Arcentals

Arcentales (in Basque and officially Artzentales) is a Spanish municipality in the province of Vizcaya, an autonomous community of the Basque Country. It has an area of 36.91 km² and a population of 720 inhabitants (INE 2022).

Toponym

The first written mention of this valley and municipality dates back to 1214. It is mentioned as Argentales in a donation made by Diego López II de Haro to the monks of Nájera. Due to this ancient variant of the name, the name of the valley has often been related to the existence of silver mines on its site. There is no evidence of the exploitation of silver mines in Arcentales, but there were lead and zinc mines exploited, before the iron and copper mines that were exploited in the 19th century.;text-transform:lowercase">XIX and XX. Due to this, it cannot be ruled out that silver galena was formerly extracted from the lead mines and that due to this the valley was named Argentales. Later the name evolved from Argentales to Arcentales.

The Basque name of the town is Artzentales. In 2001 the municipality changed its name and was officially called by this name.

Geography

It is bordered to the north by Castro Urdiales (Cantabria), to the north and east by Sopuerta, to the south by the Mena Valley and Balmaseda and to the west by Trucíos and the Cantabrian municipality of Valle de Villaverde.

Mountainous terrain from which Coliza, Garbea, Peña Alén and Betaio stand out. It is bathed by the Kolitza and Rolante rivers. Pines and eucalyptus predominate.

Population entities

• San Miguel de Linares: place, 345 m. n. m.
• Gorgolas: neighborhood 6.0 km from the center, 325 m n. m.
• Santa Cruz: district 2.5 km from the centre, 410 m. n. m.
• Traslaviña: district 2.0 km from downtown, 205 m. n. m.
• Traslosheros: district 4.0 km from the center, 300 m. n. m.

Administration

History

The territory where the municipality of Arcentales is located was inhabited by the Autrigones, a people of Celtic origin that extended through parts of the current provinces of Burgos and Vizcaya, as well as the easternmost area of current Cantabria. It is likely that this civilization already began to extract metals from the area, a fact that must have continued during the Roman period, and in later centuries once the Autrigones culture disappeared and was assimilated. Already in more modern times, in the XV century, in 1488 he was known as Juan de la Cuadra, a resident of Arcentales, who extracted and traded iron from the area. In the first decades of the 16th century, Pedro Hurtado de la Puente, a resident of Arcentales, established a group of forges in Covillo and Mollinedo, among others, which suggests the importance of iron extraction in the area during the 16th century.

Between 1880 and 1890, different mines began to be exploited in the municipality of Arcentales. The boost that the mines caused, both economically and demographically, was decisive in closing a long period in the history of the valley. But we should not deceive ourselves, although in many municipalities the exploitation of the mines and the subsequent industrialization process caused a radical transformation, in the case of Arcentales these changes only occurred while the mines were kept open.

The iron and copper mines that were exploited in Arcentales were located to the north of the municipal area. The two mining areas par excellence are: “Peñalba-Rao” (Mina Federico) and Las Barrietas-Gerelagua (Mina Amalia Juliana, Mina Sorpresa, Mina María...)

From the moment these were closed, a parenthesis that lasted between forty and fifty years, its inhabitants returned to their “traditional” way of life with a predominance of agricultural, livestock and forestry activities. But this image that could remind us of past times, will last very little because from the fifties and sixties a process of depopulation began that continues to this day. This trend is repeated in municipalities in a situation of isolation with respect to the main communication routes. This demographic recession will be accompanied by an unfavorable economic situation for the small agricultural and livestock farms characteristic of the municipality. This happens due to subordination to the economic programs advocated by the European Economic Union.

Parishes

In San Miguel de Linares, San Miguel Arcángel. In Traslaviña, Santa María. In Santa Cruz, Santa Elena.

Communications

The municipality has several railway stations in its geographical area, including the Arcentales halt.

Parties

The second day of Easter is celebrated San Hermenegildo. On August 5, the Virgen de las Nieves and on September 2, San Antolín. Also on the eighth of the same month, the festival of Our Lady of September and on the 14th, the Holy Cross. And on September 29, San Miguel.