Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a

province of Spain A province in Spain * , ; sing. ''provincia'') * Basque (, sing. ''probintzia''. * Catalan (), sing. ''província''. * Galician (), sing. ''provincia''. is a territorial division defined as a collection of municipalities. The current ...

and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

. Its capital city,

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

, is also the seat of the political main institutions of the

Basque Autonomous Community 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 com ...

. It borders the Basque provinces of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

and

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) 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 department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

to the north, the community of

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

to the south, the

province of Burgos The province of Burgos is a Provinces of Spain, province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia (p ...

(in the community of

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

) to the west and the community of

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

to the east. The

Enclave of Treviño An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is some ...

, surrounded by Alavese territory, is however part of the province of Burgos, thus belonging to the autonomous community of Castile and León, not Álava. It is the largest of the three provinces in the Basque Autonomous Community in geographical terms, with 3,037 km², but also the least populated with 331,700 inhabitants (2019).

Etymology

Built around the Roman mansion Alba located on the road

ab Asturica Burdigalam Ab Asturica Burdigalam (numbered as Via XXXIV on the Antonine Itinerary) was a Roman road that linked the towns of ''Asturica Augusta'' (modern Astorga) in Gallaecia and ''Burdigala'' (modern Bordeaux) in Aquitania. The Antonine Itinerary menti ...

(possibly the current village of Albéniz near Agurain), it has sometimes been argued the name may stem from that landmark. However, according to the Royal Academy of the Basque Language, the origin may be another: The name is first found on

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

chronicles of the eighth century referring to the Alavese Plains (Spanish ''Llanada Alavesa'', Basque ''Arabako Lautada''), ''laua'' in old Basque (currently ''lautada'') with the Arab article added ( al + laua), developing into Spanish Álava and Basque Araba (a typical development of l to r between vowels).

Physical and human geography

Álava is an inland territory and features a largely transitional climate between the humid, Atlantic neighbouring northern provinces and the dry and warmer lands south of the

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

River. According to the relief and landscape characteristics, the territory is divided into five main zones: *The Gorbea Foothills: Green hilly landscape. *The Valleys: Low valleys, drier, sparsely populated. *The Plains: Heartland of Álava comprising Vitoria and Salvatierra-Agurain, with a central urban area and crop landscape prevailing around and bounded south and north by the Basque Mountains. *The Alavese Mountains: High altitude and forested. *The Alavese Rioja: Oriented to the south on the left bank of the

River, perfect for vineyards and part of the Rioja

denominación de origen In Spain and Latin America, the (; )In other languages of Spain: * Catalan: (). * (). * (). is part of a regulatory geographical indication system used primarily for foodstuffs such as cheeses, condiments, honey, and meats, among others. ...

. *Ayala: The area clustering around the

Nervión Nervión (; ) is a river that runs through the town of Bilbao, Spain into the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay). Its lowermost course, downstream of its confluence with the Ibaizabal River, is known as the Estuary of Bilbao. Geography The riv ...

River, with

Amurrio Amurrio is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the northwest part of the province of Álava, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. It has over 10,000 inhabitants. It is between Vitori ...

and Laudio as its major towns. The region shows close bonds with

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

and

e and an industrial landscape. Legunbe Arabako lautada Aratz Aizkorri

Unlike Biscay and Gipuzkoa, but for Ayala and

Aramaio Aramaio () is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. ...

, the waters of Álava pour into the

and hence to the Mediterranean by means of two main waterways, i.e. the

Zadorra The Zadorra is a river tributary of the Ebro in the Basque Country in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The river flows primarily across Álava province (flowing briefly through the Treviño enclave at La Puebla de Arganzón) finally reachin ...

(main axis of Álava) and

Bayas Bayas () is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gironde department The following is a list of the 534 communes of the Gironde department of France. The communes cooperate in ...

Rivers. In addition, the Zadorra Reservoir System harvests a big quantity of waters that supply not only the capital city but other major Basque towns and cities too, like Bilbao. While in 1950 agriculture and farming shaped the landscape of the territory (42.4% of the working force vs 30.5% in industry and construction), the trend shifted gradually during the 60s and 70s on the grounds of a growing industrial activity in the Alavese Plains (''Llanada Alavesa''), with the main focus lying on the industrial estates of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Gamarra, Betoño and Ali Gobeo) and, to a lesser extent, Salvatierra-Agurain and Araia. At the turn of the century, only 2% of the working Alavese people was in agriculture, while 60% was in the tertiary sector and 32% in manufacturing. Industry associated with iron and metal developed earlier in the Atlantic area much in tune with Bilbao's economic dynamics, with droves of people flocking to and clustering in

and Laudio, which have since become the third and second main towns of Álava.

Demography and rural landscape

The province numbers 51

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, a population of 315,525 inhabitants in an area of , with an average of 104.50 inhabitants/km². Text in Spanish The vast majority of the population clusters in the capital city of Álava,

, which also serves as the capital of the Autonomous Community, but the remainder of the territory is sparsely inhabited with population nuclei distributed into seven counties (''kuadrillak'' or ''cuadrillas''):

Añana Añana is both a valley and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Its main population center is the village of Salinas de Añana (). Moreover, Añana is also the name of one of the seven counties ...

;

Ayala/Aiara Aiara in Basque or Ayala in Spanish is a municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territorie ...

; Campezo/Kanpezu;

Laguardia LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the northwestern shore of Long Island, bordering Flushing Bay. Covering , the facility wa ...

;

Agurain/Salvatierra Agurain in Basque or Salvatierra in Spanish, officially Agurain/Salvatierra, is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava in the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. The municipality has a population of 5,155 inhabitants ...

;

Zuia Zuia () is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. History The first mention of the Zuia Valley is in the document from the ...

. A 2021 sociolinguistic survey found that 22.4% of the adult population spoke

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 ...

, an increase of six percentage points since 2011.

Population development

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:350 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1877 from:0 till: 96 text: 95,692 bar:1887 from:0 till: 94 text: 94,165 bar:1900 from:0 till: 98 text: 98,066 bar:1910 from:0 till: 99 text: 99,399 bar:1920 from:0 till:101 text:101,357 bar:1930 from:0 till:106 text:105,729 bar:1940 from:0 till:113 text:112,503 bar:1950 from:0 till:114 text:114,139 bar:1960 from:0 till:134 text:133,742 bar:1970 from:0 till:200 text:199,777 bar:1980 from:0 till:258 text:257,850 bar:1990 from:0 till:272 text:272,447 bar:2000 from:0 till:287 text:286,387 bar:2010 from:0 till:321 text:320,778 bar:2020 from:0 till:333 text:333,340 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

History

Lordship of Álava

List of rulers (modern Spanish names) : *

Eylo Eylo or Gilo (fl. 868) is the first attested count of Álava. He is known from the chronicle of Sampiro, written in the first third of the eleventh century, which presents him as a rebellious subject of the Kingdom of Asturias, strongly suggestin ...

, up to 866 *

Rodrigo Rodrigo () is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' ( Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the la ...

c. 867–870,

count of Castile This is a list of counts of Castile. The County of Castile had its origin in a fortified march on the eastern frontier of the Kingdom of Asturias. The earliest counts were not hereditary, being appointed as representatives of the Asturian king. F ...

Vela Jiménez Vela Jiménez who appears also as ''Vigila Scemeniz'', is documented on two occasions as Count of Álava between 882 and 883 in the ''Codex Vigilanus'', compiled in 881 with two large paragraphs added subsequently describing the events that took pl ...

870–c. 887 *

Munio Velaz Munio or Muño is a masculine given name of uncertain origin, possibly GermanicJaime de Salazar Acha (1985), "Una familia de la Alta Edad Media: Los Vela y su realedad histórica", ''Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos'' (Madrid: Asociación Espa ...

c. 887–c. 921 *

Álvaro Herraméliz Álvaro Herraméliz (floruit, fl. 923–931), was a Spanish people, Spanish noble and the count of Lantarón and of Álava in the region that today would be considered the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in northern Spain. ...

c. 921–931, also count of Cerezo and Lantarón * Fernán González 931–970, also count of Castile, Álava feudatory of Castile until 1030 * García Fernández 970–995 *

Munio González Munio or Muño is a masculine given name of uncertain origin, possibly GermanicJaime de Salazar Acha (1985), "Una familia de la Alta Edad Media: Los Vela y su realedad histórica", ''Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos'' (Madrid: Asociación Espa ...

1030–1043 *

Fortunio Íñiguez Fortunius (Italicized Fortunio) may be *a Latin patronymic **Cassius Fortunius, son of Fortunato count of Borja (b. 685) *a given name ** Fortunius Licetus (1577-1657) **a character in '' Philodoxus'' by Leon Battista Alberti *other **'' Papilio fo ...

1043–1046 * Munio Muñoz (co-lord) 1046–1060, Álava feudatory of Navarre, 1046–1085 *

Sancho Maceratiz The name Sancho () is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius. Feminine forms of the name are Sancha, Sancia, and Sanchia (), and the common patronymic is Sánchez and Sanc ...

(co-lord) 1046–1060 *Ramiro 1060–1075 *Marcelo 1075–1085 *

Lope Íñiguez Lope Íñiguez ('. 1050 – 1093) succeeded his father Íñigo López to become the second Lord of Biscay in 1076. Íñigo died shortly after the assassination of his overlord Sancho IV of Navarre and the subsequent takeover of Biscay, Álava, ...

1085–?, Álava feudatory of Castile until 1123 * Lope Díaz ''the White'' ?–1093 * Lope González 1093–1099 * Lope Sánchez 1099–1114 * Diego López I 1114–1123 *

Ladrón Íñiguez Ladrón Íñiguez (died 1155), also known as Ladrón Navarro, was a leading nobleman of the Kingdom of Navarre during the reign of García Ramírez of Navarre, García Ramírez (1134–50), whose accession he was instrumental in bringing about. ...

1123–1158, Álava feudatory of Navarre until 1199 *

Vela Ladrón Vela Ladrón or Latrónez (died 1174) was a Spanish nobleman who ruled the Basque counties of Álava, Biscay (Vizcaya) and Guipúzcoa. He succeeded his father as count of Álava in 1155 or 1156. He acquired Biscay around 1160 and Guipúzcoa aroun ...

1158–1175 * Juan Velaz 1175–1181 *Diego López II 1181–1187 * Íñigo de Oriz 1187–1199 * Diego López de Haro I 1199–1214, Álava feudatory of Castile until personal union of 1332 * Lope Diaz de Haro I 1214–1240 *Nuño González de Lara 1240–1252 *

Diego López de Haro II Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

1252–1274 *Fernando de la Cerda 1274–1280 *

Lope Díaz II de Haro Lope Díaz II de Haro "''Cabeza Brava''" (b. 1170 – d. 15 November 1236) was a Spanish noble of the House of Haro, the sixth Lord of Biscay, and founder of the Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Plentzia. He was the eldest son of Diego L� ...

1280–1288 * Juan Alonso de Haro 1288–1310 *

Diego López de Salcedo Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

1310–1332 The title is attributed to the Castilian kings after 1332.

Ecclesiastical history

Bishopric

The Arab invasion of the

valley in the eighth century, many Christians of the

Diocese of Calahorra In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

sought refuge in areas further north free of Arab rule. The diocese called Álava or Armentaria was established in 870 on territory split off from the

. From then until the 11th century the names of several bishops of this see are recorded, the best known being the last, Fortún, who in 1072 went to Rome to argue before

Pope Alexander II Pope Alexander II (1010/1015 – 21 April 1073), born Anselm of Baggio, was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1061 to his death in 1073. Born in Milan, Anselm was deeply involved in the Pataria reform mo ...

in defence of the Mozarabic Rite, which King

Alfonso VI of León and Castile Alfonso VI (1 July 1109), nicknamed the Brave (''El Bravo'') or the Valiant, was king of Kingdom of León, León (10651109), Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia (10711109), and Kingdom of Castile, Castile (10721109). After the conquest of Toledo, Spai ...

had decreed should be replaced by the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

. The see was suppressed in 1088, when it was merged into the

Diocese of Najéra In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

, another

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Tarragona The Archdiocese of Tarragona () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Tarragona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The archdiocese heads the ecclesiastical province of Tarragon ...

. The territory of the diocese of Álava, which corresponded more or less to that of the present Diocese of Vitoria, was reabsorbed into that of Calahorra when Najéra was suppressed in 1170, when King

Alfonso VIII of Castile Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarc ...

conquered

.España Sagrada
tomo XXXIII, Madrid 1781, pp. 223–271 ;''Suffragan Bishops of Álava'' (For a list, see Antonio Rivera, ed., ''Historia de Álava'' (2003), pp. 599–600.) * Bivere or Aivere (before 871 – after 876) * Álvaro (c. 881 – c. 888) * Munio I (937/956 – 971) * ? Julián (?–984) * Munio II (984–989) * García I (996 – c. 1021) * Munio III (c. 1024 – c. 1030) * García II (1037 – 1053/1055) * Fortún

ortuño Ortuño or Ortuno is a Spanish surname. Notable people with this surname include: * Alfredo Ortuño (born 1991), Spanish footballer * Alicia Ortuño (born 1976), Spanish tennis player * Antonio Ortuño (born 1976), Mexican novelist and short story ...

I (1054/1055) * Vela (1056–1062) * Munio IV (1062 – c. 1065) * Fortún II (c. 1067 – 1088)

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, Álava is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

since the diocese was nominally restored in 1969 as

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Álava. It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank: * Stanisław Smolenski (1970/01/14 – death 2006/08/08) as

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

(Poland) (1970.01.14 – 1992.02.01) and on emeritate * Mario Iceta Gavicagogeascoa (2008.02.05 – 2010.08.24) as Auxiliary Bishop of

(Basque Spain) (2008.02.05 – 2010.08.24); later succeeded Bishop of Bilbao (2010.08.24 – ...) * Nelson Francelino Ferreira (2010.11.24 – 2014.02.12) as Auxiliary Bishop of

São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

(Brazil) (2010.11.24 – 2014.02.12); later Bishop of Valença (Brazil) (2014.02.12 – ...) * Carlos Lema Garcia (2014.04.30 – ...), as Auxiliary Bishop of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

(Brazil)

Spanish Civil War

At the start of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Álava and Vitoria were easily captured by the rebel

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

led by General Angel García Benítez, assisted by Colonel

Camilo Alonso Vega Camilo Alonso Vega (29 May 1889 – 1 July 1971) was a Spanish military officer and minister. Early life A childhood friend of Francisco Franco, as a Captain he entered in the Foreign Legion and fought in the Rif War. He was initially assigned ...

. Vitoria was captured on 19 July 1936. In November 1936 an attempt by

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to retake Vitoria was thwarted after being spotted by Nationalist reconnaissance aircraft. The 1937 Nationalist campaign in Vizcaya was supported by 80 German aircraft based at Vitoria, where the

Condor Legion The Condor Legion () was a unit of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War. The legion developed methods of strategic bombing that were ...

fighter wing was concentrated.Beevor (2006) p.253

Footnotes

External links

GGatholic ecclesiastical history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alava Wine regions of Spain