Amurrio
Municipality
Amurrio Town Hall
Coat of arms
Amurrio Location of Amurrio within the Basque Country
Coordinates: 43°03′10″N 3°00′05″W / 43.05278°N 3.00139°W / 43.05278; -3.00139
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Basque Country
Province	Alava
Comarca	Aiaraldea
Founded	1919
Government
• Mayor	Josune Irabien Marigorta (Basque Nationalist Party)
Area
• Total	96.36 km2 (37.20 sq mi)
Elevation	219 m (719 ft)
Population  (2018)[1]
• Total	10,286
• Density	110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	01470
Official language(s)	Basque Spanish
Website	Official website

Amurrio is a town and municipality located in the northwest part of the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. It has over 10,000 inhabitants. It is between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao, respectively 41 km and 31 km.

Geography

Amurrio is in border with the following towns:

• In the North: Ayala and Orozko (Biscay).
• In the South: Orduña (Biscay).
• In the East: Zuia.
• In the West: Ayala.

Councils

Amurrio has 10 settlements within its municipality:

• Aloria
• Amurrio (capital)
• Artomaña
• Baranbio
• Delika
• Larrinbe
• Lekamaña
• Lezama
• Onsoño
• Saratxo
• Tertanga

History

Amurrio entered into written history in 1095. It had its own council in 1842 -since before it belonged to Ayala-, and made itself totally independent in 1919. It is, thus, a town with an old flavour, while at the same time, as one sees in its architecture and the strength of its industry, it is full of youthful vigour.

Amurrio remained a farming area even with the rise of industry. In the 1950s there were small workshops working with gold and silver and with liqueurs. Also there were enterprises working with railways and valves. All of them helped to prop up the weak agricultural economy of the area.

The great change, nevertheless, occurred a few years later with the setting up of major steel companies; which, with their promise for the future, attracted people form other lands. They brought Amurrio their rich human diversity, and the population doubles in the ten years leading up to 1975. In 1976 it acquired nine more towns, including Arrastaria, forming today's administrative division.^[2]

Economy

Amurrio's economy revolves principally around industry, despite services are also important. This countryside is in close harmony with industry, since not in vain do more than 60% of the population work in factories and workshops.

Historically, steel and tube production have been the best known industry in Amurrio. Due to the 21st century petroleum crisis, many more job positions were created. Nowadays, between Amurrio and Llodio are located two of the most significant steel tube producers of the Basque Country and Europe: Tubacex and Tubos Reunidos.^[3]

The industrial estates Aldaiturriaga and Saratxo, adjoining the railway and road, offer the appropriate land and amenities.

These are the factories that have more than 50 employees:

• Aceralava Acería de Álava: 150 employees.
• Amurrio Ferrocarril y Equipos: 175 employees.
• Industria Auxiliar Alavesa (INAUXA): 140 employees.
• Kime: 110 employees.
• Lázaro Ituarte Internacional: 50 employees.
• Möllertech: 330 employees.
• Tubacex Tuberías Inoxidables (TTI) : 160 employees.
• Tubos Reunidos: 940 employees.

Due to the steel manufacturing factories' huge presence, Amurrio has created a medium-sized steel industry network:

• Talleres F.Larrinaga: valve and gear production.
• Castinox: production of valves, stainless steel and various components of the industry, as well as smelting alloy.

The sectors of wood manufacturing and construction are also remarkable:

• Etxeguren: industrial projects: maintenance, change of machinery, installations...
• Plaza Amurrio Archived 2014-12-18 at the Wayback Machine: supply for construction, materials, furniture...

Even if agriculture is on a second level, there are some important shops where this home-made or home-extracted products can be bought:

• Industrias Cárnicas Burutxaga: meat industry.
• Lur Denok: ecological food.

Demography

During the 1960s and 1970s the inhabitants of Amurrio grew, among others because of the process of industrialisation of Biscay -it must be taken into account that Amurrio is very close to Bilbao and it is under its influence.

From the 1980s onwards, due to the economic recession, population stabilized. In 2008, nevertheless, the town recovered and reached again to 10,000 inhabitants.

Population of Amurrio

Source: www.ine.es Archived 2015-05-26 at the Wayback Machine

Politics