Mundaka
Encyclopedia
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
located in the province of Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
, in the autonomous community of Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
, northern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. On the coast, Mundaka is internationally-renowned for its surfing scene.
Mundaka is accessible from Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
by EuskoTren
EuskoTren
EuskoTren is a commuter rail service which operates in the Basque Country provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It is one of the three commercial brands of the public society owned by the Basque Government, Eusko Trenbideak - Ferrocarriles Vascos...
on the Bermeo
Bermeo
Bermeo is a town and municipality in the sub-region of Busturialdea and the wider province of Biscay, part of the autonomous region of the Basque Country, in Northern Spain. Bermeo has 17,026 inhabitants and is the most important fishing port of the Basque Country. The town was founded in 1236 and...
line.
History
Mundaka is known as one of the most important places of the Lordship of Biscay, it was the birthplace of Jaun Zuria, the first Lord of BiscayLord of Biscay
Lord of Biscay is a historical title of the head of state of the autonomous territory of Biscay, Basque Country.- History :The first known Lord of Biscay , Íñigo López "Ezkerra" was a lieutenant of the Kingdom of Pamplona , and this was until the Castilian conquest of Gipuzkoa in 1200...
, son of the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
princess who arrived to Mundaka escaping from an English King. The name of the town has Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
origin, it is proven that the Vikings arrived there 900 years ago. According to the history of the Lordship, Mundaka has the oldest temple of Biscay, so that, it has the first seat of the General Parliament.
The port is in the center point of the town, from there the old part of the town grew. All the houses are medieval, fishermen houses, always looking to the sea.
The coat of arms of Mundaka is formed by an oak in a gold farm with a wolf, surrounded by a chess game.
Surfing
Mundaka is well renowned world wide for its quality of surf. Huge swells roll in from the Bay of Biscay and slam into the rocky coastline of the Basque Country. The estuary at Mundaka has created a perfect sandbar which forms hollow waves that can be watched from the town's harbor wall. Mundaka was formerly one of the sites of the World Championship Tour of Surfing.http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/mundaka-spain_6894/travel/Some great surfers have marked their legacy on Mundaka such as Andy Irons, Taj Burrow, Kelly Slater, Mark Occilupo and Joel Parkinson.