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Zarautz, Gipuzkoa Province

Zarautz (Spanish, Zarauz) is a coastal village located in the province of Guipuscoa, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.

The town is a popular tourist destination with the population swelling from its usual 22,323 to around 60,000 in summer. The Palace of Narros, located adjacent to Zarautz's 2.8 km long beach, is where Queen Isabella II and Fabiola of Belgium once spent their summer holidays. The beach is known for being the longest in the Basque Country and one of longest of the Cantabrian cornice.

The Mayor of Zarautz since July 2007 has been Jon Urien Krespo (Eusko Alkartasuna).

[edit] History

1237 The city is awarded status as fuero by king Fernando III of Castile.
1857 The beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Zarautz, thanks to the enterprise "Fabril Linera". An era of economic growth and development begins.
1936 The Civil War begins and Zarautz overwhelmingly supports the Republican cause.
1937 The province falls to Falangist forces in the Spanish Civil War, who carry out reprisals against the Basque nationalists.

At the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century, the popularity of Zarautz as a luxury tourist destination grew, and many well-known people began to holiday there. A number of lavish houses and mansions sprang up, particularly along the beach. Nowadays , many of these buildings have become public buildings or have been demolished and replaced by chic apartment buildings.

During the 70s and 80s Zarautz became a more affordable destination, and is now perhaps best known for its surfing and water sports.

[edit] Infrastructure and Transport

[edit] Road

Zarautz is connected to the European road network and to the rest of Spain by the A8 motorway.

[edit] Public Transport

Zarautz has two railway stations, and trains (Euskotren) connect it with San Sebastian and Bilbao.

Zarautz has two bus lines operating within the town.

[edit] Museums

There are two museums in Zarautz, the Photomuseum [1] and the Art and History Museum of Zarautz [2]. In "Dorre Luzea" there are frequent art exhibitions. The town also has many other picture galleries.

[edit] Churches

There are three main churches in Zarautz and many other smaller churches. Santa Maria la Real is the main church, with a very interesting altar piece and a Romanesque structure. Santa Clara is also quite interesting, built in a baroque style. Finally, Franciscanos church, which has been virtually rebuilt, features a very interesting library.

[edit] Recreation

Zarautz has first class sporting facilities, such as an old and elegant Golf Club. But Zarautz is renowned worldwide as a surfing destination. Over the last few years, it has become incredibly popular among surfers, and even a number of surfing schools have been established (Zarautz, Pukas).

[edit] Sport

Zarautz is the birthplace of the Basque Weightlifting Federation as well as the Gipuzkoa Weightlifting Federation. Since 1968 weightlifting (ZKEhalterofilia) has been one of the sports that can be practiced at the local sports club (Zarautz Kirol Elkartea). Since then, every summer an international weightlifting event has taken place in the town. IAt first, very famous athletes took part in that competition such as Serge Reding and Alain Terme to name a few. In recent times, the event has become a club competition in which the French champion Girondins de Bordeaux has won most of the top prizes.

Zarautz's Weightlifting Club

The town is also famous as one of Spain's most popular surfing spots. Its 2.5 km beach offers highly consistent surfing with many different peaks for all standards of surfers. The town is a great place to learn how to surf and has been home to many of Spain's Champion surfers.