Victory

Vitoria (officially, Vitoria-Gasteiz; in Basque, Gasteiz) is a city and municipality Spanish, capital of the province of Álava and official seat of the Parliament and Government of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. In the absence of more explicit legal recognition, it is considered the de facto capital of the Basque Country for being the headquarters of the common institutions. In 2012 it was the European Green Capital.

Located at a crossroads, throughout history it has been an important strategic point both in the military, commercial and cultural spheres. Since Roman times, when the road between Astorga and Bordeaux (Ab Asturica Burdigalam) passed through Álava, these lands have not ceased to be an axis of communication between the Central Plateau and France. It is a city with an intense history that manifests itself in a valuable monumental heritage. He bears the title of "very noble and very loyal." In December 2022 it had 256,753 inhabitants.

Toponymy

The original name of the village is documented for the first time as Gastehiz in the cartulary of the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, in the document called Reja de Álava (year 1025). The place then paid the La Rioja monastery three gates, for which it is supposed to have thirty neighbors.

This primitive name of Gaste(h)iz began its decline due to the new tax on the founding of the town by the Navarrese king Sancho el Sabio, in the year 1181. As is well known, The monarch called the town Nova Victoria, with a propaganda name that does not reflect any fact of arms, but in the midst of a long conflict with the crown of Castile. The ancient name is also cited in that founding document:

«...vobis omnibus populatoribus meis de Nova Victoria (...) in praefata villa cui novum nomen imposui scilicet Victoria, quae antea vocabatur Gasteiz. »

«to all of you my inhabitants New victory (...) in the strange city I imposed the new name of Victoria, which was once called Gasteiz».

The use of Vitoria also spread in the Basque language, losing that of Gasteiz, even in minor place names; that is to say, there is Bitoriabidea, «camino de Vitoria», for example, but not Gasteizbidea. Next to the form Bitoria, note Bituria, attested at least on Arratia. In Bituria we probably find an analogical form influenced by the numerous names in -uri (Basauri), etc. and an interpretation of the last vowel as a Basque article (as in Busturi-a, for example).

Many authors have been identifying Vitoria with Victoriacum, the city supposedly founded by Leovigildo. There is no proof of this other than the brief passage from Juan de Biclaro, Bishop of Gerona (centuries VI-VII). On this matter, it is worth mentioning the article by Odón de Apraiz «The foundation of Vitoria: Leovigildo or Sancho de Navarra?» (1967), in which said identification is disrupted.

Granted the privilege of town in 1181, Vitoria obtained the title of city on November 20, 1431, delivered in Medina del Campo by King Juan II, according to Iñaki Bazán in the Municipal Gazette:

"...beginning to make and for the present I make a city to the village of Vitoria and I want it henceforth to be a city and to be called the city of Vitoria and to be and enjoy as a city of all preminences and privileges that each of the other cities of my kingdoms. »

The etymology of Gasteiz is not certain. Alfonso Irigoyen, in his 1981 article «On the place name Gasteiz and its anthroponymic environment», VV. AA., Vitoria in the Middle Ages, 621-652, believes that Gasteiz comes from an old adjective gartze ("young »), attested later gazte. According to the academic from Biscay, Gartze as a proper name would come from Gartzeiz, within a regular paradigm that presents examples such as Otso(a) / Otsoiz, Sermeno / Semenoiz, etc. In short, Gasteiz would be the name of a person imposed on the village, at an indeterminate time, in any case before the XI, which appears for the first time in the Reja de Álava (year 1025) with the form Gastehiz.

Julio Caro Baroja mentions (Materials for a history of the Basque language in its relationship with the Latin language, 103) the form Gasteici, but without indicating Latin sources. It seems more logical to think that the Basque form Gazte-iz / Gaste-iz, like many others, followed the general model of the Latin genitive -ici, nominative -icus, but with that Basque root.

Recent historical research has provided new information that is added to the long list. Ernesto García, in his book Ruling the city in the Middle Ages: Oligarchies and urban elites in the Basque Country, brings to light a quote from 1485, extracted from the Municipal Acts, in which it is made reference to the existence of the "Ermita de Gasteays" in the city of Vitoria:

In the hermyta of Gasteays stands out the city while the mayor and reguidores and procurator and deputies are together...

There is another line of research that has not been sufficiently studied, that of the identification of Gastehiz with Castellaz. Henrike Knörr, in his work «On the collection and study of Toponymy...» published in Onomasticon Vasconiae, 4, explores the aforementioned path:

...in previous texts (this is important) to 1181 is usually quoted [Castellaz] together with Treviño, for example in the well-known concord of Sancho el Sabio with Alfonso VIII in 1179: «Insuper ego, Sancius, rex Nauarrae, relinquo Alauensibus suas hereditates, except Castellaz et Thirty». If this is an ID Castellaz = Gasteiz it is correct, it is evident that Gasteiz, before receiving the wasre of population in 1181, was for the Navarre king a very important fortress, and a village, yes, but already in 1025 he paid 3 bars, that is, he had about thirty families.

Gasteiz returned through the cultured path (Landázuri, Becerro de Bengoa, Los Apraiz, etc.), until it was granted official status after the democratic restoration. On July 31, 1979, a motion was approved in which it was agreed that the official name of this city and its municipal area was that of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Subsequently, the Álava General Meetings, in ordinary session on November 25, 1979, agreed that the Brotherhood and Squad of Vitoria would be renamed, hereinafter, the Brotherhood and Squad of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Symbols

In addition to the Town Hall or Town Hall, there are a series of symbols that represent the city: the Vitoria Flag, the Vitoria Shield and the city medal.

Construction of the Town Hall began in 1783, and it was completed on December 24, 1791, the date on which the first session of the City Council was held in the new facilities. It was Justo Antonio de Olaguíbel who carried out the construction of the building and one of its promoters was the Marquis de la Alameda, mayor of the city in those years. Its façade is perfectly integrated into the whole of the square. In its central part, the portico of Doric-Tuscan columns stands out, on which rests a continuous stone balcony. It is topped by a triangular pediment in which a disc stands out where some vicissitudes of the history of Spain are reflected in inscriptions. The pediment is completed with the coat of arms of the city supported by two garlands that in the original project were two human figures.

Flag

Flag of Vitoria

The flag of Vitoria is white, crossed by a red cross, and it flies solemnly on the façade of the Town Hall on special occasions. It is currently placed in front of the new cathedral.

The current flag was chosen in 1922 after a proposal by the writer José Colá y Goiti, who presented it in 1918 with a first design in which the blades of San Andrés were not both red, but one blue and one red as a representation of the bourgeois and working classes, although finally the classic red color was also adopted in other nearby cities. The previous flag of Vitoria dates from 1835: embroidered with the coat of arms of Vitoria on a white background, it was a gift from Isabella II to the Urbanos de Vitoria battalion for not letting the city fall into the hands of the Carlists.

Shield

In the center of the flag stands the coat of arms of Vitoria. In it, the central castle represents the fortress of the city itself, seated on the base of two protective lions, and on its battlements, the vigilant crows.

It also features the initials of Queen Isabel II, as a distinction that, after the Carlist attack in 1834, the city was subjected to by Queen Governor María Cristina, who gave the Vitoria Urban Militia a flag with the name that the King Sancho the Wise gave the city: HAEC EST VICTORIA QUAE VINCIT.

Medal

Vitoria Medal

In 1948, the city council approved the creation of the current Vitoria Medal to award those people who stand out for their merits in favor of the city, in its three categories of gold, silver and bronze.

The design was made based on the commemorative medal of the battle of Vitoria, created in the XIX century.

It began with gold and white metal, but in 1977 the City Council proposed that it be made with precious metals —gold and silver— to enhance the value that the medal is intended to represent.

Others

When talking about the symbols of Vitoria, one cannot fail to mention the oldest of all and whose use in street furniture, public buildings and protocol acts make it one of the symbols that best identifies the city. It is the signature of King Sancho the Wise that appears in the founding charter of Vitoria in 1181.

It is made up of four equilateral triangles linked by parallel lines that end at the angles and forming a small square in the center when they cross each other, in each triangle and in the central square there is a small "a". This motif has been used in street furniture.

Geography

The municipality is located in the center of the province of Álava located at the northern end of the Iberian Peninsula. Its extension is 276.81 km² with an average altitude of 525 m s. no. m. It is the only municipality included in the Cuadrilla de Vitoria region.

Northwest: Zuya	North: Cigoitia and Arrazua-Ubarrundia	Northeast: Elburg (exclave) and Barrundia
West: Community of Sierra de Badaya and Iruña de Oca		This: Elbourg, Arrazua-Ubarrundia (exclave) and Iruraiz-Gauna
Southwest: Iruña de Oca	South: Treviño County (BU)	Sureste: Bernedo

Orography

Vitoria and its surroundings

Vitoria is basically made up of a central plain between 500 and 600 meters above sea level. Surrounding the aforementioned central plain, the main orographic accidents are the Montes de Vitoria (located to the south, with maximum heights close to 1000 meters, marking the provincial limit of Álava and Treviño County), the Sierra de Badaya (located to the west, with maximum heights reaching 900 meters), the Sierra de Gorbea (extends to the northwest entering the municipality of Zigoitia with heights exceeding 700 meters), the Sierra de Elguea (extends to the northeast entering the municipality de Barrundia after the Ullíbarri-Gamboa reservoir, with heights reaching 650 meters) and the Llanada Alavesa (extends to the east). The city stands 525 meters above sea level on the southern bank of the Zadorra River.

Hydrography

The whole hydrographic network is made up of a series of rivers and streams that, rising in the mountains that limit and close the central plain, flow towards it, to be drained by the Zadorra. This river fills the Ullíbarri-Gamboa reservoir and then enters Vitoria from the northeast, surrounding the city from the north to leave it from the west towards a natural pass at Las Conchas de Arganzón. Its main tributaries within the Vitoria area are the Santa Engracia, Mendiguren, Alegría, Avendaño and Zapardiel rivers, which constitute the main arteries of the surface drainage network.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, Vitoria has a Cfb oceanic climate. The characteristics of Vitoria's climate are influenced by its orographic configuration, such that the mountain ranges that limit it to the north defend it from oceanic influence, while to the south there is also a solution of continuity with the continental Mediterranean climate characteristic of the central regions of the peninsula. In summary, a microclimate of cold and humid winters and cool summers is established, similar to that of the páramos of the marginal border of the plateau.

View from the snowy Vitoria air (February 2015)

Average Vitoria Airport Observatory climate parameters (513 m. n. m.(reference period: 1981-2010, extremes: 1973-2019)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	18.7	22.6	26.6	29.1	33.0	39.7	40.2	40.8	37.2	29.3	22.2	20.3	40.8
Average temperature (°C)	8.7	10.3	13.7	15.4	19.3	23.0	25.7	25.9	23.1	18.3	12.4	9.1	17.1
Average temperature (°C)	4.9	5.7	8.2	9.8	13.3	16.6	19.0	19.2	16.6	12.9	8.2	5.5	11.7
Temp. medium (°C)	1.2	1.1	2.7	4.1	7.2	10.2	12.3	12.5	10.1	7.5	4.0	1.9	6.2
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	−17.8	−15.4	−9.2	−3.9	−2.2	1.0	3.2	0.8	0.2	−2.7	−9.4	−11.5	−17.8
Total precipitation (mm)	75.0	62.7	62.9	72.8	69.8	43.2	37.6	38.7	40.9	70.6	90.9	81.5	742.5
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	10.4	9.5	8.4	11.2	9.2	6.0	4.1	4.6	6.3	9.3	10.5	10.5	99.3
Days of snow (≥)	2.8	3.4	1.6	0.9	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.7	11.4
Hours of sun	83	108	149	163	196	218	244	226	178	144	92	75	1887
Relative humidity (%)	83	79	72	72	71	70	70	70	72	77	82	84	75
Source: State Meteorology Agency

Flora

Vitoria is one of the European cities with the largest area of green and landscaped spaces per person; about forty-two square meters per inhabitant if we include the current extension of the Green Belt. In the Basque capital there are more than ten million square meters of parks and green areas for walking, cycling and bird and deer watching.

The most numerous ornamental tree species within the city are: deciduous, horse chestnut, ash, lime, maple, acacia, poplar, coniferous, beech, oak and birch.

Deer in Salburua

Wildlife

In the ponds and lagoons of the parks we can observe different specimens of birds. Within the Green Belt, Zabalgana is a magnificent ecological refuge for wild flora and fauna such as weasels, hares and foxes. It also houses a multitude of bird species such as coots and mallards. In the Armentia Forest you can find wild boars, squirrels, birds of prey and up to thirty small birds, such as finches or robins. Salburua deserves a special mention for being one of the most important places in the Basque Country for the reproduction of waterfowl. Here unique species breed in our environment, such as some herons. In addition to inhabiting nearly two hundred species, among which the European mink and the common deer stand out.

Environment

Scheme of the three pillars of sustainable development

The Vitoria City Council promotes actions in various areas to promote balanced growth and the responsible use of natural resources, as a strategy of commitment to the environment and sustainable development.

Given its commitment to the environment, in 1995 Vitoria signed the Aalborg Charter of Cities and Towns towards Sustainability and launched its Agenda 21.

Through Agenda 21, the city aspires to improve the quality of life and well-being of its citizens through maximum respect for the environment and its resources, including human beings.

The indicators currently being worked on are urban pollution, traffic and transportation, water, energy, industry, waste, urban planning and territory, nature and biodiversity, health and environmental risks, information, education and citizen participation and socioeconomic environment.

Each year the public is informed of the situation and evolution in environmental, economic and social matters through the Agenda 21 Bulletin.

History

Although finds from before the medieval period have been recorded on the hill that occupies the heart of the old town, most historiography agrees that its origins do not go beyond the Middle Ages. In general, it is thought that the prehistoric and ancient remains recovered so far are not relevant enough to affirm that a stable habitat already existed on the top of the Gasteiz hill in those centuries.

Finds from prehistoric times (Bronze Age)

In the archaeological excavations carried out in 2006 in Campillo Sur, a Hoyo Deposit was located, with a ceramic content that, according to A. Llanos, points to "the existence of a possible habitat space in this environment, generator of the garbage that served to fill the hole". Apparently, although it is not easy to specify its chronology, the analysis of the located ceramics suggests "a temporary space framed in the Bronze Age, in its middle-final phases".

Finds from ancient times (1st-5th centuries AD)

In the excavations of the Plaza de Santa María, a set of ceramics from the Roman era (specifically from Terra Sigillata Hispánica) were found that allow us to "affirm that there was a Roman occupation of the Gasteiz hill in the early centuries of our era, continuous but undoubtedly insignificant". According to J. M. Martínez, this Roman presence must have started in the middle of the I century d. C. and would last, surely until the end of the century II d. C., and possibly up to the III century d. C.

For his part, E. Gil, in another intervention carried out in the same square, located "evidence from the early Roman period which, although taken out of context, constitutes a clear indication of an occupation of this chronology at least on the top of the hill in Vitoria-Gasteiz". This evidence was considered sufficient for the same author to speak of the following occupation horizons for the Gasteiz hill: a first settlement dateable between the second half of the century I and early 20th century II d. C., and then a second one that took place between the IV and V d. C.

Middle Ages

Background of medieval times

The 'Victoriacum' Question

Although for decades a good part of historiography has taken it for granted, the latest research tends to rule out that Vitoria came from that Visigothic settlement called 'Victoriacum', which King Leovigildo apparently founded around the year 581 according to the chronicler Juan de Biclaro'

As an alternative to the current Vitoria, some hypotheses have argued that said 'Victoriacum' could correspond to the town of Vitoriano, located in the municipality of Zuya in Alava, while others, such as Abilio Barbero and Marcelo Vigil, point out that it could be the oppidum of Iruña-Veleia, that is, the Veleia of Ptolemy, a Roman complex of great importance located in Alava, 11 km from Vitoria. Mikel Pozo's hypothesis He even doubts that said settlement was located in the Basque territorial environment, pointing out the possibility that it was a propaganda name used by Juan de Biclaro to actually refer to the city of Mérida.

Vitoria Foundation Charter

The question of Aldaieta

Certain archaeological works carried out around the city suggest the presence of Franks in the area, making it difficult to identify Visigothic Victoriacum with Vitoria. For example, at the site of Aldaieta (Nanclares de Gamboa) tombs decorated following Frankish customs have been found. It is believed that this settlement dates back to the VI and VIII. The typology of certain weapons found in the excavations of the cathedral of Santa María de Vitoria seemed to point in the same direction of Frankish culture. However, after examining the characteristics of these objects, nothing conclusive can be said since, although they could date from the 8th century, could also be from a later period given the survival in the use of this kind of weapon.

The primitive settlement (8th century)

According to the archaeological findings made in the cathedral of Santa María, the first settlement that had temporal continuity (finally giving rise to Vitoria) dates from the first decades of the century VIII. It is not certain that this primitive village was already called Gasteiz, but it seems clear that it was located at the top of the hill around which the current medieval town was taking shape.

First documentary mention (year 1025 ca.)

As shown by the gate of San Millán de la Cogolla, in the XI century most of the place names of the Llanada Alavesa, where Vitoria is located, were of Basque origin including some others of Romance origin. The gate of San Millán is a document from the year 1025 that lists a series of populations that paid tithes to the monastery of San Millán. The first documented mention of a village called Gastehiz is found in said document, although the location of said village is not mentioned. This same document also mentions many of the populations that currently make up the municipality of Vitoria.

Between the centuries VIII to the XI the Álava plain is under the orbit of the kingdom of León, later under the County of Castilla, first, since its emergence with Fernán González in 931 and, later, to the Crown of Castile when it was founded thanks to the division of the Navarre kingdom made by Sancho III of Navarre on his death in 1035.

Construction of the first walled enclosure

Archaeological remains suggest that at the beginning of the XII century, the primitive village was endowed with its first defensive enclosure. Due to its construction characteristics, it seems that these walls could have been erected at the initiative of the Navarrese-Aragonese monarch Alfonso I. In any case, a review of the written sources made in light of these archaeological findings seems to confirm a chronological horizon for these defenses prior to the granting of the jurisdiction in the year 1181.

Archaeological-historical controversy: Archaeological studies on a small area inside the cathedral have led to an analysis of C14 that places the construction of the wall at the end of the century XI (one hundred years before the founding of the town by the Navarrese king Sancho el Sabio), however, many historians who are experts in medieval Fueros do not support this thesis. The fueros granted by the kings, or legal estate, allowed the construction of walls and garrison but there could not be an enclosure of 20 towers as they interpret its walled fence, without the royal consent in legal form. Vitoria was created as a defensive tenure together with Zaitegi (1188), in order to protect the new border that had been created after the treaty with Castilla in 1179. The existence of any previous stretch of wall can only be defended from the point of view archaeological but lacks historical foundation.

Concession of the first documented jurisdiction (year 1181)

In the year 1181, Sancho VI of Navarre granted a population charter to the pre-existing settlement, choosing for it the name nova Victoria (... novum nomen imposui scilicet Victoria quae antea vocabatur Gasteiz... / «... to which I imposed the new name of Vitoria, which was previously called Gasteiz...»). One of the reasons that probably prompted this initiative by the Navarrese was to create a defensive line (which would also make up Antoñana, Bernedo, La Puebla de Arganzón and Laguardia) to face the kingdom of Castile, a line that would protect the territories which he had recently occupied taking advantage of the Castilian civil war that originated in the minority of Alfonso VIII. Recent investigations also suggest that Sancho VI, when he uses the term nova Victoria in the jurisdiction, is referring to to a new extension of the primitive walled enclosure (hence the need to specify the nova). This extension, which has traditionally been attributed to an initiative of the Castilian king Alfonso VIII, would have led to the emergence of the current streets Correría, Zapatería and Herrería. This hypothesis also provides arguments that suggest that this charter of 1181 was granted specifically to this new part of the population and not to the settlement as a whole.

Change from Navarrese to Castilian rule (1199/1200)

The walled system was key in the eight-month siege after which the troops of King Alfonso VIII were able to take control of the city, once it capitulated around January 1200. From that moment Vitoria became dependent on Castilla.

New extensions to the settlement (13th century)

Traditionally it has been argued that it was Alfonso VIII himself who endowed the town with its first expansion towards the west slope, a fact for which there are no verified documents. There are, however, arguments to believe that this expansion was carried out earlier, in the time of Sancho VI of Navarre, perhaps around the year 1181. There is little doubt, however, about the new expansion that, decades later, Alfonso X the Wise promoted. However, although the year 1256 has always been noted as the date on which the streets of La Cuchillería, La Pintorería and La Judería (to the east of the hill) began to be populated, a recent review of the documentation advocates not ruling out the year 1270 as the start date of the works of a wall, which, in any case, would not be completed until the eighties of that century in which its moat was dug.

14th century

Henry III, in 1399, grants the city two free fairs.

Tower of Mendoza

The Brotherhood of Haro was one of the council brotherhoods that were formed in Castile after the Cortes of Valladolid in 1295. In 1296 Vitoria signed two brotherhoods, one with towns on the Cantabrian coast such as Castro-Urdiales, Santander, San Sebastián, Bermeo, Fuenterrabía or Laredo, forming the Brotherhood of the Villas de la Marina de Castilla with Vitoria and another with surrounding villages such as Miranda de Ebro, Logroño, Haro, Nájera, Salvatierra or Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Due to this Brotherhood, the town of Bilbao and its port were founded in 1300, since the goods that went to Castro-Urdiales and Bermeo, as there were two towns in the Nervión estuary that shortened the journey and brought the sea closer.

Between 1368 and 1371, Vitoria returned for a short period to Navarre hands after occupying Carlos II of Navarre, el Malo, the towns of Vitoria, Salvatierra, Alegría de Álava, Contrasta and Santa Cruz de Campezo, taking advantage of the civil conflict in Castilla. The treaties of 1371, including a papal arbitration, would return the villas to Henry II of Castile.

During the 14th and XV, the fights for factions in which the older relatives and lineages of the Basque rural nobility lined up in factions to maintain their prestige and increase their income, were reflected in Vitoria with the confrontations between the Callejas and the Ayalas. This conflict ended with the Chapter of 1476, a municipal reform that was in force until 1747, when Fernando VI established a new municipal order.

Its Jewish quarter was important, before the expulsion of the Jews ordered by the Catholic Monarchs: the old Jewish cemetery is still preserved in the form of a park (Judimendi) with a commemorative monument of its past. In 1431, King Juan II of Castile granted it the title of city. In 1463 it was one of the five founding towns of the Brotherhood of Álava together with Sajazarra, Miranda de Ebro, Pancorbo and Salvatierra in Rivabellosa. In 1466 Enrique IV of Castile granted the city the title of loyal and in 1470 Ferdinand the Catholic named it very loyal.

On September 22, 1483, Isabella I swears the privileges and privileges of the city in the Arriaga portal.

Modern Age

Old print of the city of Vitoria

On January 22, 1522, news reached Vitoria that Adriano de Utrecht, who was staying in the city at the Casa del Cordón at that time, had been elected the new Pope thirteen days earlier. The future Adriano VI would remain in the Álava capital for a little over a month, acting as regent of Spain and preparing Navarre for its defense against the French invasion.

In 1615, for the royal wedding, Anne of Austria, Queen of France, and Isabel de Borbón, wife of the future Felipe IV, stayed in the city.

During the war in Roussillon, Vitoria, as well as a large part of the Basque Country, was briefly occupied by French troops, who advanced as far as Miranda de Ebro. This occupation ended with the Peace of Basel, which put an end to the conflict.

19th century

On April 3, 1808, Ferdinand VII stayed at the Town Hall on his way to Bayonne, where the famous abdications would take place. At dawn on April 19, an immense crowd filled the current street of Mateo Benigno de Moraza to prevent said trip, even cutting the braces of the carriage, for which reason he had to leave Vitoria preceded by the French cavalry.

Between November 5 and 9, Napoleon spent the night at the Etxezarra house in the capital of Alava on his way to Madrid to place his brother, José, on the throne of Spain. José had made the palace of Montehermoso his personal royal palace during the preceding retreat (after the defeat at Bailén).

Among the most noteworthy historical events is that of having been the scene of the Battle of Vitoria on June 21, 1813, in which the French troops, moving in retreat, were defeated by the Duke of Wellington together with General Álava from Alava. As a result of the contest, José Bonaparte fled losing almost all the booty stolen from the Spanish. With this battle, the Spanish War of Independence practically ended.

When the news reached Vienna at the end of July of the same year, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel commissioned Ludwig van Beethoven to compose a symphony on the occasion of this event. It is the op. 91 Wellingtons Sieg or Die Schlacht bei Vitoria or Siegessymphonie.

In the framework of the First Carlist War, the city remained faithful to the Elizabethan side and on March 16, 1834 it was besieged by the Carlist army of Tomás de Zumalacárregui. The attack is rejected by the Urban Militia and the Álava Wardens, present in Gamarra Mayor, and the Carlist troops are forced to withdraw due to information about the arrival of liberal reinforcements from Miranda de Ebro. The little more than a hundred of Álava Wardens taken prisoner were taken to Heredia and shot the following day, giving rise to the fateful executions in Heredia. Regent María Cristina rewarded Vitoria by including the initials of Isabel II on the city's coat of arms.

In 1843, authorization came to build the Secondary Education Institute, the current seat of the Basque Parliament and previously the convent of Santa Clara. In the academic year of 1853-1854 classes began, thus culminating an old dream of the city. The old Institute of Media Education witnessed a good part of the cultural life of this city. We must remember, among other things, the Free University, created as a result of the 1868 revolution. This University functioned from 1869, truncating before the start of the 1873-1874 academic year, largely because of the Second Carlist War. It is enough to remember the names of Ricardo Becerro de Bengoa, Julián Apraiz, Federico Baraibar, etc. The latter, a great Hellenist (1851-1918), was also one of the first to teach Basque classes in Vitoria, in the section that we would call extracurricular today.

The cultural and educational wealth during the second half of the XIX century earned Vitoria the nickname of Athens of the North.

Proclamation of the II Republic in Vitoria

20th century

At the beginning of the century and until the fifties, Vitoria was a small city, with hardly any industry and very conservative. After the uprising in 1936 of a sector of the army, supported by the parties of the political spectrum of the right and part of the center, the Civil War began and the Basque and Navarrese territories were divided between the two sides; Álava and Navarra remain attached to the insurgents and Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya faithful to republican legality, although many of their inhabitants, ideologically attached to Carlist traditionalism and the monarchy, join the side of the uprisings, which is why there were Basques and Navarrese in the two sides, although the majority of the population remained loyal to the Republic.

Francoism

Francoist soldiers celebrate the victory of war

The end of the Civil War in the Basque Country, as elsewhere, left a deeply divided society. After an initial stage in which intense political repression served as a framework for the resumption of activity in the factories, the Franco years began, in which significant economic growth and clandestine activities of resistance to the dictatorship were combined, both by unions and political parties born before the war and, since the end of the 50s, by terrorist organizations such as ETA and others born around it.

Starting in the 1950s, a strong industrialization began in the city that would produce a transformation of the city in all aspects, especially demographic and social, from being a small city of services and administration to an industrial city that broke relative demographic growth records in all of Spain, in the sixties, with a percentage greater than 40%. Thus, from the 1960s to the 1970s, its population almost doubled, due to the large number of immigrant workers received.

Transition and democracy

On March 3, 1976, Vitoria suffered the greatest aggression in its history against the working class. The events occurred a few months after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco, in the middle of the Spanish Transition. In the church of San Francisco de Asís in the Zaramaga neighborhood, a populous working-class neighborhood located to the north of the city, an assembly of 4,000 striking workers who wanted to improve their working conditions was taking place. The Armed Police tried to evacuate the church and to do so they fired tear gas into the interior (a closed and crowded area) and as the workers came out half suffocated and with handkerchiefs covering their mouths, they shot them with live ammunition and rubber bullets.. As a result of such aggressiveness, five people were killed and more than one hundred and fifty were wounded by bullets. The police resolved the situation they had created with a clean shot, resulting in the deaths of Pedro María Martínez Ocio, a twenty-seven-year-old worker at Forjas Alavesas; Francisco Aznar Clemente, bakery worker and student, seventeen years old; Romualdo Barroso Chaparro, from Agrator, nineteen years old; José Castillo, from Basa, a company of the Grupo Arregui, thirty-two years old. Two months later, Welcome Pereda, a Differential group worker, would die at the age of thirty. It was one of the largest massacres that occurred during the Transition. The events were not investigated or prosecuted. The replacement at the head of the Spanish government that King Juan Carlos I carried out in July of that year, changing Carlos Arias Navarro for Adolfo Suárez, could be a consequence of this episode.

On May 20, 1980, Vitoria became the capital ("Gasteiz-Vitoria is designated as the seat of Parliament and Government") of the autonomous community of the Basque Country by decision of the Basque Parliament, which so agreed by of its Headquarters Law. Thus, Vitoria is the capital of the province of Álava and, in turn, of the Basque Autonomous Community, being the seat of the Provincial Council of Álava, the General Meetings of Álava, the Basque Government and the Basque Parliament. In 2012 Vitoria was the European Green Capital (European Green Capital).

Demographics

The municipality, which has an area of 276.81 km², has 256,753 inhabitants and a density of 892.22 inhabitants/km² according to the 2023 municipal register.

Graphic of demographic evolution of Vitoria between 1842 and 2017

Population of law according to population censuses of the INE.Population according to the 2017 municipal register.Between 1860 and 1877, the term of the municipality grows because it incorporates Ali and Elorriaga. Between 1920 and 1930, the term of the municipality grows because it incorporates Aríñez. Between 1970 and 1981, the term of the municipality grows because it incorporates Foronda, Los Huetos and Mendoza. Until 1981 it was called Vitoria.

Vitoria's population has tripled in recent decades. From the 60s and 70s of the last century, attracted by the growth experienced by the industrial sector, a lot of labor began to emigrate to the city from the rest of Spain. Today, the service sector continues to fuel an increase in population.

According to Eustat data, as of September 20, 2017, immigration to the city was 5,399 people while emigration was 4,232.

Population by nationality

Currently the city's population is divided into people of different nationalities. 90.7% of the population is Spanish and 9.3% is foreign.

Breakdown of population by nationality according to the Vitoria City Council Municipal Register of Inhabitants (2018):

Population by nuclei

Breakdown of population according to the municipal register of inhabitants of the Vitoria City Council (2018):

Metropolitan area of Vitoria

For more information see Functional area of Vitoria - Central Alamo and functional areas of the Basque Country.

According to the Basque Government Territory Planning Guidelines, Vitoria is the central city of a functional area called Álava Central that is created to coordinate certain determinations such as urban planning, definition of spaces or development of common programs. According to the aforementioned guidelines, the functional area is made up of 29 municipalities from Álava and 2 from Biscay (Ochandiano and Ubidea). The creation of the Álava Central Metropolitan Commission is intended to establish common strategies and joint work with the municipalities integrated into the Functional Area of Álava Central in order to achieve the following objectives:

• Plan the growth of residential soil, specializing in their housing typologies.
• Propose criteria for planning the development and growth of the logistic and industrial soils, to specialize each space or corridor and adapt it to that specialization.
• Design a comprehensive system for the management of communication infrastructures.
• Design a common strategy for the conservation of the natural environment and the protection of biodiversity.

Taking economic and population flows into account, Vitoria's influence also goes beyond the borders of the Basque Country to the Burgos municipalities of Miranda de Ebro, La Puebla de Arganzón and Treviño County, that is, to the Comarca del Valle del Ebro, which already in 1822 formed part of the province of Álava and whose towns were also founders of the Brotherhood of Álava in 1463.

Administration and politics

Municipal government

The Town Hall of Vitoria, in Plaza de España

Gorka Urtaran was elected mayor in the plenary session of the constitution of the city council on June 13, 2015 with the votes of PNV, EH Bildu, Sumando-Hemen Gaude and Irabazi, achieving a total of 14 supports and, therefore, the majority absolute. The until then mayor for the Popular Party, Javier Maroto, also presented a candidacy, who only obtained the support of the nine councilors of his group. The four councilors of the PSE-EE voted blank.

Basque government

The seat of the Basque government is located in the district of Lakua.

Ajuria Enea Palace

Basque Parliament

The Basque Parliament (in Basque, Eusko Legebiltzarra) is the chamber that exercises legislative power, elects the president of the Basque Government, approves the budgets of the autonomous community of the Basque Country and promotes and controls the action of the Basque Government. It also represents Basque citizens. Its headquarters are in Vitoria.

Alava Provincial Council

Provincial Council of Álava

The Provincial Council of Álava (in Basque: Arabako Foru Aldundia) is the governing body of the historical territory and province of Álava (Basque Country, Spain).

General Meetings of Álava

The General Meetings of Álava (in Basque and co-officially Arabako Batzar Nagusiak) are the parliament and legislative body of the province and historical territory of Álava.

Its headquarters are located in the Leuven neighborhood of the city of Vitoria on Calle de Vicente Goicoechea, 2. It is a building that dates from 1868. However, plenary sessions are held in the plenary hall of the Álava Provincial Council building, located in the same neighborhood and a very short distance away. This building dates back to 1833.

Evolution of outstanding debt

The concept of outstanding debt includes only debts with savings banks and banks related to financial credits, fixed-income securities and loans or credits transferred to third parties, excluding, therefore, commercial debt. The outstanding municipal debt per inhabitant in 2014 amounted to €502.33.

Graphic of evolution of the city council's living debt between 2008 and 2017

Living city council debt in thousands of Euros according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Ad. Public.

Capital of the Basque Autonomous Community

According to Law 1/1980, of May 23, on the "Headquarters of the Institutions of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country" included in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country, Vitoria is the headquarters of the Basque Parliament and the Basque Government. For this reason, it is considered the capital of the autonomous community pending more explicit legal recognition.

Urbanism

From an urban point of view, Vitoria is a medium-sized city, whose layout adapts to the traditions of each historical moment. The medieval quarter develops in the shape of an almond around the founding hill, which due to its privileged location as the only elevation on the Álava plain, became a defensive bastion coveted by the kingdoms of Navarra and Castilla over the centuries XI and XII. The walled enclosure predates this war between Navarrese and Castilians, and is due to the work undertaken by the Count of Álava, bastard son of King Ramiro I of Aragon, in the XI, for the defense of the village. The defensive walls of old Vitoria were built between 1050 and 1100. Due to this first defensive function, its narrow and shady streets surround the original oval, in compact rows of houses parallel to each other and with respect to the medieval walls (of which only some sections and gates are preserved). Between the years 1854 and 1856 an event took place that changed the face of the city. A cholera epidemic was the pretext for demolishing the portals, which were strong houses, which gave access to Correría (the Nanclares strong house), Zapatería (the Soto strong house) and Herrería (the Abendaño strong house) streets and that served to protect each neighborhood union. At the entrance to the current Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, was the portal of Santa Clara, which was linked by the wall to the convent of San Antonio. In the 19th century, and given the evidence that the city was becoming too small, a neoclassical expansion was planned, and little by little the planning of the city was giving Vitoria its current shape.

Building in the Ensanche de Vitoria

The medieval almond, as it is usually called, has a multitude of architectural jewels such as the Bendaña Palace, home to the Fournier Card Museum (erected in 1525 by Juan López de Arrieta, on the site previously occupied by the tower defensive erected by the Maeztu). The Escoriaza-Esquivel Palace, from the XV century, built by Claudio de Arziniega. That of Villa Suso, where Martín de Salinas, ambassador of Carlos V lived (from the XVI century). And the greatest medieval treasure of Vitoria: the Cathedral of Santa María (old cathedral).

The history of the old cathedral (as it is popularly known), is in itself a synthesis of the history of Vitoria. Built on the cemetery of the primitive Basque village of Gasteiz (which today can be visited thanks to excavations), the church of Santa María collapsed in the fire of 1202, and Alfonso VIII of Castile (who had conquered the square barely two years before), he ordered to rebuild the city and build a new one on the site of the previous church that would serve two very different purposes: save souls and store weapons. This is how the Cathedral of Santa María (old cathedral) was born, still a church, as a temple-fortress that served as the entrance to the city. The project changed over the centuries, in such a way that each modification was made without taking into account the previous ones, this was the case in the XV century (when the church became a collegiate church), and finally in the sixties, when it was decided to reverse the works to strengthen the exterior walls and enlarge the windows for purely aesthetic reasons. What ended up forcing the closure of the temple for fear that it would collapse during the masses. Today the cathedral is open again, and offers visitors a unique experience: a layered walk through time. From the vestiges of the original village, root of today's Vitoria, to the Gothic redesign of the mid-century XX, through foundations over a millennium old, and Romanesque and Gothic plans, all perfectly discernible by the color of the materials used in each stage. A unique opportunity in the world to travel through the shortcuts of history, in a temple that, due to its peculiar characteristics, and multiple functions throughout its life, has become the main attraction of Vitoria. Ken Follett, author of The Pillars of the Earth, said after his stay in the city that Santa Maria was one of the three most interesting cathedrals in the world.

Plaza de la Virgen Blanca

From the Middle Ages to the XVIII, the population of Vitoria and the layout of its streets remain almost unchanged. And it was not until the end of the 18th century, when growth made it necessary to expand the city outside the walls. To solve the problem of the difference in height between the original nucleus on the hill, and the Llanada below, the Arquillos and the Plaza de España are erected, designed by Justo Antonio de Olaguíbel, smoothing the transition towards the much-needed romantic expansion (XIX century), with wide streets and gardens, the greatest exponent of which can be found on Eduardo Dato street, the Parque de La Florida, and the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, with its facades dotted with viewpoints.

Salburua Boulevard

Subsequently and up to the present, the new neighborhoods of Vitoria are built following various urban plans that favor parks, recreational areas and quality of life. Combining the maintenance of the identity of the city with the need to accommodate the growing population. Taking the San Martín neighborhood as a reference, the first new neighborhood planned in this way, the city has increased its extension at a dizzying speed, growth concentrated in recent years in the neighborhoods of Lakua, Salburua and Zabalgana. The city of Vitoria has received several international awards for its urban development. The so-called Green Ring deserves a special mention, a network of parks and green spaces that surrounds the city, destined to be the lungs of the future Vitoria, and to link the city with rural areas.

Urban evolution

Evolution of the population density of Vitoria between 2006 and 2010

Vitoria was successively Gothic and Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Romantic. Planning has been a constant in its historical evolution, from its first medieval extension at the beginning of the XIII century to its modern neighborhoods and peripheral parks. Its old quarter maintains its Gothic layout and its elliptical and narrow streets, with steep cantons and ancient and recovered palaces. The names of its streets preserve those of the trade activities of that time: Cutlery, Shoemaking, Blacksmithing, Painting... The French author Victor Hugo himself would define Vitoria in one of his works as a "complete and homogeneous Gothic town", and He even compared it to Nuremberg.

The Renaissance also left its mark on the hill, in the form of elegant palaces built by noble families.

Outside the medieval quarter there are other emblematic spaces such as the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, the Plaza de España and Los Arquillos, from Neoclassicism: both were designed by the local architect Justo Antonio de Olaguíbel to bridge the steep slope that separated the former city of the expansion of the XVIII century, that is, the expansion.

Vitoria is today a road communication hub. The city has a privileged strategic position within the so-called Atlantic axis. Due to its status as the capital of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, it houses the headquarters of different institutional bodies of the autonomous community: the presidency of the Government of the autonomous community in Ajuria Enea, the Basque Government in Lakua and the Basque Parliament in Becerro de Bengoa street.. Being the capital has given the city a remarkable dynamism. Today it has the largest shopping center in the entire Basque Country, called "El Boulevard".

SmartEnCity Plan

According to the city council, it is an energy rehabilitation plan for homes in the Coronación neighborhood. It wants to achieve a reduction in the energy demand of homes and, with it, CO_{2. This plan is part of the European SmartEnCity project in which Vitoria participates.}

Masterplan downtown

It is a plan based on three principles based on the 3Rs, which consist of the regeneration of public spaces, reuse and rehabilitation of buildings, and commercial and hospitality reactivation.

Territorial organization

Concejos y ciudad de Vitoria

Councils

Within the municipality of Vitoria, in the first place, it is necessary to distinguish what the city of Vitoria itself is and the numerous rural nuclei that were added to the town or the municipality at different historical moments and that continue to preserve a certain administrative autonomy under the name of councils. The councils have their terms demarcated within the municipality of Vitoria.

For administrative and statistical purposes, the rural councils of Vitoria are grouped into three zones: Rural East Zone, Rural Northwest Zone and Rural Southwest Zone. The councils grouped in these areas, almost 60 in total, are still perfectly distinguishable from the urban center of Vitoria.

Some of the councils have been completely absorbed into the urban fabric of the city by the growth of the city and are not currently included in those three statistical zones. They are already considered neighborhoods of the city, although they continue to retain their legal status as councils. This is the case of Abetxuko, Ali, Armentia or Arriaga, which are already part of urban neighborhoods in Vitoria.

Other councils, still considered to be part of the rural area of Vitoria, are in the process of being absorbed by the city, swallowed up by the industrial estates on the outskirts of Vitoria or by the more recently built neighborhoods, still under development. consolidation process. These are the cases of Betoño, almost completely surrounded by an industrial estate that connects it with the rest of the city, of Arechavaleta in the southern zone and, in the eastern zone, of Arcaute and Elorriaga, which have been linked to the city with the recent urban development of the Salburua district.

Villages

There are two towns that are not councils and whose administration falls directly to the Vitoria city council:

Depopulated

The unpopulated areas of:

• Santa Cruz de lo Alto.
• Ullibarri.

Districts and neighborhoods

Pando-Argüelles House in Vitoria

In Vitoria there are several districts, which in turn are divided into neighborhoods, while the rest of the neighborhoods are not included in any specific district. They have been classified according to the relative position they occupy with respect to their position with the Historic Center of the city of Vitoria:

• The northern part of the city. It includes the districts of Abechuco, Zaramaga, El Pilar, in addition to the district of Lakua, divided into the districts of Lakua (Central), Arriaga-Lakua, Lakuabizkarra and Ibaiondo.
• The downtown area of the city. It includes the neighborhoods of Casco Viejo, Ensanche, Lovaina and Coronación.
• The center-west area of the city. It includes the neighbourhoods of Txagorritxu, San Martín and Gazalbide.
• The western periphery, formed by the districts of Sansomendi, the village and Polygon of Ali-Gobeo and the Zabalgana district.
• The northeastern part of the city. It includes the districts of Aranzabela, Arana, Arambizcarra, Santiago and El Anglo. In addition to the villages absorbed in the plot of Betoño, Eskalmendi, Gamarra Menor and Gamarra Mayor.
• The center-east area of the city. It includes the districts of Desamparados, Judizmendi and Saint Lucia.
• The eastern part of the city. In addition to the village of Elorriaga; the Salburua district, divided into the districts of Salburua, and Arcayate.
• The southeastern part of the city. Includes Adurza, San Cristobal, Errekaleor and the Oreitiasolo and La Estrella polygons. In addition to the towns of Aretxabaleta and Gardélegui.
• Southwest of the city. It includes the districts of Ariznavarra, Armentia and the district of Mendizorroza, divided into the districts of Mendizorroza, El Batán and the Ciudad Jardin, as well as the University Campus.

Neighborhoods not included in any district

Rural councils belonging to the municipality of Vitoria:

• Rural East of Vitoria. The 20 councils that make up this area are: Aberásturi, Andollu, Arcaute, Arkaia, Ar Gandia, Askartza, Betoño, Bolivar, Zerio, Elorriaga, Gámiz, Ilárraza, Junguitu, Lubiano, Matauko, Oreitia, Otazu, Ullibarri Arratzfrancua, Ullibarri de los Oll Es
• Rural Northwest of Vitoria. The area is composed of 23 councils and 2 neighborhoods that do not form councils: Amárita, Antezana de Foronda, Aránguiz, Astegieta, Crispijana, Estarrona, Foronda, Gamarra Mayor, Gamarra Menor, Gobeo, Gereña, Hueto Abajo, Hueto Arriba, Legarda, Lopidana, Martioda, Mendiguren, Mendoza, In addition to the 2 neighborhoods that do not form councils: Artatza de Foronda and Mandojana.
• Rural Southwest of Vitoria. The 15 integrated councils are: Arechavaleta, Aríñez, Berrostegieta, Castillo, Esquíbel, Gardelegi, Gometxa, Lasarte, Lermanda, Margarita, Mendiola, Monasterioguren, Subijana de Álava, Zuazo de Vitoria and Zumelzu.

Projects for the future

Current status of the Spanish High Speed (2011)

• Definitely discarded railway, as well as the intermodal station. In addition the city has a new bus station 13 639 m2, twenty-five days for buses, which initially sewed the neighborhood's rejection with more than 10,000 signatures collected in this regard. Finally the station was placed in the hole left by the failed project of the BAIC Center in the Euskaltzaindia Square. The AVE delays its arrival beyond 2020.
• Green Ring Interior: it would consist of transforming two main arteries of the city, the avenue of Gasteiz and the street of the Herran, into two new green boulevards and joining them through a large "Inner Green Ring", a strategic project of transformation and sustainable urban regeneration, which is linked to the identity of the city: the Environment. It begins by carrying out a process of urban regeneration in the avenue of Gasteiz and in the street of the Herran, so that these two strategic axis of the city will become two new spaces of opportunity. The third phase of this Inner Green Ring, which would sew both axes, already transformed, also by the North and the South, would later come with the transformation of the space liberated by the sombering, in the South, as well as with the stretch of Honduras, Juan de Garay and Latin America, in the North Zone. The first phase of the inner green ring on Gasteiz Avenue could be ready in 2013.

Betoño, where the new Urban Business Park would be located

• Betoño Urban Business Park: it would involve the direct creation of 1000 new jobs, driving a new area of economic activity, betting on a new job project that would transform Betoño into a new area of innovation and opportunity. The bet would consist of recovering a purely industrial space to give it new uses. On the one hand create new productive spaces for companies. On the other hand, new types of housing, and finally green areas and other uses. The main core of the new Betoño Urban Business Park would be two Cooperative Research Centers (CIC), a Environmental Science CIC and a Medical Research CIC. There would also be a Business Centre dedicated to Research and Development, a Business Incubation Centre, Free Software Development Centres and a space for support to self-employment of young entrepreneurs from the world of Vocational Training.
• Tramway in Salburua and Zabalgana: they want to accelerate the expansion phases of the light metro to Salburua and Zabalgana and to be able to briefly start studies in these two neighborhoods. Thus, two new tracks have been proposed that do not have to wait for the submergence of the railway and that would serve a total of 60 000 people, 30 000 potential users in each of the two neighborhoods.
• ArabaTran: There is a project of railway proximity to the metropolitan area of the Basque capital with beginning in Miranda de Ebro and end in Alsasua which is known as ArabaTran.

Economy

Industry

The economy of Vitoria underwent a profound transformation with the industrialization that it underwent in the 50s. A small city with administrative and service functions, it became, in less than ten years, a prosperous industrial center going from having just over 52 000 inhabitants in 1950 to more than 190,000 inhabitants in 1980, all this growth was mainly due to immigration. Today, Vitoria has multinational companies on its soil such as Mercedes Benz (which produces the Mercedes-Benz Vito van, Vitoria being the city to which it owes its name and the Mercedes-Benz V-Class, a luxury minivan based on the second generation of the previous model.), Michelin, Aernnova, as well as with local companies that supply supplies to those.

Mercedes-Benz Clase-V, model produced in Vitoria

The areas with the greatest industrial activity in the city have traditionally been the polygons born during industrialization in the then periphery of the city: Betoño, Uritiasolo or Ali-Gobeo, but currently, the aforementioned areas have been fully integrated into the urban center of Vitoria limiting its expansion possibilities. For this reason, in recent years new industrial spaces have been built further away from the urban area (Júndiz and Álava Technology Park) and directly connected to the main communication routes such as the A-1 and A-622 motorways, the AP- 1, the Madrid-Irún railway line or Vitoria Airport. These are the spaces where some of the most technological and innovative companies are based.

On the other hand, the appointment of Vitoria as the capital of the Basque Autonomous Community in 1980 led to the increase of the tertiary sector until it became the majority sector in the city today, focused on commerce and administrative activities. All this has contributed to Álava being the province of the state with the highest GDP per capita with $32,236 in 2005, being the average for the autonomous community of $27,153 and $20,933 for the state as a whole in the same year.

Logistics and industrial centers

Álava is located in a geographical area whose terrain characteristics make it especially propitious for the creation and development of logistics centers. Many companies already operate in these centers and some more will soon. A strategic plan has been presented whose main objective is to invest for the improvement and industrial development in these areas.

The Provincial Council wants to intensify the positioning of Álava as a logistics node and "attractive" territory to invest and includes actions with the aim of "reinforcing its position as a key logistics node globally" and making the area a Territory " attractive" for investment by companies.

The main logistics centers are: Júndiz, Gamarra, Gojain and Arasur.

Júndiz

Júndiz Industrial Park

The Júndiz industrial park is 6 km from the urban center of Vitoria and is located at a strategic communications point, both with the neighboring provinces and with the rest of the State and Europe, with direct access to the A-1, Madrid-Irún.

It has the Vitoria Intermodal Transport and Logistics Center (CTVi), a logistics zone of 900,000 m² railway freight station of 177 501 m², ITV and connection to just 8 km by highway with the Victoria International Airport.

There are many companies in Júndiz that carry out different types of economic activity (transport, automotive, packaging...).

Gamarra

This is one of the assets owned by BSH Spain located in the best area of P. I. Betoño-Gamarra, an industrial estate located north of the city of Vitoria with more than 943,000 m² of constructed area. The commercialized asset is located at Plaza Gamarra, 1, and has a total area of 10,000 m², consisting of 3 industrial pavilions and 1550 m² of offices.

The Gamarra industrial estate is also home to the production center of the Sidenor steel company.

Gojain

The Gojain industrial estate is located 12 km from Vitoria flanked by the Urrúnaga and Ullíbarri reservoirs, an ideal place for bathing and practicing sports nautical It enjoys an excellent road network, the N-240 Vitoria-Bilbao, whose layout extends next to the industrial estate. The Gojain polygon is characterized by metamechanical activity and the settlement of more than one hundred companies, including important national and foreign firms. It has a full range of services and infrastructures.

Arasur

The Arasur industrial and logistics park is characterized by its wide range of state-of-the-art industrial spaces and logistics warehouses, integrated into a well-kept environment, with a wide range of services aimed at different groups. Arasur is a company owned by Kutxabank, the Álava Provincial Council, the Basque Government, the Ribera Baja City Council and Merlin Parques Logísticos.

Located in Álava, next to Miranda de Ebro, Arasur enjoys a strategic location in the heart of one of the main industrial areas of the Iberian Peninsula with a population of more than 4.5 million inhabitants within a radius of 100 kilometers.

Due to its location, Arasur is consolidated as the best industrial and logistics park of reference in northern Spain for cargo distribution in the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, as well as in an important support area for the logistics activities of the international airport Vitoria and the ports of Bilbao, Pasajes and Santander.

The Arasur Multimodal Logistics Platform is configured as a Bilbao Seaport Terminal, connected by rail and road shuttles, located within the axis formed by the Atlantic Freight Rail Corridor.

Arasur is located in the central axis of one of the large terrestrial connection nodes for traffic between Portugal, the Mediterranean, northwestern and central Spain with Europe.

The accesses to the AP-1, AP-68 and A-1, which connect it with the main Spanish and European capitals through the E-70 and E-80, position Arasur as one of the parks more competitive logistics both nationally and internationally.

In addition, its railway connections with the Madrid-Irún-Paris, Lisbon-Irún-Paris, Bilbao-Barcelona and Madrid-Bilbao lines allow Arasur to offer the ports of the Mediterranean and Atlantic coast an ideal space for the consolidation of loads and their subsequent distribution in the national, European and Maghreb markets.

Main shopping areas

The English Court at Christmas

The medieval quarter offers a wide range of traditional commerce with numerous shops dedicated to crafts, decoration, small clothing stores, traditional hotels... while the Ensanche tends to host important multinational fashion and accessories firms, headquarters of the main banks, elegant cafeterias, famous sweet shops, restaurants, exclusive jewelry stores, department stores... especially in the streets of Eduardo Dato, General Álava, San Prudencio, Postas and Independencia.

To a lesser degree, areas such as Leuven or Desamparados also have an important commercial offer, not forgetting the shopping centers and department stores that have emerged in recent years on the outskirts of the city: the Gorbeia Commercial Park in the municipality of Cigoitia a Just 5 km from the capital or the El Boulevard Shopping Center in the Zaramaga neighborhood.

Tourism

Vitoria received more than 302,000 of the 427,000 people who visited Álava in 2017. Thus, there was an increase of 6.2% compared to the previous year in Vitoria, while it did so by 6.3% in the entire historical territory.

Europe Conference Center

Palacio de Congresos Europa

The Palacio de Europa is a building that houses several spaces that host all kinds of congresses, meetings and conferences. The rooms available are: two auditoriums, eleven conference rooms, seven multipurpose spaces and two support rooms.

The building is characterized by being spacious, modern and versatile which, thanks to the reform that was carried out, has become an architectural benchmark. In this way, it has been possible to reduce energy consumption by 60% and minimize the impact on the environment, generating less waste and reducing CO₂ emissions.

The reform and expansion project of the building is based on the Passivhaus criteria, which is based on the following: achieving great thermal insulation, reducing energy consumption and taking advantage of solar energy to achieve optimal air conditioning.

The façade of the Palace is covered by a great variety of plants typical of Álava and the Basque Country. In addition, the large windows of the building are covered with vines that protect it from the heat and allow light to enter. Thanks to this vegetal covering, both thermal and acoustic insulation have been improved. It also helps to improve air quality and reduce pollution.

Services

Education

University of the Basque Country – Álava Campus

Faculty of Pharmacy in the Álava Kampus in Vitoria

The Álava Campus is one of the main campuses of the University of the Basque Country (UPV). This campus is located in the south-central area of Vitoria, and there is a residence, a library, a classroom and a sports hall. It has its own tram stop and is crossed by urban bus lines 2, 3, 8 and 9. In addition, it is located a few meters from the Renfe station, a stop for numerous regional, national and international lines.

Here they are:

In Vitoria there is a public center attached to the University of the Basque Country:

• University School of Nursing (outside campus, next to Txagorritxu Hospital)

University of Deusto

The University of Deusto is based in Egibide-Arriaga, where Dual Degree studies in Digital Industry are offered.

National University of Distance Education (UNED)

Vitoria has a center associated with the U.N.E.D located on Pedro de Asúa street in the San Martín neighborhood.

Faculty of Theology of Northern Spain

It is a center for higher ecclesiastical studies, a Spanish university institution with double headquarters in the Archdiocese of Burgos and in its suffragan diocese of Vitoria. It was created by the Holy See, through the Congregation of Seminaries and University Studies, on February 6, 1967. In the city of Burgos, the specialties of Spiritual Dogmatics are taught, while in Vitoria Systematic, Pastoral and Theology of religious life.

Arab University Hospital, headquarters of Santiago Apostle

European University Gasteiz (Euneiz)

Private university promoted by Baskonia-Alavés Group with the collaboration of ENTI (Escola de Noves Tecnologies Interactives) and EUSES (Escola Universitària de la Salut i l'Esport), its campus is located in the former headquarters of Caja Vital in Salburua. It began its academic activity in September 2022, after being recognized by law by the Basque Parliament in 2021. It offers degrees in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, Physiotherapy, Multimedia, and Music and Sound Production for the Entertainment Industry.

Health

Public health

Osakidetza is the Basque public health service whose central organization is located at number 45 Calle de Álava in Vitoria.

There are three public hospitals in the city (two recently united general hospitals and one psychiatric hospital):

• Arab University Hospital: Born after the union of two of the most important hospitals in the city, the Hospital of Txagorritxu and the Hospital Santiago Apostle. It has more than 800 beds.
• Psychiatric Hospital in Álava: Located on Álava Street, it has approximately 225 beds.

The city also has the following public health centers:

Private health

Vitoria has several hospitals and private clinics:

• Hospital Vithas San José: Hospital located on the street of Blessed Thomas Zumárraga, has more than 120 beds.
• Quirón Hospital: Clinic located in Esperanza Street. Previously known as La Esperanza Clinic; it has 20 beds.
• San Onofre Clinic (Antigua Clínica Álava): Clinic located in Álava Street.
• Other small private consultations.

Civic Centers

Civic centers are municipal facilities located in the different neighborhoods of the city where various services, programs, and activities of a cultural, sports, educational, and social-community nature are provided in the broadest sense of the term. In these spaces, information and social care are also provided to citizens from the parameters of integration and participation.

Its mission is to provide citizens with open meeting places, information, training, orientation and leisure where they contribute to the creation of healthy leisure habits and to improve the quality of life. To fulfill this task, the different services, programs and activities are offered in a multidisciplinary way, being aimed at the active participation of associations, groups or independent users.

Objective

The main objectives of the network are four:

1. Integrate into the same organizational unit all the services, programs and activities of an informative, formative, cultural, social, sports and leisure nature that the departments involved in the Social Policy of the City Council develop to promote them and adapt them to the demands and needs of the citizenry.
2. Decentralize the various municipal services, making them closer to the citizen, and thus achieve a better understanding and a greater appreciation of the needs, aspirations and possibilities of the community, thus enabling them to perform faster actions to meet them.
3. To achieve an optimal level of quality in the delivery of services, programmes and activities, consistent with the expectations of users, seeking the satisfaction of them, through the rationalization and coordination of all existing resources.
4. Promote participatory processes between associations, groups and users that allow to collect the demands and accept the initiatives of them, thus promoting the integration of people and groups in the social, cultural and sporting processes of the city.

Background and history

In the first legislature of democracy 1979-83, the Neighborhood Municipal Offices were created, which can be considered as one of the bases for the creation of the civic centers project, although its foundation was above all assistance and administration, being directed by a social worker.

In the following legislature 1983-87, with the joint work of various departments (Youth, Culture and Social Welfare) and the support of the entire Corporation, the project for what we now know as civic centers was drafted. They are born with a much broader concept and with the aim of becoming the axis of social revitalization in their area, placing a sociocultural animator in charge of them. Its construction is carried out taking advantage of empty buildings and premises integrated into the neighborhoods themselves, without sports resources, since the existing ones were used.

The first facilities of this type consisted of: a library, a music library, a playroom, workshops and a meeting area depending on the possibilities of the location. The first center that inaugurated the network was the Sansomendi Center, in 1985. It was followed by: El Pilar in 1986, El Campillo, in Casco Viejo, in a building transferred by the Central Administration, in June of that same year (1986). and Abetxuko in 1987.

In 1989 the Iparralde Civic Center was created and in December of the same year, the Europa Civic Center, the latter with shared use as a Congress Center. These centers already integrate in a single building all the services that the City Council wants to offer: socio-cultural, care, sports, leisure, etc. This will be the model in whose image the rest of the centers that have integrated the municipal network will be built and designed. The management of the network passes into the hands of the Department of Culture, creating the figure of the director of the center and losing weight of citizen participation in its management and development of projects, being reduced to recipients of services, with hardly any involvement in their production and development.

Currently the network is made up of fourteen centers: Abetxuko, Aldabe, Arana, Ariznabarra, Arriaga, El Campillo, El Pilar, Hegoalde, Ibaiondo, Iparralde, Judimendi, Lakua. Salburua and Zabalgana. Its current organic dependency: Social Area, Economic Promotion, Citizen Security and Culture.

It remains a unique Project in the State, with a very high level of users and acceptance by the public.

Civic centres

Transportation

The Tramway of Vitoria

Urban transport

The expansion of the city with macro-districts both to the north (Lakua), to the east (Salburua and Santo Tomás) and to the west (Zabalgana and Mariturri) have made Vitoria a city that is beginning to face challenges very important when it comes to managing their internal mobility. One of the cornerstones of this management is being carried out by TUVISA (Transportes Urbanos de Vitoria Sociedad Anónima) which in the last three and a half years has expanded the network of urban bus lines from thirteen to eighteen, as well as its frequencies, up to Finally, a total change has been made in all lines, modifying the layout and frequency. Today it has nine daytime lines, three specials and six at night. To this transport is added the tram through Euskotran with two more lines.

Tram lines

Schematic bus and tram lines plan (T) in 2010

Extension of the tram to Salburua and Zabalgana

In September 2020, work began on the expansion of the city's tram network. The Abetxuko line will be extended from the Florida stop to the Salburua neighborhood in the capital of Álava. In addition, an extension has been approved to the Zabalgana neighborhood that will start from Angoulême, an extension that will have two branches, one ending in Mariturri and the other in Calle de Naciones Unidas, a project that will begin to be carried out after the completion of the undergrounding of the railway, the remodeling of the Vitoria-Gasteiz Station and the start-up of the Y Vasca.

Schematic plan of night bus lines in 2010

City bus lines

In Vitoria there are ten daytime lines, two special and four extensions.

Line	Tour	Working hours (I)	Saturday (II)	Public holidays (III)	Frequency (I/II/III)	Disabled service
1	Circular	6:15 to 22:25	7:05-23:20	8:00 to 22:15	10'/15'/20'
2A	Peripheral	6:00 to 22:15	7:00 to 23:20	8:00 to 22:20	10'/15'/20'
2B	Peripheral	6:00 to 22:15	7:00 to 23:20	8:00 to 22:20	10'/15'/20'
3	Betoño-Zumaquera	5:20 to 22:00	7:00 to 23:00	8:00 to 22:00	20'/30'/30'
4	Lakua-Mariturri	5:10-22:10	6:45-23:05	8:00 to 22:20	10'/15'/20'
5	Salburua-Elejalde	5:10-22:17	6:55 to 23:15	8:00 to 22:20	10'/15'/20'
5A	Salburua-Elejalde - Asteguieta Extension	6:50 to 22:20	7:00 to 23:00	8:40-21:40	30'/30'-60'/60'
5B	Salburua-Elejalde - Júndiz (Ariñez)	5:10-22:08			30'
5C	Salburua-Elejalde - Extension Júndiz itv	5:10 to 22:12			30'
6	Zabalgana-Arkaiate	5:10-22:05	7:00 to 23:00	8:00 to 22:00	10'/15'/20'
7	Borinbizkarra-Salburua	5:10 till 22:00	6:50 to 23:05	8:00 to 22:20	10'/15'/20'
8	Unibertsitatea	6:15 to 22:15	7:00 to 23:15	8:00 to 22:15	10'/15'/15'
9	Gamarra-Zumaquera	5:35 to 22:10	7:15 to 23:15	8:15 to 22:15	20-60'/30'/30'
10	Aldaia-Larrein	5:50 to 22:10	7:00 to 23:00	8:00 to 22:00	10'/15'/20'

The lines of the urban night bus service (gautxori) are the following:

• Line G1 – Lakua Abetxuko
• Line G2 – Adurtza Errekaleor
• Line G3 – Armentia Zabalgana
• G4 Line – Sansomendi Lakua
• Line G6 – Salburua Aranbizkarra

These lines operate all night on Fridays, Saturdays and the eves of holidays.

Andén machined on the streets with slope of the old town of Vitoria

There are also special lines:

• Cemetery Line of El Salvador
• Line Buesa Arena. The departures of the one-way buses are made from the street stops of La Paz, avenue of Gasteiz and portal of Legutiano, 38. The stops return itinerary are Portal de Villarreal (Iparralde), Paz (Dendaraba), Cadena and Eleta (Cathedral) and Gasteiz Avenue (against Europe)
• Special service to the Alavés parties. The days of the Alavés party at the Medizorrotza Stadium. The exit is made from the Boulevard and corresponds to the stops of the peripheral line 2A and 2B.

Other lines:

• Airport. The urban transport between Foronda and the city is offered by the bus company La Unión Burundesa. The stops are calle Monseñor Cadena and Eleta (new street), and boulevard street of Euskal Herria next to the entrance of the bus station.
• Jaibus (floorships)
• Technological park. The service is offered to the Technological Park of Álava through two Routes. The West Tour starts at Zabalganda Avenue, 31 next to the Dental Clinic and the East Tour from Salbatierrabide next to the Álava Clinic (Parking Stop).
• Gorbeia Mall. Stop corresponding to the Vitoria Bus Line -Cigoitia.
• Other lines (Alava Bus)

Vitoria also has its particular fleet of taxis, which cover the city and the airport with permanent stops.

Some streets with relatively steep slopes have covered mechanized platforms for pedestrian use, as can be seen in the image, an initiative that is rare in most cities around the world and that especially benefits people from the third age.

Bicycle

It is the city of the bicycle. Thanks to being in a flat area, except for the Historic District, which is on a hill, the city is ideal for getting around by bicycle, being one of the preferred means of transport by citizens. The city has an extensive network of cycle paths.

In addition to a wide network of cycle paths to take inside and outside the city, such as the Bosque de Armentia or an alternative route on the Camino de Santiago.

Its current Urban Mobility Plan wants to connect the areas of the city that do not have a bike lane and expand it, reaching a total of 145 km of bidegorris (bike lanes) and bike lanes so that cyclists can get around comfortably.

In the city there is an association of urban cyclists called Gasteizko Bizikleteroak (www.bizikleteroak.org)

Sustainable mobility

The city participates in the European Biking Cities network, a project led by a German non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote sustainable mobility. Within this network, it is part of the Clean Air macro-project (“clean air”), in favor of better air quality in European cities. Vitoria has a bicycle-friendly policy, based on the promotion of this vehicle and being an instrument of great value for change.

In the month of May, the city hosts Bicycle Week in which multiple activities are carried out in different civic centers and neighborhoods of the city.

The Camino de Santiago

Kingdoms of Navarre and Castile in 1200. Camino de Santiago-Calzadas Romanes

The path through the lands of Alava has been known since the IX century. by the Roman road XXXIV Ab Asturica Burdigalam from Pamplona, and later with Alfonso VIII who invaded Álava, with a long siege of Vitoria, also from Bayonne through the San Adrián tunnel. in what is known as the Camino de Santiago Vasco del Interior.

There is evidence of different routes but currently, the Camino beacons reach Vitoria through Elorriaga. From there, the modern urbanizations allow you to walk along the comfortable promenade of the Elorriaga portal and then along Avenida de Santiago, visiting the Historic Center and the most important places, such as the Cathedral of Santa María.

The route through the city ends at the Basilica of San Prudencio (Armentia).

Regional intercity transport

There are currently more than 20 regular intercity bus lines that connect Vitoria with the various municipalities in its functional area (Salvatierra, Alegría de Álava, Iruña de Oca, Zuya...) and the rest of the province.

Road

Vitoria is a communications hub and an important transit hub in northern Spain. The Autovía del Norte A-1 crosses the municipality at pK 342, later between pK 344 and 356 and finally between pK 360 and 362. The old N-I serves to access the city from the highway and has been renamed VG- 11/N-102 for the entrance from the southwest and VG-21/N-104 for the entrance from the east. The AP-1 toll highway reappears to the north of the municipality and allows communication with Éibar and San Sebastián. The N-622 road is a highway that reaches Altube to connect with the AP-68 towards Bilbao. The N-240 road serves as an alternative to conventional road to communicate with Bilbao. Finally, the A-132 regional highway goes from Vitoria to the southeast to Santa Cruz de Campezo.

Train station

Railway

The Madrid-Irún line has one of its main stops in Vitoria. Half a dozen trains link the city with Madrid every day, highlighting the Alvia service (three daily trains in each direction) which, via Valladolid, uses the AVE infrastructure to reach Madrid in three hours and forty-three minutes. There are also connections with all of Castilla y León, Galicia, Catalonia, Alicante, Asturias, Lisbon and Paris. Among the deficits, it is worth noting the lack of direct services that connect with Andalusia, you have to change in the city of Madrid from Chamartín to Atocha and there are multiple possibilities to access the south of the peninsula. To this day, the lack of a rail connection with Bilbao is a problem that in 2023, with the construction of the Y Vasca, will be solved.

Airplane

Vitoria airport was built to be the major airport in northern Spain ^{[citation required]} and to replace Bilbao airport, but it did not manage to consolidate as such although it did manage to become the third airport with the largest freight transport in Spain, behind those of Madrid and Barcelona. Today the company Ryanair operates in it with regular flights to Milan-Bergamo (**connection temporarily suspended), Palma de Mallorca, Colonia and Seville and with the Binter company unites Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Monuments and places of interest

Religious buildings

Cathedral of Santa Maria (old cathedral). Gothic building from the XIV century with a XVII. Under the portico there are three portals decorated with statues and reliefs. Inside, the chapels contain Gothic, Flemish and Italian Renaissance images. In the chapels on the left you can see paintings by Rubens and Van Dyck. The cathedral is undergoing restoration and has been studied by experts from around the world for its architectural curiosities, including the deformations it has suffered due to previous reforms and restorations. The restoration works that are currently being carried out under the name of "Open for works" can be visited and are having great success.

In addition, numerous congresses, seminars and conferences have been held with literary personalities such as Paulo Coelho, Ken Follett, Arturo Pérez-Reverte or José Saramago. For the work carried out, the Cathedral of Santa María received the Basque Tourism 2000 prize, awarded by the Basque Government, as well as the Europa Nostra 2002 prize, the highest distinction that the European Union grants to heritage restoration and conservation work. Since 2015, the cathedral has been recognized as a World Heritage Site within the Caminos de Santiago denomination: French Way and Northern Spanish Ways.

Cathedral of Mary Immaculate (new cathedral). Cathedral temple built and consecrated in the XX century, neo-Gothic style. Its main value lies in the sculptural richness, in many cases corresponding to the modernist style, which ornaments the nave panels and the apse on the outside, as well as the ambulatory chapels, transchoir and crypt inside.

Side facade of the Cathedral of Mary Immaculate (new square)

The building, of imposing proportions, consists of five longitudinal naves, the main one and four lateral ones, a transept with three naves, an ambulatory with two naves with seven apse chapels, a portico, a crypt and a sacristy. With its 118 meters from apse to portico, its 48 meters width between the two ends of the transept and its 35 meters high at the transept, it is one of the largest cathedrals in Spain. Since 1999, the cathedral ambulatory serves as a space for the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Álava, which contains a rich sample of the religious artistic heritage of the province, divided into sections of stone carving, wood carving, painting on panel, painting on canvas, goldsmithing and liturgical furniture.

Church of San Pedro Apóstol.

Gothic temple from the XIV century century. The Old Portico stands out, with a set of reliefs with scenes from the lives of Saint Peter and the Virgin Mary, under which images of the Virgin and the apostles run. Inside, at the head, there are several valuable tombs. Attached to the western wall, most of the factory dates from the XIV century. The tower is Baroque, with a cube from the XVII century and a spire from the XVIII, the work of Valerio de Ascorbe, very similar to the one on the tower of the nearby church of San Miguel Arcángel. Between 1892 and 1896 it underwent a restoration of which the neo-Gothic portico on the south side is preserved, the work of the architect from Vitoria Fausto Íñiguez de Betolaza.

The stained glass windows, made in Bordeaux, by the Dagrant house, were placed between 1861 and 1901. The temple is located next to Cantón de la Soledad, a steep street that has modern mechanical ramps that facilitate access to the part highest in the Medieval Town.

Church of San Miguel Archangel. Gothic-Renaissance temple from the XIV to XVI in whose portico is the image of the Virgen Blanca, patron saint of the city. Main altarpiece by Gregorio Fernández. It was built at the end of the XIV century on the southern slope of the hill of primitive Vitoria, outside its walls and the Gate of Saint Bartholomew. It surely occupies the same place as the swearing church also dedicated to San Miguel, which cites and places at the gates of the town the founding charter document granted by the Navarrese king Sancho VI el Sabio in 1181. The church overlooks Calle de Mateo Benigno de Moraza and dominates the Virgen Blanca and General Loma squares, vital centers of the city, and its mostly Gothic construction contrasts with the set of neoclassical constructions that run below. Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), it has been a National Historic-Artistic Monument since 1995.

Tower of the church of San Miguel from the square of the Province

Church of San Vicente Mártir. Late Gothic temple from the 15th and XVI. The temple was built on one of the fortresses of Vitoria from the time of King Sancho VI of Navarre, handed over for this purpose to the City Council by the Catholic Monarchs in the year 1484. From the XIII there would have been a small temple on the site that was demolished to make way for the new church. Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), it has been a National Historic-Artistic Monument since 1984.

Church of Carmen. Neoclassical temple built between 1897 and 1900 as part of the Convent of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers.

Basilica of San Prudencio de Armentia. From Parque de la Florida, a long succession of paths leads to Armentia, where one of the jewels of the Basque Romanesque can be seen: the Basilica of San Prudencio (patron saint of Álava). The temple was built in the last decades of the XII century, surely coinciding with the founding of the city of Vitoria in 1181, although It is believed that the remains of an older religious building, from the 8th century, were preserved on the same site. By then, the ancient Bishopric of Armentia had been extinct for a century, having arisen at the end of the IX century, a few decades later. of the foundation of the nearby Bishopric of Valpuesta, in the western lands of Álava and Burgos. In early medieval times, the town of Armentia was an important population center as it was the crossroads of the Camino de Santiago and the old Roman road Astorga-Bordeaux, which had a milestone here called Suisaco, mentioned in the Antonino itinerary, between Veleia (Iruña) and Tulonio. All this, together with the recognition of Armentia as the birthplace of Prudencio, a saint from the Visigothic period (around the VI century) very revered, in addition to Álava, in La Rioja, Soria and Zaragoza, where he spent his life as a hermit, evangelizer, conciliator and bishop, he made Armentia the most important spiritual center in Álava.

Church of San Miguel (Popularly: Hermitage of Santo Cristo de Abetxuko) Located northwest of the city, in the old town of Abetxuko belonging to the neighborhood of the same name, just four kilometers from Pl. de la Virgen Blanca. Romanesque temple from the 13th century, restored successively in the 17th and 20th centuries. Belfry on the west from the XII century and side chapels with arches and vaults from the XIV and XVI. On the south façade, made of masonry, its beautiful Romanesque doorway opens, which is made up of three semicircular archivolts on columns, decorated with plant motifs and balls. Inside the church, the medieval structure is maintained, with a single nave with two sections and a straight apse, which houses an image of Christ Crucified, of great artistic value, from the XVI. It also preserves the medieval foot of the baptismal font, which today supports the altar; column with base of claws and masks.

San Martin de Abendano. Dating before the XIII century, it presents a rectangular nave with Romanesque walls, prior to the arches, vaults and exterior buttresses, which correspond to later reforms. The headline image is from the late 13th century century. The most notable of San Martín de Abendaño are the mural paintings of the old head, today at the foot of the temple. They displayed a great iconographic plan for didactic purposes, difficult to reconstitute today; those identifiable by their best state of conservation represent scenes of the Crucifixion and Annunciation. The outer walls also preserve remains of paintings that testify to the practice of external decoration of medieval temples.

Sanctuary of Estíbaliz

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Estíbaliz. Located in the council of Argandoña, 8 km from Vitoria, it dates from the XI century and is a true jewel of Romanesque art. Our Lady of Estíbaliz is the patron saint of Álava. In the church there is a seated Madonna with Child that has been maintained since the XII century and is venerated as patron saint of the province of alava. Of particular interest is the south portal, called Porta Speciosa. Already in 1074 the monastery was mentioned in writing. Since 1138 it was under the Benedictine monastery of Santa María la Real de Nájera. The present church was in the 13th century. In 1542, Don Atanasio de Ayala, his descendant and heir, donated the monastery of Estíbaliz to the hospital of Santiago in the city of Vitoria, which ceded it to the province of Álava on condition that they proceed with the restoration of such a precious basilica. After the dissolution of the monastery in the 15th century it was used as a parish church. From the middle of the XVI century the plant was owned by the Hospital de Santiago, Vitoria until the beginning of the XX, the province of Álava took over. Then the church began to be restored and in 1923 it was transferred back to the Benedictines.

Convent of San Antonio. Convent of Clarisas nuns from the XVIIth century. The building, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary, was founded in 1608 at the initiative of Doña Mariana Vélez Ladrón de Guevara, Countess of Tripiana and widow of Don Carlos de Álava, who four years earlier left the money, 1150 ducats, in her will. for the works. Trasmerano stonemasons Juan Vélez de la Huerta and his son, Pedro, were hired for this purpose, who finished the building in 1622. Located outside the city walls, the Convent was initially inhabited by Franciscan Recoletos religious. In 1855 the City Council ceded it to the Clarisas sisters. Only the church remains of the original factory; the convent building itself is a modern building.

Convent of Santa Cruz. Convent of Dominican nuns from the XVI century. Starting in 1530, the Convent of Santa Cruz was built on Calle de la Pintorería under the patronage of Mr. Hortuño (or Fortunio) Ibáñez de Aguirre, a member of the Royal Council and of the Inquisition, and his wife María de Esquível y Arratia. The lords of Aguirre converted part of the building into their private residence. In 1547 the works concluded under the tutelage of Mateo de Aguirre, nephew and heir of the lawyer. It is a construction formed by two nuclei: the church and the convent, proper. The convent, inhabited by the community of Dominican nuns, has a square plan and a large central cloister inside. On the outside it has the appearance of a very closed solid wall that gives it a sober and austere appearance, but it has an element of great interest: the doorway, where we find a simple access, in a semicircular arch, with the coat of arms of the Dominican community. about him.

Civil architecture

Medieval wall. Its last remains were discovered in 2001 in archaeological excavations carried out in the subsoil of the Cathedral of Santa María on the occasion of the works for its rehabilitation and completed the sections that were already known previously. It is a work carried out in the XI century and completely surrounded the old Vitoria with its 900-meter perimeter. The Vitoria City Council, in collaboration with the Basque Government and the Department of Archeology of Architecture of the UPV, uncovered in a first phase 236 meters of fortress and two towers located at the back of Calle de la Correría at the that new sections have been added. The medieval wall of Vitoria won the Europa Nostra prize in 2010, considered the Nobel Prize for heritage, thus, the award granted in this edition is added to the medal obtained by the capital of Álava in 1982 for the urban treatment of the Medieval Quarter and the Special Prize awarded to the restoration of the Cathedral of Santa María in 2002.

Palace of the Álava-Esquivel family, in the Renaissance style of the XVI century. The main façade is located on Calle de la Zapatería with a double portal of semicircular arches with a beautiful coat of arms. The rear façade is made of masonry with neo-Gothic elements, the best known of which is located on Calle de la Herrería. The building is owned by the King of Morocco.

Casa-Palacio Ruiz de Vergara y Álava, a greatly altered Renaissance palace, built by Juan Ruiz de Vergara and María Díez de Álava on the plots of ten houses that he received as a dowry from his parents in order to place their coats of arms.

Casa de los Landázuri y Romarete has been considered the customs house. Until 1841 it was where the control of the passage of goods from the interior of the peninsula to the rest of Europe was carried out. The historian Joaquín José de Landázuri y Romarate was born and lived there.

The houses at the beginning of Calle de la Correría were built in the first months of 1757 by Manuel Baltasar de Uriarte y Castillo, who placed his coat of arms between the first two portals of the street and on the first floor. The Alforja houses are an example of merchants' construction in the 17th century. The lower floor was used for business and the upper floor as a home.

The Uralde House or Casa de la Yedra belongs to the first extension of the city and was part of the walled recital that surrounded the city.

The Álava-Velasco Palace, in the Baroque style, was ordered built by Francisco Carlos de Álava y Arista y Amézaga and his wife María Josefa de Ibarra y Echazarreta. The name is due to its last owners, the Velascos, heirs of the founder.

The Corcuera house is one of the oldest in the city. On its south façade, three shields with the arms of the Corcuera family stand out, together with the Mendoza and Urbina families. Of them, a round shield is especially interesting that due to its style and simplicity, could correspond to the last third of the XV century.

Torre de los Hurtado de Anda next to the Cathedral of Santa Maria

Tower of the Hurtado de Anda family, from the 15th century, located at the back of the Cathedral of Santa María in the Plaza de las Burullerías. It was part of the defensive system of the city and it is a large Gothic building that preserves its appearance closed at the bottom, made of masonry stone. The upper one is more open, and was made with a framework of wood and brick. It was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1984, after undergoing a major restoration in 1981.

Palacio Escoriaza-Esquivel, by Fernán López de Escoriaza, physician to King Henry VIII of England, and his wife Victoria de Anda y Esquivel had this palace built in the middle of the century XVI. Due to its architectural and ornamental wealth, it is one of the best examples of Renaissance civil architecture. Built with masonry stone, it is organized around a square courtyard with double superimposed arches on three sides and a staircase. The capitals and medallions of the columns are richly decorated. It is worth noting the main façade, facing a small square, in which the Plateresque doorway stands out, where you can see the busts of the owner and his wife.

Shield at the Palace of the Marquess of the Alameda

Palace of the Marquises of la Alameda, free-standing house, built under the canons of the civil Baroque by Bartolomé de Urbina (first Marquis of la Alameda) in the XVIII in a baroque style. Rectangular silver and built saving the great unevenness of the hill that occupies the medieval quarter. In 1830 a bridge (now disappeared) was built to connect the garden of the house with another larger one located between the streets of Fundadora de las Siervas de Jesús and that of Cercas Bajas, in what is now the Plaza del Marqués de la Mall. It has a beautiful corner shield on the main façade of Calle de la Herrería.

Casa-Torre de los Iruña-Torre de Doña Ochanda, a fortified house located in the old town of Vitoria (Spain) dating from the 16th century XV, it defended the city wall from its outer façade. In 1970, the reconstruction was carried out with historicist criteria under the direction of Emilio and Luis Ángel Apraiz. It was made in the style of the Segovian or Italian towers of the Low Middle Ages, since the roof did not protrude from the base of the tower. It was finished off with a crown of projecting battlements on triple curved modillions. In 1984 it was conditioned as the Museum of Natural Sciences of Álava.

Old Hospice, founded in 1778 by Royal Decree of Carlos III, beginning to be directed by the Royal Board of Deputation for the Poor. The institution for the reception of orphans was installed in the building of the former College of San Prudencio, founded in 1589 by D. Martín de Salvatierra (1583-1592) from Vitoria, Bishop of Segorbe and Ciudad Rodrigo. The school and chapel complex, facing San Vicente de Paul street, was built between the 16th and XVII. The first, built in good sandstone masonry, presents a severe classicist façade with three bodies, the first two with a twin structure, consisting of architraves supporting four pairs of columns, of the Tuscan order on the street level and the Ionic order on the upper floor. top, sixteen in all. In the third body stands out a sculptural relief of Charity.

Old Council Seminary. It is a building that was originally built as a defense of the city. Throughout its history it has undergone several reforms and currently houses homes and a health center.

Casa Armera de los Gobeo y Landazuri Guevara, until a few years ago it functioned as a Museum of Archaeology.

House of the González de Chávarri family, built in the XVII century as a media protection element. It currently functions as the El Campillo Civic Center.

Casa Echanove, in it is the municipal department of the Presidency, previously it was the City Hall Design Center. Next to the House there is a park in which until recently there was an important sequoia of which "mocha" is preserved.

Former Drawing Academy, throughout its history it has been the headquarters of different spaces, such as the Drawing Academy, the School of Arts and Crafts, the Music Conservatory... until it became the hotbed of companies it is today.

The Portalón

El Portalón, founded at the end of the XV century as a Post Office, constituting one of the most emblematic buildings of Vitoria at the time and today preserving all its appearance and medieval charm, being listed as a building of historical interest. Located at the northern exit of the old village of Gasteiz (today the center of the historic center of Vitoria) it is escorted by the famous Cathedral of Santa María, the Torre los Hurtado de Anda and the Plaza de las Burullerías. The name "El Portalón" is fully descriptive of the building and refers to the oak gate that from its foundation until the 50s of the last century kept its door open to protect the carriages of the merchants and thus prevent theft or damage. of the goods transported. It was precisely during the rehabilitation of the 50s, when the building as a whole acquired the use that we know today, a first class restaurant that combines history and gastronomy.

Palacio de Villa Suso, next to the church of San Miguel and a few meters from the church of San Vicente, in the well-known Plaza del Machete, in the historic center of the city. Its construction was ordered around 1539 by Martín de Salinas, ambassador to the court of Emperor Carlos I. The building is unique, U-shaped, because it had to be adapted to the city wall (against the one it built). and the unevenness of the terrain. The factory is made of ashlar at the bottom of the walls and ashlar stone on the cover, the shield and the fences of the openings. The City Council took ownership of the palace and has adapted it to host congresses, conferences and exhibitions.

Casa del Cordón, located on Calle de la Cuchillería, is a beautiful example of civil Gothic architecture. It was built in the 15th century and has a 13th century tower. The Catholic Monarchs stayed in this house, and Adriano VI was named Pope while he was there. It was built in the XV century by the converted Jewish merchant Juan Sánchez de Bilbao on some old medieval houses, surrounding the old tower of lineage of the Gaona from the XIII century, which remains inside the first two floors of the palace. The starry and polychrome vault with which the noble room of the tower is covered stands out, and which has remained intact to the present day.

Palacio Maturana-Verástegui, also known as the house-palace of the Marqués del Fresno, dates from the mid XVI and was Promoted by Antonio Sáez de Maturana. Public institutions are rehabilitating it to turn it into the headquarters of Zain, a cultural heritage research center in the Basque Country.

Casa de los Maturana, a noble house with flats that close off Calle de la Correría, which probably belonged to the Maturana lineage. On its side façade, a commemorative tablet of the Jura de los Fueros Vitorianos by Isabel la Católica was placed in 1869. This house is very restored and without any exterior sign, which reminds the first tenants.

Palacio de Montehermoso

Montehermoso Palace and Cultural Center, from the XVI century, heavily renovated, which historically has had various uses. The building was built in 1524 in a Gothic-Renaissance style at the initiative of the lawyer Hortuño (or Fortunio) Ibáñez de Aguirre, a member of the Royal Council of Castile and of the Inquisition, and his wife María de Esquível y Arratia, with the purpose of housing a community of Dominican nuns. However, once completed, the Palace was used as the private residence of the Aguirre-Esquível family, who decided to build the convent of Santa Cruz for the Dominicas instead. In the following centuries, the Palace, provided with a two-story interior patio with intricate arches, was the habitual overnight residence of Spanish monarchs when they stopped in Vitoria and other noble personalities, including José Bonaparte during the Napoleonic retreat from the palace to his court in Vitoria before his flight to France. When making it its headquarters, the Bishopric commissioned the architect Fausto Íñiguez de Betolaza to reform the façade, which acquired its current neo-Gothic appearance. In 1928 another important reform was undertaken. In 1994 it ceased to be the headquarters of the Diocese of Vitoria and in 1997, with the annexation of the old Water Deposit, it became the Montehermoso Cultural Center, conceived as a space for artistic exhibitions and musical performances.

Monument to the Battle of Vitoria in the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca

Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, formerly known as Plaza Vieja, is the nerve center of the city. Some of the most typical streets of the old town and the Eixample converge there and it is surrounded by old houses with glass-enclosed viewpoints. In its center stands the commemorative monument of the Battle of Vitoria. Among the buildings found in this square, the church of San Miguel stands out, from the XVI century, where in one of its porticos represents an image of the Patron Saint, which gives its name to the square.

Plaza de España or Plaza Nueva, a large porticoed square conceived by the architect Antonio de Olaguibel in 1781 to unite the old town with the new Ensanche (then under construction), and to provide the city with a space to celebrate festivities, bullfights and popular markets. One of the most important elements of the complex is the Town Hall, with its neoclassical decoration. It was baptized as Plaza Nueva as opposed to the adjoining Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, formerly known as Plaza Vieja.

Plaza de Los Fueros, built according to the project of Luis Peña Ganchegui and Eduardo Chillida, was inaugurated in 1979. Built in pink granite stone, it houses the Monumento a los Fueros, by Eduardo Chillida, as well as a fronton and a space designed for Basque rural sports. This square hosts the free concerts held at city festivals, rural Basque sports and other types of events such as the Vitoria Science Week or the Ardo-Araba (Álava wine fair). Seeing the Plaza de los Fueros from above, you can see the map of Alava, designed on the basis of stone walls that give it shape. Since the summer of 2011, the square has been largely the original design of the architects.

Los Arquillos, a street with arcades that was built in the XVIII century, also by Olaguibel together with Díez de Güemes. By means of a series of staggered buildings, the gap between the old city and the expansion is bridged. Descend from the Plaza del Machete to the back of the Plaza Nueva. The medieval area of the capital of Álava sits on a hill and “Los Arquillos” allow the significant difference in level to be bridged by means of a series of stepped buildings. The new work, which took ten years to build, was the solution for the expansion of the city next to Plaza Nueva, also conceived by Olaguibel. Thus, the medieval streets were accessible from the neoclassical expansion. The date of construction is usually given as the year 1787.

Ajuria-Enea Palace, where the Basque Government has had its headquarters since 1980 and is the official residence of the lehendakari. It was built in 1918 as the residence of the Serafín Ajuria family, and is an example of Basque architecture of the time. Its name comes from the separation into two words of ajuriaenea, a name that is made up of the surname of the family that built the palace (the Ajuria) declined in Basque in the form of the genitive, coming to mean « of Ajuría».

Palace of Zulueta

Zulueta Palace, built by Alfredo de Zulueta as a house-hotel at the beginning of the XX century. It is an elegant mansion located on Paseo de la Senda surrounded by gardens and was the headquarters of the Sancho el Sabio Foundation, a documentation center on Basque culture with historical collections from the XVI to the present day. In 2012 it was decided to enable the Palacio Zulueta as the main headquarters of the European green capital, Green Capital. There is a plan to convert the Zulueta Palace into the Rioja Álava Wine Center. This center will consist of a space where activities will be carried out that will have Rioja Alavesa wine as its main axis. In this way, we want to turn Vitoria into a benchmark of great importance both nationally and internationally.

Palace of the Provincial Council of Álava, a building made of ashlar stone, quadrangular in shape and with columns in its entrance atrium. The work of Martín de Saracíbar, its main façade is in the late neoclassical style and its construction took place between 1833 and 1858.

Vitoria bullring (Iradier Arena), a multipurpose venue that receives the name of Iradier Arena in honor of four illustrious iradiers from the city of Vitoria: Pantaleon Iradier, the architect who designed the old bullfighting arena in the city and the building that houses the Basque Parliament; Cesáreo Iradier, the architect who built the city's Principal Theater; the musician Sebastián Iradier and the explorer Manuel Iradier. It was inaugurated on November 4, 2006 to begin hosting the White Fair that traditionally begins on August 5. It is a building with a twenty-three meter high structure with a façade covered in aluminum and wide spaces of transparent glass. It has a forty-five meter diameter arena, five corrals, ten pens, an electronic scale to weigh the bulls, a slaughterhouse with a refrigerated room to store up to five bullfights, an operating room, treatment and resuscitation room, as well as a chapel.

Vital Building, headquarters of the Vital Box

Edificio Vital, headquarters of Caja Vital (Savings Bank of Vitoria and Álava) today part of Kutxabank, is a modern steel and glass construction located in the ecological environment of the Salburua Wetlands that was born to be a benchmark of local architecture and a dynamic element of Salburua and the capital of Álava. It is an intelligent building designed by the architects Javier Mozas and Eduardo Aguirre, its exterior image represents the genetic code of a living organism and is reminiscent of the trunks and reeds of the wetland next to which it has been built. It has 16,000 square meters built with all those dependencies that do not provide direct service to the public, including the Presidency and General Management. It has an auditorium with two hundred seats, a multipurpose room, fourteen offices and twenty-five training rooms, as well as the meeting rooms for the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors.

Mural located in the canton of the Butchers

Vitoria Mural Itinerary, a gallery of murals made by artists and volunteers on different facades of the medieval quarter and the Zaramaga neighborhood. It is a project that encourages creators to get involved in their environment and neighbors and interested parties to actively participate in creations that improve and beautify their own neighborhood by producing public works of art. Guided tours allow you to discover the history, meaning and secrets of each mural as well as how they were painted. Today, we can find murals in various parts of the medieval quarter: Burullerías square, Las Carnicerías canton, Anorbín canton, Santa María street, Santa Ana canton, Santa María canton, in front of the Medieval Wall also next to to the canton of Las Carnicerías and on Calle de Francia in front of the ARTIUM museum. The project intends to continue making murals that expand the current collection.

Major parks and green spaces

Florida Park. Located in the expansion, it is considered a true botanical garden. Covering 35,000 square metres, it was designed in the 19th century in the romantic style of the time, with streams and groves. In it you can find strange and exotic botanical varieties from all parts of the planet with ninety-five species of trees and seventy-nine shrubs. It houses the bandstand from the 1890s and the statues of four Gothic kings.

Gardens of Bishop Fernández de Piérola. It could be said that they are a continuation of the Florida park. They border the part of the ambulatory of the new cathedral and house a curious sculpture of a huge rhinoceros, the work of the Vitoria-born sculptor Koko Rico.

San Martin Park. It is popularly known as "Parque de las Conchas" due to the shape of the buildings that surround it or "Parque de los Patos" due to the large number of ducks that inhabit its pond. It is one of the most beautiful urban parks built in the city and has 85,000 square meters where eleven different species of conifers, sixty-six species of hardwoods and more than ten thousand rose bushes live. It is located in the neighborhood of the same name and has numerous areas for children's entertainment, a skate-park and a large pond with a colorful geyser.

North Park. Also known as "Molinuevo Park", it is located to the north of the medieval quarter. In addition to a wide variety of leafy and coniferous species, its blue spruce and sublime palm trees stand out.

Salburua Park, Green Ring

Judimendi Park. Judimendi (which translated into Spanish would be "hill of the Jews") is located in the city's old Jewish cemetery that was handed over to the authorities in the 17th century XV when the Catholic Monarchs ordered his expulsion. Inside the park you can see the monolith that recalls its history. This beautiful space stands out for its white poplars.

Arriaga Park. It is located in the Lakua-Arriaga district and is configured around a sworn hermitage. It stands out, above all, for its 190,000 square meters populated with acacias, poplars, rose gardens and numerous aromatic plants. It also has a lake frequented by various species of birds.

The Meadow. It is a park widely used by the people of Vitoria, especially by lovers of jogging. The history of this park goes back further than the 12th century when it was an old pasture for domestic animals. It is home to twenty-one species of trees, all of them deciduous. The most notable specimens that can be seen are horse chestnuts, ash trees, lime trees and maples.

Aranbizkarra Park. It is located in the northeast of the city and has a large number of birch, beech and oak trees.

Paseo de la Senda. For more than a century it has connected the Florida Park with the Romanesque Basilica of San Prudencio de Armentia. With more than two kilometers in length, the pleasant walk that it offers under its chestnut trees leads to other green spots of great interest such as the gardens of the Zulueta palace, El Prado or Las campas de Armentia. On the path, there are other points of interest such as the Ajuria-Enea Palace, the Armory Museum or the Augusti Palace-Museum of Fine Arts.

Green Belt. Network of semi-natural parks that surrounds the perimeter of the city. An initiative that emerged in the nineties of the XX century and was selected by the UN among the hundred best performances in the world in the III International Competition of «Good Practices for the improvement of living conditions in cities», held in Dubai in the year 2000. It currently consists of six parks: Zadorra River Park, Salburua Wetlands Park, and Olárizu Botanical Garden, Armentia Forest Park, Zabalgana and Errekaleor Park. All of them connected through urban paths in order to facilitate movement between the city and the nature that surrounds it.

Green Ring

The Green Belt is a group of peri-urban parks of high ecological and landscape value strategically linked. It is the result of a project that began in the nineties to restore and recover the periphery of Vitoria. Both from an environmental and social point of view.

Currently it consists of six parks: Armentia, Olarizu, Salburua, Zabalgana, Zadorra and Errekaleor. All of them connected through urban paths in order to facilitate movement between the city and the nature that surrounds it.

Bridges

Abetxuko Bridge

Abetxuko Bridge: This is a bridge built over the Zadorra River in the north of the city. It was one of the initiatives of the Vitoria city council to improve the mobility of the citizens of Abetxuko who for years have been connected to the city center through a narrow bridge, six meters wide, which generated risk situations for the pedestrians. The structure is made up of two longitudinal trusses. The design of the lattices goes beyond the traditional forms and introduces complex forms with an organic aspect whose dimensions are adjusted to the resistant needs. The designers of the bridge have used corten steel as a tribute to the Basque sculptors Eduardo Chillida and Jorge de Oteiza. The spaces of the traditional latticework become alveoli of varied shapes whose appearance and color vary with the light and invite very different perspectives, turning it into a living bridge.

Old Puente de Castilla: It has been in disuse as a bridge since 1994, the year in which it was installed in the gardens of the Foronda portal as a monument since it is a jewel of industrial archeology, built with structures that are no longer manufactured Eiffel style. It is the bridge of the Madrid-Irún railway line that since the end of the last century crossed the portal of Castilla de Vitoria. The origins of this peculiar monument arise from the urban growth of the city that led to the fact that in the mid-nineties, this point, a link between the city center and the Prado park and beyond with the Ariznavarra neighborhood, became a bottleneck for automobiles and an uncomfortable passage for pedestrians. It was replaced by the new Puente de Castilla.

New Bridge of Castilla: Also called the Blue Bridge by the people of Vitoria, this bridge replaces the old nine-meter-span bridge that prevented the normal development of the city. The new bridge has a span of sixty-four meters and crosses the lower track at a great obliquity of forty-nine degrees.

Theatres

Antzokia Main Theater

It is the largest theater in the city that in 2018 celebrates its 100th anniversary. It has almost a thousand locations and a very varied annual program in which both plays and concerts are presented, reaching up to one hundred and fifty shows. These are structured in four seasons that are winter-spring, summer, the International Theater Festival and Christmas.

Interior of the Main Theatre

Beñat Etxepare Theater

It is the oldest theater located in civic centers and the one with the greatest demand for use. Thanks to its children's theater program, it has spent years contributing to the creation of new audiences for the performing arts.

Ibáñez de Matauco Theater (Hegoalde Civic Center)

The Jesús Ibáñez de Matauco Theater is one of the spaces where different artistic initiatives are carried out and developed. Located in the Hegoalde Civic Center associated with the municipal network of theaters. Among the theater's programming, the 21st century Flamenco cycle and the JIM Aktual dedicated to contemporary creation stand out.

Felix Petite Theater

This is the theater that has the most modern scenic infrastructure in the city as it has state-of-the-art equipment. It was named in homage to one of the most important stage programmers in Vitoria, Félix Petite, who was also a founder of the International Theater Festival.

Federico García Lorca Theater (Lakua Civic Center)

Theater in which various groups, associations, music and dance schools in the city carry out their programs and artistic creations. Many boys and girls attend the musical education programs that are carried out there.

Urban sculptures

• Main urban sculptures of Vitoria
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  La Mirada, 1992, by Agustín Ibarrola, Plaza General Loma (along with the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca)

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  Balance, 2000, by Benito Valladares, UPV University Campus

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  Crocodile, 2005, by Koko Riko, gardens of Bishop Fernandez de Piérola

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  Rinoceronte, 2005, by Koko Riko, gardens of Bishop Fernández de Piérola

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  Prometheus-Libertad, 1982, of Casto Solano, Abechuco

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  Broca Kenkenes, 1976, by Vicente Larrea, ARTIUM Museum

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  Monument to Manuel Iradier, 1956, by Lorenzo Ascasibar, Florida Park

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  San Prudencio, 1940, by José Marín Bosque and José López Goicolea, avenue of San Prudencio

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  El Caminante, 1985, by Juan José Eguizábal, Plaza del Arca

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  El Minotauro (El Torero), 1992, de Casto Solano, calle Eduardo Dato

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  Monument to Ken Follett, 2008, of Casto Solano, near the Cathedral of Santa Maria

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  Tribute to Los Fueros, 1981, by Eduardo Chillida, Plaza de los Fueros

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  Monument to Ignacio Aldecoa, 1999, from Aurelio Rivas, Florida Park

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  Estatua de Celedón, 2005, by Angel Benito Gaztañaga, balcony of the church of San Miguel

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  Monument to Eduardo Dato, 1925, by Mariano Benlliure, Florida Park

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  Monument to the Battle of Vitoria, 1917, by Gabriel Borrás Abellá, Plaza de la Virgen Blanca

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  La Mirada, 2001, de Miquel Navarro, calle de Francia frente al ARTIUM

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  The lookout, 1958, by Jorge Oteiza, in front of the ARTIUM

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  Fray Francisco de Vitoria, 1945, by Moses Huerta, Paseo de Fray Francisco

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  Wynton Marsalis, 2006, Koko Riko, Florida Park

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  Kings godos, centuryXVIII, Florida Park

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  To the Victims of Terrorism, by Agustín Ibarrola, avenue Portal de Foronda

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  Busto de Lauaxeta, 2006, Septimiu Jungretan, Plaza del Convent del Carmen

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  The Inexperienced Imanol Marrodán, avenida Portal de Foronda

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  Monkey to the victims of March 3, in front of the church of San Francisco

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  Arrazoiaren Indarra, 2013 by Iñigo Arregui, in front of the church of San Francisco

Culture

The city has been influenced by different cultures, which have been added to the native Basque background. In the second half of the XX century, a large number of emigrants from the rest of Spain arrived there, who were joined by in recent years some North African and Ibero-American citizens. As a consequence, Vitoria is today a bustling and multicultural city. It is among the most sustainable European cities with the highest quality of life. It is also the Spanish city with the most green areas, 42 m² per person including the city's Green Belt, and the second if only green areas are counted within the city with 23.4 m² per person.

The old cathedral of Vitoria and the guided visits to the temple and the restoration works have meant a before and after for the historic center of the city, together with the discovery of several sections of medieval wall have followed the model of « open for works. This has reinforced the efforts that the city is making to promote the revitalization, restoration and conservation of its medieval quarter, showing interest on the part of the city council to initiate the procedures to declare it a World Heritage Site and achieving it in 2015 under the name Camino de Santiago: Camino Frances and Caminos del Norte de Spain.

Several Jazz and Rock music festivals are held annually. The Vitoria Jazz Festival —takes place between July 15 and 21—, in which almost all the great legends of the genre have taken part, from Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, or Miles Davis, to Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin or Wynton Marsalis, who has composed a tribute album for the festival. The Azkena Rock Festival (indie rock festival) celebrated its tenth edition in 2011, thus becoming one of the most important festivals in the country thanks to its interest in bringing renowned rock bands such as Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Wilco, Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Religion, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Blondie or Fun Lovin Criminals.

Another annual cultural event in the city, focused on the dissemination of innovative ideas, is the TEDxVitoriaGasteiz, which since 2015 has been held in spring; in which characters such as Erion Veliaj, José Mota, Tania Lamarca, Hossein Derakhshan, Edurne Portela, Karmele Jaio or Virginia Pérez Alonso, among others, have participated.

The most important festive event in the city, however, is the Fiestas de La Blanca, which take place between August 4 and 9; without forgetting Blouse Day (celebrated every July 25 since 1926), with its traditional garlic market, the Olarizu Pilgrimage (the first Monday after the Virgin of September) or the festival of San Prudencio every April 28, when The Pilgrimage is celebrated in the fields of Armentia in honor of the Patron Saint of the province of Álava. We must not forget the FesTVal de Vitoria, the first festival dedicated exclusively to television and radio in all its formats: programs, contests, magazines, series... which has been held in the city every September since 2009, all with the participation of all the general channels (EITB, TVE, Antena 3, Cuatro, Telecinco, La Sexta and Canal +) and with the different artists of interest.

Museums

ARTIUM, Basque Museum of Contemporary Art

The capital of Álava is dotted with top-class museums. The new Basque Center-Museum of Contemporary Art ARTIUM offers a collection of Basque and Spanish art from the early XX century to the present day. It is considered the second most important collection in Spain, after the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid. In the Conde de Dávila house-hotel (from 1912), in the middle of Paseo de Fray Francisco (famous for its sumptuous and sometimes eccentric palaces from the beginning of the XX century), is the Museo de Bellas Artes de Vitoria: this center offers a brilliant selection of Basque costumbrismo, Romanesque and Gothic carvings, Flemish triptychs and paintings from the 18th and XIX. Together with the Archeology Museum, it forms part of a museum network that completes the Armory Museum (also on Paseo de Fray Francisco, next to Ajuria Enea), the Natural Sciences Museum (in the imposing Doña Otxanda Tower, 16th century XV) and the Fournier Playing Cards Museum (with the largest collection of playing cards in the world thanks to the contribution of the local company Naipes de Heraclio Fournier S.A., founded in 1868). On the other hand, numerous art galleries are distributed throughout the city, hosting exhibitions of all kinds.

Doña Ochanda Tower (Museum Natural Sciences)

Basque Museum of Contemporary Art, Artium. Its permanent collection is considered one of the best and most important in Basque and Spanish contemporary art. It was inaugurated on April 26, 2002 and is an open and dynamic museum. The Permanent Collection has works by the artists (in alphabetical order): Ana Laura Aláez, Txomin Badiola, Miquel Barceló, Joseph Beuys, Joan Brossa, Rafael Canogar, Juan Francisco Casas, Jacobo Castellano, Costus, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Eduardo Chillida, Salvador Dalí (Portrait of Mrs. Fagen), Óscar Domínguez, Equipo Crónica, Alberto García-Alix, Luis Gordillo, Eva Lootz, Manolo Millares, Joan Miró, Juan Muñoz, Jorge Oteiza, Pablo Palazuelo, Guillermo Pérez Villalta (The Bathroom), Pablo Picasso (Musketeer with a Pipe), Antonio Saura, Pablo Serrano, José María Sicilia, Antoni Tàpies, Darío Urzay, Juan Uslé and Darío Villalba, among many others. In total, the collection is made up of around 3,000 pieces of painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, photography, video, and installations. The monumental La Mirada, a 45 m high iron sculpture (2001) by the artist Miquel Navarro, stands in front of the building in the square that overlooks Calle de Francia.

Alava Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art. Located in the ambulatory of the new cathedral, it offers samples of the religious artistic heritage of the province, divided into sections of stone carving, wood carving, panel painting, canvas painting, goldsmithing and liturgical furniture.

Museum of Natural Sciences. The museum is installed in the Tower of Doña Otxanda, an example of medieval architecture. It is also a center for research and dissemination of Natural Sciences.

Bibat: Archeology Museum and Fournier Card Museum. The Archeology Museum is located in a modern building attached to the Fournier Playing Cards Museum. The combination of the two museums is called Bibat and creates one of the most interesting points in the medieval quarter, combining antiquity and modernity. While that of archeology is of recent construction, that of cards is based in the Renaissance palace of Bendaña. The manufacture of playing cards has been one of the most characteristic activities of Vitoria, promoted by Heraclio Fournier. In the museum it has more than 20,000 decks, some of them very old.

Museum of Fine Arts

Museum of Fine Arts. In a Neo-Renaissance mansion, the museum displays carvings from the 14th century, 16th century Flemish triptychs, paintings by Spanish masters such as Ribera and modern Spanish painting among which works by Picasso or Zuloaga can be seen. The museum pays special attention to Basque traditional painting.

Álava Armory Museum. Very close to the previous one, is this museum, where you can see weapons from all eras, from prehistoric axes to pistols from the XX. There is a large collection of medieval weapons and the reconstruction of the battle fought in Vitoria in 1813 during the War of Independence.

Museum of Lanterns. This original museum located in the medieval quarter, houses the two hundred and sixty-seven pieces of polychrome glass that, for more than a hundred years, have been displayed in procession through the center of Vitoria every August 4, on the occasion of the Virgen Blanca festivities..

Basque Police Museum. Located in the Ertzaintza academy in the Arcaute council. Its objective is to recover, restore, preserve, document and expose the material testimonies that contribute to understanding the current peculiar regime of the Basque Country in police matters.

Torre de Mendoza (Museum of Heraldry). Medieval tower dating from the XIII century, it was built by Íñigo López de Mendoza in the Mendoza council. The museum has a collection of shields and medieval clothing and abundant information on Álava heraldry. The upper floor of the museum-tower is a magnificent watchtower with stupendous views of the western part of the Llanada.

Basque

Since 1981 the percentage of bilinguals has been increasing progressively. In 2011, 22.5% of the city's inhabitants (52,298 people) were bilingual, and another 26.1% (60,851 people) were passive bilinguals. 51.4% had no knowledge of Basque. The percentage of Basque speakers is higher in the younger age groups. Thus, the age group from 10 to 14 is the most bilingual: only 6% have no knowledge of Basque.

Gastronomy

For further information see Gastronomy of the province of Álava.

Surrounded by Perrechicos

The proximity of the province of Álava to the Cantabrian Sea brings excellent fish and shellfish to the tables of Vitoria, but the raw materials of the land are the most common ingredients in the dishes of the area. From snails alavesa style, which are eaten with a strong sauce, to seasonal mushrooms (especially the highly prized perrechicos, some mushrooms that have come to be called "mountain eels"). The stews are an important part of the Vitoria cookbook, the nearby orchards provide magnificent legumes and vegetables, especially red, black and white beans without forgetting the Vitoria-style broad beans and vegetable stews. In addition, meats also take center stage in the city's dishes: from T-bone steaks and grilled meats to game dishes (stewed quail is one of the most traditional), through sausages such as black pudding that is made in different towns of the province.

Goxua, typical dessert of Vitoria

As in the entire Basque Country, the pintxo is also typical in Vitoria, from the classic potato omelette skewer made with Álava potatoes, to new culinary designs that combine different ingredients from the garden, the land and the sea. Desserts are deeply rooted in Vitoria, and the city is dotted with confectioneries and pastry shops (some of which are centuries old) that make the typical sweets of the area: chocolate truffles, goxua (a Vitorian sweet made with sponge cake, cream and cream) creation of the pastry chef Luis López de Sosoaga, the Basque cake, the eclairs, the vasquitos and nesquitas and the rice pudding. As for the wines, we must highlight the presence in the province of Álava of one of the most famous regions in terms of oenology, the Rioja Alavesa, one of the three sub-regions into which the qualified designation of origin is divided. (DOCa) of Rioja and the elaboration of Txakoli de Álava in the northern Cuadrilla de Ayala, also with Denomination of Origin.

In 2014 Vitoria won the prize for the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy, taking over from Burgos. The prize was awarded by the Spanish Hospitality Federation and the Federation of Tourism Journalists and Writers.

In gastronomy, the pintxo-pote is noteworthy, it goes around the bars consuming a tapa with each drink at the price of one euro. At the moment there are more than twenty routes throughout the city.

The wine on offer is usually from Rioja Alavesa and there are all kinds of pintxos: spotted tortillas, grilled mushrooms, mini Roquefort hamburgers...

It is worth noting the quality pintxopote, where part of what the hoteliers collect goes to the promotion of local musical groups. There is also the Route of the barrels and the Route of the beers.

Festivities and events

Celedon descent, event that begins the Fiestas de La Blanca

• Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos - January 5
• San Antón Day - January 17
• Vespera de Santa Águeda - February 4
• Carnival
• Holy Week
• Fiestas de San Prudencio, pattern of the alaves - April 27 and 28
• Our Lady of Stybaliz, Patron of the Alaves - May 1
• Blusa and Neska Day - Santiago Day - July 25
• Fiestas de La Virgen Blanca - 4-9 August
• Romeria de Olárizu - Monday following the virgin of September
• Fiestas de los barrios
• Christmas - December 24th to January 6th

European Green Capital 2012

The European Commission recognizes the commitment and efforts of European cities to face and tackle ecological problems and improve the quality of life of their citizens, reducing the impact and pressure they exert on the environment through the The European Green Capital Award or European Green Capital Award.

Atarian Centre

The title: The cities that accede to this title are examined on a complete list of environmental criteria. Any European city with more than two hundred thousand inhabitants that is a benchmark in this regard can opt for the award. On October 21, 2010, Vitoria was designated by the European Commission as European Green Capital 2012. This distinction aims to recognize those cities that: Have given constant proof of compliance with environmental standards, are committed to setting new ambitious objectives for the improvement of the environment and sustainable development, can act as a model, inspiring other cities and promoting best practice to all other European cities. In this way, Vitoria has become a model of green action and now it is up to it to share its practices with other cities to contribute to the defense of the environment throughout Europe. This award represents the highest recognition for more than thirty years of environmentally friendly proposals and initiatives. It is the result of a high degree of leadership and consensus among the political parties in terms of sustainable development, the environmental movement, and citizen support through the awareness campaign Green on the outside, green on the inside that sparked a strong sense of civic pride and belonging, fostering green awareness.

Bioclimatic Tower in Vitoria

Local contribution to the fight against climate change: Vitoria began its fight against climate change in 2006 with the Vitoria Strategy for the Prevention of Climate Change 2006-2012 (not in force), with the main objective of reducing CO2 emissions by 300,000 tons per year by 2012 and, in the long term, make Vitoria a city with a neutral carbon footprint. After signing the Covenant of Mayors and Mayors of Europe in 2009, Vitoria undertook to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 20% compared to those produced in the municipality in 2006 and to draw up a Plan to Combat Climate Change. On July 23, 2010, the City Council approved the Plan to Fight Climate Change 2010-2020, which merges and updates the objectives and actions of the previous Vitoria Strategy for the Prevention of Climate Change 2006-2012 and the Local Energy Plan 2007-2012, adapting to the commitment of the Covenant of Mayors and Mayors of Europe, and establishing for Vitoria the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020.

Salburua Wetlands in the Green Ring

Local transport and sustainable mobility: Vitoria's Sustainable Mobility and Public Space Plan aims to modify the mobility habits of citizens to promote more sustainable means of transport, increase the quality of urban space and improve accessibility for all people to basic services. The Plan has been approached from a multidisciplinary point of view, with the participation of most municipal departments. A relevant role has been given to the public, who have participated in the definition of a new model of mobility and public space through a citizen forum created for this purpose. The results of this Plan are beginning to be visible and, since it was launched, this Plan has silently changed the way in which citizens move around the city. The promotion of a new bus network, together with the tram lines and the new regulation of parking in the OTA area have led to a 44% increase in monthly trips on public transport. To these actions must be added those carried out to increase the use of bicycles in the city.

Air quality: The air that the citizens of Vitoria breathe is of the highest quality, and this is reflected in the score awarded by the European Union compared to other cities, the highest of all. The Vitoria City Council seeks to protect citizens from the risks derived from air pollution and improve their quality of life. With this objective, the Air Quality Management Plan 2003-2010 was prepared. The Basque Government's automatic pollution monitoring and control network allows the City Council to know the state of the air we breathe and, in addition, to inform the public. This network is made up of several stations located in different parts of the city. The City Council prepares a report that collects the data obtained by this Network and its analysis, in order to assess the degree of compliance with the legislation on ambient air quality.

Management of water scarcity: The city has the ambitious challenge of reducing water consumption per inhabitant to less than 100 liters, following the trend that the figures have taken since 1999. It is taken into account and works in the context of the environmental action plan of Agenda 21 of the United Nations to maintain sustainable use and improve the quality of water.

Olárizu Park, Green Ring

Noise pollution: Vitoria has three noise maps to date and is already working on a new one that will be ready by 2012. To reduce noise levels, the City Council has a legal tool, the Noise and Vibration Ordinance. In addition, the reduction of noise levels due to traffic is an objective of the Mobility Plan. The new noise map will evaluate the improvements obtained through this application.

Waste management: In 2010, Vitoria approved the new Comprehensive Municipal Waste Management Plan (2008-2016), based on the "5-R" strategy:

• Reduce the amount of waste generated
• Reuse the waste
• Recycle
• Reject, do not buy products wrapped in packaging that generate unnecessary waste
• To respect those who generate a hard-to-recyclable or dangerous residue

Nature in the city – Green Belt of Vitoria: The green ring is a natural green area that surrounds, as its name indicates, in the form of a ring, the urban area of the city. It is made up of various semi-natural parks such as those of Salburua, Zabalgana, Olarizu, Alegría, Armentia, Zadorra and Errekaleor; all of them have adequate conditioning, equipment and activities for their conservation and enjoyment. An example of this is Ataria, an interpretation center located in the Salburua wetlands whose objective is to promote knowledge of wetlands and show their values, as well as raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity and natural heritage.

Sports

Vitoria is known for Deportivo Alavés, which returned to the LFP First Division in the 2016/2017 season after gaining promotion and becoming champion. Recently, Deportivo Alavés reached a Copa del Rey final for the first time in its history, which they lost 3-1 against Barcelona. A final that hosted the last official match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium and to which 25,000 Alava fans attended. It should be remembered that the team was runner-up in the UEFA Cup in 2001, after losing the final against Liverpool 5-4, which has been considered one of the best European finals of all time.

As for basketball, Vitoria stands out internationally thanks to Baskonia, finalist in the Euroleague on several occasions (2001 and 2005), winner of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1996. It is considered one of the best teams in Europe despite its low budget and resources compared to other teams. In total, he has won 4 league titles, 6 King's Cups, 4 Spanish Super Cups, 2 Euskal Kopa, and 1 Association trophy. This team is characterized by its character, called Baskonia Character or Nortasuna Baskonia, in Spanish and Basque, respectively. In addition, Araski AES will play in the 2016/2017 season in the first division of the Spanish Women's Basketball League, after winning promotion the previous season. The Araberri basketball club will play the LEB Oro Basketball League, after a brilliant season in LEB silver as champion. They also highlight the successes of other individual athletes such as Martín Fiz (marathon), Iker Romero (handball) or Almudena Cid, Lorena Guréndez, Tania Lamarca and Estíbaliz Martínez (rhythmic gymnastics), who come from this city. Within the world of mountaineering, this city has also contributed big names such as Juanito Oiarzabal, the fourth man to do the 14 eight-thousanders without oxygen, or the Pou brothers, one of the world's greatest exponents of rock climbing.

Pavilion Fernando Buesa Arena

Sports venues

The largest in the city is occupied by Deportivo Alavés, which plays in the Mendizorroza municipal stadium, which has a capacity for 19,840 spectators. Vitoria also has the Fernando Buesa Arena Pavilion, a multipurpose venue that has recently been expanded from having a capacity for 10,400 people before the start of the works, to having a capacity for 15,504 people. at its reopening on February 5 2012. The pavilion is used as the headquarters of Saski Baskonia. This facility has hosted various events such as concerts, trial shows, four Basketball King's Cups (2000, 2002, 2008 and 2013), a Eurocup final (2010) and a Euroleague Final Four (2019). The number of subscribers to the city's sports network is around 80,000.

Sports facilities

In addition to the sports facilities that most civic centers have. There is also a considerable network of swimming pools and recreational pools such as AquaMendi.

Sporting events

Vitoria hosts numerous sporting events. There are many that take place throughout the year and some of them achieve international fame.

Cycling Tour of the Basque Country

April is the month chosen for each edition of the Vuela Ciclista al País Vasco. Vitoria has a deeply rooted cycling tradition thanks to its spectacular nature. It is a great event that makes the city turn around the bicycle.

The Vitorian team Gaztedi

Araba Rugby Club

Vitoria-Gasteiz becomes the epicenter of youth rugby every May. The competition takes place over a weekend at the Betoño municipal facilities, which they repeat as the setting for an event that breaks participation records year after year. The tournament maintains its original philosophy: that values such as sportsmanship, solidarity and camaraderie preside over the competition.

The Araba Ruby Cup has become a reference tournament as evidenced by the presence in it of teams from not only the entire State, but also from neighboring countries such as France and Portugal.

Martín Fiz Marathon

In May the main test of athletics is held. A competition sponsored by one of the elite of world athletics from Vitoria. Martin Fiz. Parallel to the marathon, there is a 20 km race and another popular 10 km race. In addition, there is another route for skaters and a 1 km txiki marathon for the little ones and their companions.

Women's race

The capital of Álava has hosted this traditional race every June since 2007 in support of the fight against breast cancer. A pink tide of women floods the city for a good cause. It is common to see the "sold out numbers" sign in recent editions, where more than 5,000 have been put up for sale.

Veterans National Track and Field Championships

From June 29 to July 1, 2018, it will host the Spanish Veterans Athletics Championship for the first time.

Triathlon

This championship combines swimming, cycling and athletics in a single extremely tough event. Every July it becomes an obligatory appointment and noted on the calendar by all the people of Alava who come to cheer up and experience the atmosphere.

It has two distances: Half (1.9/94/21 km) and Full (3.8/180/42 km).

The first part of the test begins in the Landa park, where the participants perform the swimming sector while receiving the encouragement of the audience.

After this, the triathletes get on their bicycles and cross a beautiful route through the towns of the Llanada Álava that reaches the center of the city, where they will leave their bicycles to start the race on foot.

In this last section they will have to go through the center of the city until they reach the finish line, located in the Plaza Nueva.

Cycling Tour of Spain

Euskalgym 2014

The capital of Álava has tried to participate actively in this important cycling meeting, which is held in September, trying to be the finish line or the start line. Thousands of fans go out to meet the cyclist in any corner of the territory. A unique opportunity to see cycling at the highest level.

Euskalgym

The Euskalgym International Rhythmic Gymnastics Gala has been held from 2014 to 2017 in Vitoria. It is a non-competitive event in which leading rhythmic gymnastics figures, both Spanish and from other countries, participate. Occasionally gymnasts from other disciplines also perform. On the same weekend, the Euskalgym Ensemble Tournament is also held, in which rhythmic gymnastics ensembles from all over Spain participate, both grassroots and federated, as well as a Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament.

Vitoria half marathon

The Half Marathon, better known as La Media, has become the event in the Basque Country that, without having any cash prizes, attracts thousands of participants each year, more than half of whom come from outside Vitoria-Gasteiz and Álava.

Saint Sylvester

For thirty-five years, on the afternoon of December 31, it has been customary to celebrate the popular race in the streets of Vitoria that hundreds of runners compete for and the entire route is full of people. In this race it is very common to see the participants dressed up.

Media

Written press

Radius

Television

Before, there was Vitoria TV (VTV).

Digital media

Twin cities

Vitoria is twinned with the following cities:

Notable people