Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of

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 Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.

History

It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During 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 ...

, the city was site of the 1936 Battle of Irun, which ended with a strategic victory for the Nationalist forces.

Geography and transport

One of the biggest towns in Gipuzkoa, its location on the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between Spain and France, across the Bidasoa river from Hendaye, has made Irun into a commercial and logistic centre. Irun railway station is a major break-of-gauge where the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

rails Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters * Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fi ...

meet the

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

Renfe ones. Currently Irun has a fairground with a modern exhibition and telecommunication facilities, just some 100 metres away from the actual border at the Santiago Bridge (river Bidasoa). Irun is part of the conurbation of Txingudi bay with Hondarribia and Hendaye; the town is also within the area of the Eurocité Basque

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

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 ...

, a European economic interest grouping. ( fr)

Culture and tourism

One of its main festivals is the Alarde de San Marcial, a parade recreating an episode of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, held every year on 30 June. There are hot mineral springs in the town.

Sports

The town is home to one of Europe's top

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

teams, CD Bidasoa, who play at the Artaleku Udal Kiroldegia. Its

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 ...

club is Real Unión who play in the third tier, and are based at Stadium Gal. There is a in the seventh tier.

Climate

Irun 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 ...

courtesy of strong maritime moderation from the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

. Rainfall is frequent year-round since Irun is on the windward side of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. Rain often falls in high quantities on individual days with falling on just 138 days.

People from Irun

* Manuel Anatol (8 May 1903 – 17 May 1990) was a naturalized French professional football player. * Ramón Iribarren (1900 - 1967), Engineer who made notable contributions in the field of coastal engineering. * Tirso de Olazábal y Lardizábal (1842–1921), Carlist politician * Juan Olazábal Ramery (1860–1937), Carlist politician * Luis Mariano, singer. * Amaia Montero, singer. * Fermin Muguruza, singer. * Alberto Górriz, footballer. * Alberto López Fernández, footballer. * Iñaki Descarga, footballer. * Javier Garrido, footballer. * Javier Irureta, footballer. * Javier Yubero, footballer. *

Luis Regueiro Luis Regueiro Pagola ( 1 July 1908 – 6 December 1995), sometimes nicknamed ''Corso'', was a football (soccer), footballer, and an Olympian from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country in the north of Spain who played as a Forward ...

, footballer. * Patricio Arabolaza, footballer. * Oier Olazábal, footballer. * Sergio Francisco, footballer. * Juan Manuel Gárate, cyclist. * Basilio Sánchez Beguiristáin, mayor of the Chilean commune of

Pichilemu Pichilemu (, ), originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort cities in Chile, city and communes of Chile, commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region. The commune comprises an urban centre and tw ...

. * Kortatu, punkrock band * Menchu Gal, painter * , reporter * Leontxo García, chess player & commentator for the

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

newspaper * Mari Jose Urruzola, educator, feminist, writer Junkaleko Andre Mariaren eliza Irun 2006

References

External links

Irun municipal government website

Lakaxita gaztetxea
{{Authority control Vascones Bidasoaldea France–Spain border crossings Municipalities in Gipuzkoa