The Urumea ( or , stemming from

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 ...

"ur" 'water' + "me(he)a" 'thin') is a river in the Basque Country at the north of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. It's one of a series of Basque rivers flowing into 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 ...

(

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

basin) and is best known for being the river flowing towards the sea by the city of San Sebastian.

Course of the river and water data

The river is 59.4 km long from its source in the

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. ...

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' ...

of Goizueta, and 33 km of it runs through 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 ...

. The average temperature is 13.5 °C (56.3 °F). The seasonal and year-to-year variations in water flow are less marked than in other basins of

, and the natural regulation of this basin is very high. The quality of the water is fairly good, despite a slight deterioration downstream near the mouth (moderately good condition) where the city of Donostia lies. However, lately, works have been done on the treatment and cleaning of water resulting in an outstanding environmental recovery.

Upstream river waves

The mouth of the Urumea river is known for its upstream river wave, which attracts river surfers. The phenomenon looks similar to

tidal bore A tidal bore, often simply given as bore in context, is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay, reversing the direction of the river or bay's cu ...

s, but it's caused by ocean swells instead of tides. Similar to tidal bores, the waves form in the ocean and travel up the river.

Fauna

The current water quality allows for a stable fish fauna with five species populating the river, namely

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

(extinct in 1940 and restored thanks to the re-population programs of the 1980s),

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

common minnow ''Phoxinus phoxinus'' (known colloquially as the Eurasian minnow, minnow, Channel minnow, or common minnow) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, minnows and related fishes. It i ...

loach Loaches are ray-finned fishes of the suborder Cobitoidei. They are freshwater, benthic (bottom-dwelling) fish found in rivers and creeks throughout Eurasia and North Africa, northern Africa. Loaches are among the most diverse groups of fish; the ...

and eel.

Basin

The lower stretch of the river has wide and flat banks fit for crops and urban development, which has resulted in the most inhabited

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, with 212,564 inhabitants. The main towns on the river are Hernani with its first industrial estates located upstream on its banks (paper and chemical industry, an aluminium mill, lift manufacturing, etc.); Astigarraga, renowned for its

cider houses Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest per capita consumption, as ...

; and Donostia with a final long stretch of the river snaking through different parts of the town. The main focus of

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

houses concentrates on a strip along the left bank in Hernani and on a minor road sloping up from the right bank at the limit between Astigarraga and the outer lands of Donostia.

Gallery

File:Urumea ibaia Loiolan 06.jpg, The Urumea near Loyola File:Urumea_1961_(34344195043).jpg, The river in 1961 File:Urumea_itsasoratzea_001.JPG, Mouth of Urumea File:Ergobiko_zubia_2.jpg, Bridge over Urumea at Ergobi File:Urumea_2.jpg, River in Donostia / San Sebastian

References