Balmaseda

Valmaseda (in Basque and officially, Balmaseda) is a municipality in the Las Encartaciones region and the first town by foundation (in 1199) of the historical territory and province of Vizcaya, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, Spain.

Location and limits

It is located in the southwest of Vizcaya, about 33 km from Bilbao, crossed by the waters of the Cadagua River. It limits to the north with Sopuerta and Arcentales; to the south with the Mena valley (Burgos); to the east with Zalla and to the west with the Mena and Arcentales valley. Currently it has a population of 7,174 inhabitants, being the third in demographic importance of Encartaciones.

Etymology

Its etymology can be explained with two words: one in Spanish val (valley) and the second maseda, although meaningless in Spanish, there are variants of this name in the surnames: Balmaceda, Balmaceta and both also with "v". If we consider this, we would have maceta from the Basque mahatseta (vineyards), therefore Val-maceta is valley of vineyards. There are places called Matzeta in Duranguesado. Another proposed etymology is the following: Val maceda (maseda), valley of the apple trees, from the Latin "mattiana" apple, maceda=apple or apple tree. According to Isaac Moreno Gallo, author of "Roman roads in Castilla y León", the meaning of Balmaseda would derive from the Arabic word manzil (from the lat. mansio)> Vulgar Arabic mazal or masal, “inn, sale.” Val massada in what is now Valmaseda in Vizcaya, on the Puerto de las Muñecas road.

Demography

As of January 1, 2010, the population of the municipality amounted to 7,366 inhabitants, 3,579 men and 3,787 women.

Valmaseda demographic evolution (municipal) between 1900 and 2010

Population in fact (1900-1981) according to population censuses of the INE. Population of Law (1990-2010), population according to the municipal register, data from the INE.

Population by nuclei

Policy and administration

Politics

2019 Municipal Elections

Until 2019, the PNV was the party with the most votes in Balmaseda since 1979 and held the mayor's office during that period. However, in the 2019 Elections there was an electoral reversal, with the CLI winning the candidacy, and its head of the list, Aitor Larrínaga García, being elected in the mayor's office with the vote of the EH Bildu councilor who was key to investing the Independent Local Candidacy. of Balmaseda when the PNV lost one of its corporations.

Municipal elections of 2023

The PNV prevails over the independents of the CLI and wins again in Balmaseda.

Geography

The municipality of Balmaseda is located in an enormously rugged terrain, formed by the extension of the Ordunte Mountains, with peaks such as Coliza (Kolitza), Canto, Terreros and La Garbea. From here the valley descends towards the Cadagua River, meeting peaks such as the Montes de Sabugal and the Campa de los Tueros, as well as Arbalitza, in the east. The Cadagua River forms a narrow valley being bathed by the tributary streams of Acebo, Coliza, Tueros and Angostura, and constitutes a major asset for the town.

We can consider Balmaseda divided into the following sectors:

• Old Town - It is the urban centre of the Villa formed by the ancient medieval streets united by cantons.
• The Incartations - Long avenue that prolongs the urban center outside the old town.
• Presa Encimera
• The Castle
• Virgin of Grace
• Santo Domingo
• The Arroyo
• The Magdalena
• San Ignacio

• The Station
• Nocedal
• The Tents
• Overmarket
• Arbiz and Barrios
• The Calzada
• The Penilla
• The Paraamo
• The Peñueco
• Pandozales
• The Tents

Economy

The basis of the Valmasedan economy is fundamentally concentrated in two productive branches: metal and furniture. The metal industry specializes in foundry and laminates, while furniture, both artisanal and commercial, has a great tradition in the Villa, not in vain, it is known asBalmaseda, City of Furniture .

History

Despite traces of human life in the territory since prehistory, the first certain news of human settlement dates back to January 24, 1199, the year of foundation of the Villa de Valmaseda by Don Lope Sánchez de Mena, lord of Bortedo, which gives it the Fuero de Logroño, being the first town founded in the Señorío de Vizcaya. The reasons for the founding of the town were, fundamentally, the good location for the construction of a fortified city between the mountains and the river, and the favorable trade routes between Castile and Vizcaya due to the existence of the ancient Roman road. However, it is documented that the year of founding of Balmaseda (Balmaseda) is 735 by the king of Asturias Don Pelayo, to stop the advance of the Moors through that place. This information is signed in the book: General History of Vizcaya by Juan Ramón de Iturriza y Zabala 1884.

For this reason, the Villa de Balmaseda became an important commercial and customs plaza. In its cantons shops, inns, craft industries, blacksmith shops, etc. were created, as well as an important Jewish community that prospered until their expulsion.

As another trade route opened through the City of Orduña, trade through Balmaseda decreased during the 18th century. The War of Independence, the Carlist Wars, as well as the Spanish Civil War greatly affected Balmaseda due to its strategic importance.

Despite this, the arrival of railways and industrialization at the beginning of the 20th century marks a new economic era In Balmaseda, La Robla Railway, with its workshops and services, brings people from other regions closer to Balmaseda, making it experience an important demographic revival.

In 1937, the Civil War in Balmaseda and Las Encartaciones was noted in the Battle of Kolitza and other actions that took place in neighboring towns.

With major problems for its urban development, due to lack of space, and with industrial sectors in crisis, Valmaseda today tries to maintain its importance based on industrial renewal (Polígono El Páramo) and developing a growing activity in services, as well as tourism, for its monumental and cultural attractions.

In May 2016, the return of Valmaseda to the Commonwealth of Las Encartaciones was agreed, from which it had left in 2001. The inclusion was carried out with the votes in favor of PNV, Avant Gordexola and the Electoral Group Independent, three abstentions from EH Bildu and the vote against from Zalla Bai and Karrantza Zabala. Carranza's government team presented a judicial appeal on behalf of the municipal group, on the contrary, the mayor of Zalla, Javier Portillo Berasaluze, presented the judicial appeal against the accession on behalf of the Zalla City Council.

Monuments

• Parish of Saint Christ of Saint Severino is a Gothic building of the centuryXIV or XV with a baroque exterior due to a reform made in the centuryXVIII directed by the carmelita navarro fray Marcos de Santa Teresa. The impronta of the facade and the tower, with its frontons, pinnacles, cornices... is baroque but the covers and windows are kept in its original Gothic. The interior, made in three staggered ships and in four stages, the second is a transversal cruise in height, culminating in a polygonal apse with large vertical windows, is purely Gothic. A Gothic already amduro that corresponds to the second quarter of the centuryXV and is related to the Castilian school that derives from the Cathedral of Burgos. The ships and the stretches are formed by sendos pillars of round brim of simple nerves on the sides and octopartites in the centrals. The nerves go up to the vaults formed the crossing of the same so typical of the Gothic.

The tower is located at the foot of the left side. It is a baroque bell tower in keeping with the façade of the temple. It was built in 1726 under the direction of Lázaro de Incera. The gable archangels were the work of Joaquín de Liermo and Andrés de Monasterio in 1734. The temple is completed with two chapels located in the northern part. The chapel of Christ or Urrutia is of Renaissance style and follows the approach of the octagonal chapel of Burgos, where it goes from the square floor plan to the star vault using a system of squinches decorated with caireles. The chapel was built at the expense of Juan de Urritia, a merchant from Balmaseda living in Seville, by the Cantabrian stonemason Juan de Rasines between the years 1541 and 1545. The other is the Cuadra-Mollinedo chapel.

The furniture of the church is scarce, highlighting the organ and the altarpiece of the Holy Christ found in the Urrutia chapel that dates back to 1533 and is in the Flemish Renaissance style. In 1928 the architect Manuel María Smith created a neo-Romanesque environment on the ground floor of the tower. In the walls there are several recessed tombs, some Gothic and others, located to the right of the altar, with modernist motifs made at the beginning of the 20th century< /span> by the Barcelonans Querol and Quintana. The complex was declared an asset of cultural interest in 1984.

• Church of Saint John - Although the temple dates back to the centuryXV, its tower is 1732 and the porch of the XIX.
• Bridge of the Muza or Old bridge - Entrance bridge to the Villa. It's Romanesque, the century.XIII. Declared well of cultural interest in 1984.

• Consistorial House - Although the building is of baroque origin (sixteenth century)XVIII) has undergone various reforms that have changed its appearance.
• Monastery of Santa Clara - From the centuryXVII, it has been restored to give back its original look. Today is a hotel.
• Palacio Horcasitas' or Buniel - Built in the seventeenth century, it was owned by the Horcasitas and Aduana family of Valmaseda.
• Urrutia Palace - Classical Mansion, dating from the centuryXVII.
• Hermitage of San Sebastian and San Roque - Romanesque hermitage of the centuryXIII.
• La Encartada coil factory

Popular culture and celebrations

• Carnival - Popular party with floats, contests, costumes, raisins, dances and verbs.
• Medieval Market - It was held for the first time in order to celebrate the 8th Centennial of the foundation of the Villa, such was the success that is celebrated every year since.
• Up to Mount Coliza (Kolitza- Vesper of the Pentecost Easter. Ride to the mountain, sprinkle in the hermitage and descend to the Plaza de San Juan.
• Our Lady of El Carmen - on July 16th these popular parties are celebrated where the Taurin celebrations stand out.
• San Severino - October 23, are the patron saints' parties. The Pucheras Competition stands out in the past, as well as raisins, fanfaries, children's games, cultural and sporting events, concert and verb dances, etc.
• Living Passion of Valmaseda - More than 600 neighbors of the Villa represent by their streets "the Last Supper", "The prayer of the garden", "The judgment before the Sanhedrin", "The surrender" and the "Crucifixion" of Christ. Thursday and Good Friday.

Featured Characters

Twinning cities

• San Severino Marche, Italy
• Balmaceda, Chile
• Tifariti, Western Sahara