Eibar (, ) is a city and

municipality 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' ...

within the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

, in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. It is the capital of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of

Debabarrena Debabarrena (English: ''Lower Deba'') is an '' eskualdea / comarca'' located in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country (Spain). It has an area of 180,3 km2. It is north from the comarca of Debagoiena, east from the province of Biscay, and south from the ...

. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat, 2018). Its chief industry is metal manufacturing, and the city has been known since the 16th century for the manufacture of armaments, particularly finely engraved

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

. It was also the home of

Serveta Serveta was a Spanish scooter manufacturer in production between 1954 and 1989. History In 1952 a group of Basque businessmen trading as Lambretta Locomociones SA obtained a licence to build Lambretta scooters in Spain. Production began two years ...

scooters. It is home to the

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team.

Geography

Eibar lies at an altitude of 121m above sea level, in the west of the province of Gipuzkoa, very close to

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 ...

. Eibar has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

. The town lies in a narrow valley in a mountainous area, with mountains like

Karakate Karakate, also known as Muneta or Kortazar, is a mountain located in the northeast of Gipuzkoa in Basque Country, Spain. It belongs to the Irukurutzeta Range of the wider Basque Mountains. The mountain has a maximum height of 749 meters. ...

, Kalamua and Akondia being between 700 and 800 metres tall. Eibar is traversed by the river Ego, which is a tributary of the

Deba Deba may refer to: Geography * Deba (crater), a crater on Mars * Deba (river), a river in the Basque Country * Deba, Gipuzkoa, a town in the Basque Country * Deba, Gombe, a town in the Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria ...

. Apart from the urban area, the municipality consists of five rural neighbourhoods: Otaola-Kinarraga, Aginaga, Arrate, Mandiola and Gorosta.

History

The city was chartered by

Alfonso XI of Castile Alfonso XI (11 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes ...

in 1346, receiving the name of ''Villanueva de San Andrés de Heybar''. The feudal families that dominated the territory engaged in the

War of the Bands The War of the Bands (, ) was a civil war, really an extended series of blood feuds, in the western Basque Country (historical territory), Basque Country, Cantabria, Duchy of Gascony, Gascony, and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the Late Middle A ...

. Eibar, like the rest of settlements in the valley, had an industry based on

finery forge A finery forge is a forge used to produce wrought iron from pig iron by decarburization in a process called "fining" which involved liquifying cast iron in a fining hearth and decarburization, removing carbon from the molten cast iron through Redo ...

s and arms manufacturing. In 1766, Eibar was engaged in a social revolt known as the ''Machinada'', and years later, in 1794, it was attacked by the French, who destroyed the town. In the 19th century, industrialisation transformed the systems of production in the city and spawned a powerful social movement. After the rest of Gipuzkoa sided with the French in 1793 during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, Eibar temporarily voted to join

. In the

Carlist Wars The Carlist Wars (, ) were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought over claims to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Several times during the period from 1833 to 1 ...

, Eibar sided with the Liberals. The labour movement and socialism became particularly strong in Eibar. In 1931, it was the first city in Spain to proclaim the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

; in recognition it was given the title of ''"Very Exemplary City"''. In 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 ...

, Eibar was practically destroyed by Italian bombers aiding the

Spanish Nationalists Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in ...

. The subsequent rebuilding brought significant industrial development and a demographic increase, as Eibar's population increased to nearly 40,000 within a few years. Due to the lack of space for expansion, several factories moved to

Durangaldea Durangaldea ( Spanish: ''Duranguesado'') is a comarca of Biscay located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven ''eskualdeak/comarcas'' or regions that compose the province of Biscay. The capital city of Durangaldea is Durango. ...

and

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

. The industrial crisis in the 1980s also caused Eibar to lose a great part of its population. At the beginning of the 21st century, Eibar's economy is based on industry and services.

Main sights

* Church of San Andrés, built during the 16th and 17th centuries, it has a Gothic style with

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

elements. * Sanctuary of the Virgin of Arrate, from the beginning of the 17th century. * Hermitage of Azitain, it contains a rare 17th-century beardless Christ. * Palace of Unzueta, from the 17th century. * Palace of Aldatze, from the 17th century. * Palace of Markeskua, from the 16th century. *

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, built in concrete over the river Ego, designed by architect Ramón Cortázar and inaugurated on 14 September 1901. * Coliseo Theatre, inaugurated in 1947 and refurbished in 2007. Image:Eibar - Iglesia de San Andrés 13.JPG, Church of San Andrés in Eibar. Image:Eibar - Ayuntamiento 01.jpg, City Hall. Image:Arrate.JPG, Sanctuary of Arrate.

Transport

;Road The AP-8 motorway connecting

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 the French border crosses through Eibar, as does the N-634 road running parallel to it. The AP-1 motorway connects Eibar and

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 ...

. AP-8 and AP-1 meet at the ''Maltzaga'' motorway junction located in the east of Eibar. Regular and frequent bus services under connect Eibar to neighbouring towns,

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

, Vitoria-Gasteiz and

Bilbao Airport Bilbao Airport is a minor international airport located north of Bilbao, in the municipality of Loiu, in Biscay. It is the largest airport in the Basque Country and northern Spain, with 6,336,441 passengers in 2023. It is famous for its new ...

. BizkaiBus provides regular and frequent bus services to and from Bilbao. ALSA runs a daily service to and from Madrid-Barajas Airport and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Eibar also has an urban bus service called Udalbus. ;Railway Eibar is located on the

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

line. Trains operated by

Euskotren Euskotren, formally known as Basque Railways (, ), is a public railway company controlled by the Basque Government and officially established in 1982 to operate several narrow gauge railways inside the autonomous community of the Basque Coun ...

run frequently and regularly to Bilbao-Matiko station and Donostia-Amara station. Services are more frequent in the

Ermua Ermua is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. In 2019, Ermua had 15,880 inhabitants. Ermua is a town in the Durangaldea comarca of the province of Biscay in nor ...

-Eibar-

Elgoibar Elgoibar () is an industrial town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. Located in a valley, it is traversed by the Deba River, Deba river. El ...

section. There are five stations in Eibar, from west to east: Unibertsitatea-Eibar, Amaña-Eibar, Ardantza-Eibar, Eibar and Azitain-Eibar.

Education

The Gipuzkoa Faculty of Engineering of the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

has a campus in Eibar. The campus offers an undergraduate program in renewable energy engineering. The Escuela de Armería, founded in 1913, is the oldest vocational training school in Spain.

Sport

;Football Eibar is home to

, who earned promotion to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

in the 2013-14 season. After seven seasons in the top division, it was relegated to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

in the 2020–21 season. The team plays at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium. The women's section of

was granted promotion to the Primera División in the 2019–20 season. After two seasons in the top division, it was relegated to

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administe ...

in the 2021–22 season. The team plays at the Unbe Sports Complex. ;Basque pelota The Astelena fronton, nicknamed the ''Cathedral of Basque Hand-pelota'', is a regular venue of the hand-pelota professional circuit competitions the Bare-handed Pelota First League, the Bare-handed Pelota First League Doubles and the Cuatro y Medio Euskadi Championship. ;Cycling Since 2009, the city has hosted an annual stage finish in the

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'') is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is ...

, usually after the riders have climbed the ''Alto de Arrate''. Before 2009, this was a traditional finish in the

Euskal Bizikleta Euskal Bizikleta (Spanish: ''Bicicleta Vasca'', English: ''Basque Bicycle'') was an annual road cycling stage race held in the Basque Country in June. From 2005 to 2008, the race was organized as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, it ...

, which originated in Eibar as ''Bicicleta Eibarresa''. The Arrate finish has also been included in the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Notable people

Francisco de Ibarra Francisco de Ibarra (1539 –June 3, 1575) was a Spanish-Basque explorer, founder of the city of Durango, and governor of the Spanish province of Nueva Vizcaya, in present-day Durango and Chihuahua. Biography Francisco de Ibarra was born a ...

(1539–1575), explorer and conqueror *

Martín Ignacio de Loyola Martín Ignacio Martínez de Mallea, known as Martín Ignacio de Loyola (c. 1550 in Eibar, Guipuzcoa, Spain – 1606 in Buenos Aires), was a Franciscan friar, best known for his two travels around the world in 1580–1584 and 1585–1589, bein ...

(1550–1606), missionary and navigator *

Ignacio de Soroeta Ignacio de Soroeta was a Spanish administrator who was a corregidor in Cuzco and then briefly Governor of Paraguay in 1731. Soroeta's governorship was in name only; he never ruled nor was accepted as governor within colonial Paraguay. Biography ...

(?–17??), Governor of Paraguay * Juan Antonio Mogel (1745–1804), writer *

Plácido Zuloaga Plácido Maria Martin Zuloaga y Zuloaga (5 October 18341 July 1910) was a Spanish Sculpture, sculptor and Metalworking, metalworker. He is known for refining damascening, a technique that involves Inlay, inlaying gold, silver, and other metals i ...

(1834–1910), sculptor and metalworker *

Ignacio Zuloaga Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (July 26, 1870October 31, 1945) was a Spanish painter, born in Eibar, Guipuzcoa, near the monastery of Loyola. Family He was the son of metalworker and damascening, damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the orga ...

(1870–1945), painter * Ciriaco Errasti (1904–1984), footballer * Baltasar Albéniz (1905–1978), football manager * Roberto Etxebarria Arruti (1908–1981), footballer * Víctor Lecumberri (1913–2005), politician * Miguel Gallastegui (1918–2019), Basque pelotari * Laura Irasuegi Otal (1923–2016), Basque Niños de Rusia, Soviet trained civil engineer * Alicia Iturrioz (1927–2021), painter * Alberto Ormaetxea (1939–2005), footballer and football manager * Luis Aranberri (1945–), politician and journalist * Javier Aguirresarobe (1948–), cinematographer *

Koldo Zuazo Koldo Zuazo (born 1956) is a Basque linguist, professor at the University of the Basque Country and specialist in Basque language dialectology and sociolinguistics. The dialects of the Basque language Since 1998, Zuazo's work on the Basque di ...

(1956–), linguist * Enrique Zuazua (1961–), mathematician *

Maite Zúñiga María Teresa "Maite" Zúñiga Domínguez (born 28 December 1964 in Eibar) is a retired Basque Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, s ...

(1964–), athlete * Pedro Horrillo (1974–), cyclist *

Patxi Usobiaga Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza (born September 7, 1980), best known as Patxi Usobiaga, is a Basques, Basque Spanish professional rock climbing, rock climber, sport climbing, sports climber and bouldering, boulderer. He is known for winning two IFSC Climb ...

(1980–), climber * Markel Susaeta (1987–), footballer * Jon Errasti (1988–), footballer *

Markel Alberdi Markel Alberdi Sarobe (born 22 October 1991) is a Spanish swimmer. He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and o ...

(1991–), swimmer *

Mikel Oyarzabal Mikel Oyarzabal Ugarte (born 21 April 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left winger or forward for La Liga club Real Sociedad, whom he captains, and the Spain national team. He has spent his entire professional career ...

(1997–), footballer * Odei Jainaga (1997–), athlete

References

External links

Official website

eibar.org

EIBAR in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eibar Articles containing video clips