Erandio


Erandio is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain.

History

In 1415, during the War of the Bands, the corregidor, the royally-appointed governor of the Biscayan hermandad, acting on royal orders, siphoned off Biscayan wheat to the Asturias, inciting a rebellion. The Biscayans were defeated at Erandio with the loss of sixty men and the wheat transfers continued.

Festivals

Several annual festivals are celebrated in Erandio.

Patron saints' festivities

The main festivals are Patronal festivals .
The local public holiday of the municipality rotates yearly on August 10, August 28 and the corpus Christi day.
Erandio has also celebrated a street music festival called Musikale, with music bands marching and playing in the neighbourhoods of Altzaga and Astrabudua. Musikale had been originally conceived in the neighbouring municipality of Leioa. For some years it was held simultaneously in Leioa, Erandio, Basauri and Sestao, but the other municipalities dropped it, and in 2013 only Erandio organised it.
Other public festivals celebrated in September are the recreation of a traditional rural Basque wedding in Astrabudua, and Erandio Magikoa and open-air Festival of Magic held in different neighbourhoods.

Transport

While Asua and Erandio Goikoa are just 3 Km away from Bilbao Airport, other parts of the municipality, like Astrabudua are more than 6 Km away. There is no direct public transport from Erandio to the passenger's terminal, though buses can be taken in the neighbouring municipalities of Loiu and Bilbao.

Land transport

Erandio is connected to other municipalities of Biscay by Bizkaibus bus services and by line 1 of the Bilbao metro, which has three stations in Erandio, and by Euskotren trains.

Fluvial transport

There are several bridges over the minor rivers, such as Asua, but there is currently only one bridge over the Estuary of Bilbao, formed by the Ibaizabal - Nervión river, the Rontegi bridge only for motorised vehicles.
There is a project for a pedestrian bridge, which will be called All Iron Zubia between Erandio and Barakaldo.
Erandio was also connected to Barakaldo by fluvial passenger transport over the Estuary, first by rowing boats, and since the 20th century in motorised boats, which were popularly known as gasolino. Regular fluvial transport service was interrupted in February 2024, due to economic difficulties caused by the rise of fuel prices and the competence of land public transport, though private boats are occasionally hired for leisure travel along the estuary.

Notable people