Yécora (Álava)

Yécora (in Basque Ekora or Iekora and officially Yécora/Iekora) is a Spanish municipality from the province of Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. It has an area of 18.8 km² and a population of 266 inhabitants (2015). It is located in the southern part of Álava within the wine-growing region of Rioja Alavesa, on the border with Navarra and also very close to La Rioja.. It is made up of a single population center that extends over relatively flat terrain at 694 m above sea level, straddling two valleys and at the foot of the Toloño (Cantabria) and Kodes mountain ranges.

Location

The municipality borders to the north with the Navarrese municipality of Lapoblación, to the south and east with Oyón and to the west with Lanciego.

The capital of the region, Laguardia, is 15 km to the west. The provincial capital, Vitoria, is 50 km away. The city of Logroño, capital of La Rioja, is 13 km south.

The closest towns are Lanciego and Meano de Lapoblación (Navarra).

Depopulated

The uninhabited areas of:

• It's okay..
• San Millán.

History

The first written citations from the Cartulary of San Millán in the XI century call this population with the names of Equora and Ecora.

It was a village in Laguardia until 1669 when King Carlos II granted it the title of town.

The town once had fourteen hermitages.

It recently adopted the official bilingual name of Yécora/Iekora.

Demography

It has a population of 247 inhabitants (INE 2022).

Graphic of demographic evolution of Yécora / Lekoda between 1842(1) and 2021

(1) In these Censuses it was called YécoraPopulation of law according to population censuses of the INE.Population in fact according to population censuses of the INE.

Administration and politics

Economy and society

Yécora is a rural municipality with a still very important agricultural sector, which employs 37% of the active population. It is a municipality dedicated mainly to the cultivation of vineyards, 37%. Cereal occupies only 20% of the cultivated area and extends throughout the south of the municipal area. In the town there are also 5 wineries (Juan Campinún, Vallarmen, Solar de Ibalonja, Jalón and the Cooperativa San Sixto) that produce wine from the Rioja designation of origin, as well as a cooperative, San Sixto, which produces Campolengo and Valsierra wines.. Currently, these wineries seek progress to increase the wine culture in this town.

The population of Yécora has undergone an oscillating evolution throughout the XX century, growing between 1900 and 1930, when It reached 590 inhabitants, then fell until it hit the ground in 1981, reaching just over 200 inhabitants. For about 20 years it has been recovering slightly.

It has municipal swimming pools, opened in 2006, and a health center that in turn acts as a leisure center and assembly hall, in addition to rehabilitating the warehouse for: Lunches, dinners, exhibitions... It also has a recently rehabilitated Retirement Home.

Evolution of outstanding debt

The concept of outstanding debt contemplates only debts with savings banks and banks related to financial credits, fixed income securities and loans or credits transferred to third parties, therefore excluding commercial debt.

Graphic of evolution of the city council's living debt between 2008 and 2014

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

The municipal outstanding debt per inhabitant in 2014 amounted to €348.84.

Heritage

The town of Yécora maintains the characteristics of rural Rioja municipalities with a tight urban center with two-story buildings, which has barely been transformed with modern constructions. In the case of Yécora, Renaissance buildings abound.

The most notable building is the Church of San Juan Bautista, built in a style halfway between the Gothic and the Renaissance style. It has a square tower from the 14th century XIV, a Renaissance doorway with an arch and architrave filled with angels and two columns with Corinthian capitals..

Outside the town is the hermitage of Santa María de Bercijana which was restored in 1984 and for which the residents of Yécora feel great devotion. The hermitage is located in a beautiful wooded area. In it there is a figure of "God" holding his dead son Jesus, according to comments from several parish priests.

The medieval fountain of Yécora known as the Old Fountain or of the pipes and the rehabilitated fountain of the Moors also stand out.

Festivals and traditions

There are several pilgrimages that are celebrated during the year in Bercijana

• In May, celebrating the day of Santo Domingo the village descends in procession to the Hermitage to seek the Virgin of Bercijana. You dance the dance The chain and the image of the Virgin of Bercijana is transferred to the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Yécora. The village dancers wear typical costumes (blue and white with embroidery skirts in gold thread) and with handkerchiefs of vivid colors.
• At the end of August, during the Thanksgiving celebrations the image of the patron of Yécora to the Emita is moved again, performing again the route to are de gaita and accompanied by the group of dances of the village.

The most important festivals in the town are those in May for Santo Domingo and Thanksgiving in August.

These festivals, together with a traditional pilgrimage in June to San Tirso in the Sierra de Cantabria, are the festivals that are usually celebrated annually in the town.