The Salazar Valley is a valley in the east of the Foral Community of Navarre in 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...

. It lies within the Merindad

Merindad

Merindad is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term that refers to a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. It was roughly approximate to the English count or bailiff...

 of Zangoza-Sangüesa

Sangüesa

Sangüesa is a city in Navarre, Spain, 44.5 kilometers from Pamplona. It is close to the River Aragon and is located on the Way of Saint James. It has been an important stopping point for pilgrims since the Middle Ages...

 and within that, the Comarca

Comarca

A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...

 of Roncal-Salazar. The Sierra de Abodi, part of the Western Pyrenees

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...

, forms the natural boundary in the north. There is a ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

 in Abodi.

Etymology

The first mention of the name was in documents of the Monastery of Leire, with the denomination of Sarasazo (924). Later Sarasazu (1055), Sarasaz (1111 and 1469), Sarasaitz (1205) especially in texts written in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

.

Zaraitzu seems to derivate from an older form: Sarasaitzu.

The Castilian

Crown of Castile

The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

 official denomination began being used widely in the 17th century probably influenced by the Salazar surname, famous in the Nobility of the Iberian Peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

. In fact Salazar is not a common surname in Navarre, but it is very common in the west of the 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....

, which indicates its origins.

Zaraitzu Basque

The local dialect is the Zaraitzu Basque, although nowadays Castilian between the old people and Castilian and Euskara Batua between younger generations is spoken. However, the last publications of works about the Basque of Zaraitzu (dictionary, learning method, text collection and oral recordings) and some curses of this dialect in the valley allowed the local population to be able to understand it and maintain it to some extent.

Municipalities

The traditional names of the towns are in brackets.

• Uscarrés (Uskartze)
• Esparza de Salazar (Espartza Zaraitzu/Esparza)
• Ezcároz (Ezkaroze)
• Gallués (Galoze)
• Güesa (Gorza)
• Ibilcieta (Ibiltzieta/Ibizta)
• Iciz (Izize)
• Igal (Igari)
• Izal (Itzalle)
• Izalzu (Itzaltzu)
• Ochagavía
  Ochagavía
  Ochagavía or Otsagabia is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. Ochagavia can be found in the north of the Valley of Salazar, near the Irati forest and not far from the border with France....
  
   (Otsagabia/Otsagi)
• Oronz
  Oronz
  Oronz, or Orontze is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
  
   (Orontze)
• Sarriés (Sartze)
• Jaurrieta
  Jaurrieta
  Jaurrieta or Eaurta is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:**...
  
   (Eaurta)

Demographics

Population development in Zaraitzu after 1975

Municipality	1975	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2005
Espartza Zaraitzu-Esparza de Salazar	199	160	159	136	122	103	100
Ezkaroze-Ezcároz	466	431	400	365	364	358	363
Galoze-Gallués	149	135	142	133	124	121	118
Gorza-Güesa	122	113	106	90	79	72	65
Itzaltzu-Izalzu	84	54	52	49	49	45	46
Jaurrieta Jaurrieta Jaurrieta or Eaurta is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:**...	415	391	359	321	268	238	225
Otsagabia-Ochagavía	826	777	721	676	701	666	651
Orontze-Oronz	66	70	70	57	53	56	55
Sartze-Sarriés	121	112	106	111	84	79	81
TOTAL	2448	2243	2115	1938	1844	1738	1704

External links

• Salazar Valley site