weightlifter. He competed in the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1968. Between 1968 and 1974 he won four silver medals at the world cha ...
and
Alain Terme to name a few. In recent times, the event has become a club competition in which the French champion Girondins de Bordeaux has won most of the top prizes.
The town is also famous as one of Spain's most popular surfing spots. Its 2.5 km beach offers highly consistent surfing with many different peaks for all standards of surfers. The town is a great place to learn how to surf and has been home to many of Spain's Champion surfers. Zarautz is one of the stops of the World Surf League's Qualifying Series.
Twin towns and sister cities
*
Cardano al Campo, Italy
*
Pontarlier
Pontarlier ( ; Latin: ''Ariolica'') is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France near the Swiss border.
History
Pontarlier occupies the ancient Roman station ...
, France
*
El Hagounia
El Hagounia ( es, Hagunia) is a small town and rural commune in the Tarfaya Province of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region of the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara
Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the no ...
, Western Sahara
See also
*
1980 Zarautz attack, an
ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
attack which killed five people in the town.
References
External links
Official websiteTourism in ZarautzVillage beaches website
{{authority control
Municipalities in Gipuzkoa
Tourism in Spain
Populated coastal places in Spain