Santurtzi (; ) is a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

town in the province 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 ...

, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, Spain. It is located in the Bilbao Abra bay, near the mouth of 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, on its

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

, downriver from

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 forms part of the ''

Greater Bilbao Greater Bilbao (Basque language, Basque: ''Bilboaldea'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Gran Bilbao'') is an administrative division of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the se ...

agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as "city cluster". * Economies of agg ...

. It has a population of 45,853 (2019) and a land area of . The district of Santurce of the city of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

derives its name from Santurtzi.

History and Toponyms

According to legends, the current church of St. George was originally founded as a monastery by English monks fleeing from religious persecution. They established themselves on the Basque coast, specifically the Somorrostro Valley, from which would later develop the town of Santurtzi. The name Santurtzi is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Sant Georgi'', as was the hermitage in Gordejuela near current Oquendo. In neighbouring

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

and Araba exist several towns with variations of the same name: Santurde, Santiurde de Reinosa and Santurdejo. The Spanish language form ''Santurce'' first appeared in 1333, whilst its Basque counterpart would first be shown written in 1372. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

it could also be found referred to as ''San Jurdic, San Yurdie, Sturse'' and ''Santursi,'' amongst others. In current day, both names are used interchangeably, with certain preference given to ''Santurtzi'', given its frequent use in Spanish. The official name of the municipality has also seen various changes. During the 19th century it was officially considered to be Santurce, however in 1901 it was divided in two. The inland part of this division would become Santurce Ortuella, as the mining town of Ortuella had grown enough to promote itself as the largest urban conglomeration of Santurce. The coastal side maintained its population base in Santurtzi, and began to be called Old Santurce. The cultural and traditional relationship between the two divisions can still be observed in the border area of Kabiezes. On 14 November 1980, Vicente Zorita Alonsoa candidate for the Basque Parliament and a long time administrative employeewas murdered by

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

as a statement against political supporters of the

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or t ...

Geography

In general, Santurtzi has a very rough orography, although excluding ''Mount Serantes'' (452m) - one of its most symbolic topographic elements - it is not at high altitude, the significant heights being spurs of the Serantes (Serandi): ''The Mallet'' (245m) and the ''Fortified Heights'' (123 and 106m). Its relief is contained within the north flank of the

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...

of Biscay. It is a structural type relief composed of urgonian limestone from the

Cretaceous period The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geologi ...

found all throughout Punta Lucero-Serantes, smoothly inclined towards 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 i ...

. The climate in Santurtzi pertains to the humid

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 ...

type. The temperatures are moderate throughout the year, with more frequent rains in spring and autumn. Winters are mild and summers not excessively warm. The average temperature is 20 °C (70ªF) in summer and 8 °C (48ªF) in winter.

Demographics

Mayors

Santurtzi City Council

Santurtzi City Council (2023-2027): Mayor * Karmele Tubilla ( PNV) Councillors * Edorta Rodrigo Izaola ( PNV) * Itziar Carrocera Fernández ( PNV) * Miguel Álvarez Ramírez ( PNV) * Ixone Andreu ( PNV) * Sonia López Bahamonde ( PNV) * Imanol Urrutxua Betanzos ( PNV) * Juan Andrades García ( PSE) * Itziar Utrera Pérez ( PSE) * Mario Gómez Pérez ( PSE) * Olga Pastor Albizu ( PSE) * Pedro Martínez González ( PSE) * Ainhoa Lopera Corada (

Elkarrekin Podemos Elkarrekin Podemos (''Elkarrekin'' in Basque language, Basque: "Together" or "United"; ''Podemos'' in Spanish language, Spanish: "We Can"; ''Elkarrekin Podemos'' translated in English as "United We Can") was a Left-wing politics, left-wing elector ...

) * José Manuel De Pablos Bajo (

) * Miren Matanzas Gorostizaga (

EH Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English language, English: 'Basque Country Gather' or 'Basque Country Unite'), is a Left-wing politics, left-wing, Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist and Separatism, pro-independence federation of poli ...

) * Carlos Sáez Méndez (

) * Amaia Ginea Mardones (

) * Jose Ignacio Martín Haba (

) * Naiara Gutierrez Bilbao (

) * Beñat Goikoetxea López (

) * Luis Ángel Urdiales Villanueva (

)

Tourism

The life in the area is focused on the sea, which inspires its work and its leisure. Fishing boat and rowing boat races, and the celebrations of the Virgin of the Carmen are carried out each year.

Events and festivities

* Easter Monday - Pascua - Cornites * April 23, San Jorge * June 24, San Juan, San Juan neighbourhood * June 29, San Pedro (Cabieces neighbourhood) * July 16, Virgen del Carmen * September 8, Virgen del Mar (Mamariga neighbourhood)

Monuments

*San Jorge church (1725, the tower in 1844) *House Toasts (1890) *Town Hall (1905) *Monument to Cristóbal Murrieta (1923) *Patronato Santa Eulalia (1914) *Home and clinical San Juan de Dios (1925) *Oriol Palace (1913) *Science of navigation school (1860) and Hijas de la Cruz college (1863) *Virgen del Mar church (1901) *Fishermen Confraternity (1916) *Town Park (1918) and Central Kiosk (1917) *Mamariga fountain (1882) *Monument to the Sardinera (1964) *Fishing Port (1916) and Virgin of Carmen (1950) *Museum of Sculptures *Monument to Miguel de Unamuno *Señorío de Vizcaya Square (redesign 2007) File:Señorio Bizkaia General Noche 2.jpg, Señorío de Vizcaya Square File:Palacio de Oriol.jpg, Oriol Palace

References

External links

Official website
(in Basque / Spanish)
Santurce-Santurtzi in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
{{authority control Municipalities in Biscay Estuary of Bilbao Fishing communities Port cities and towns on the Spanish Atlantic coast