Urkiola

Urkiola Natural Park occupies the south-eastern tip of Bizkaia and the north of Álava, over the mountain complex formed by the Aramotz-Eskubaratz ranges, the Duranguesado mountains and the Arangio range. It was declared on 29 December 1989 by Decree 275/1989, under Act 4/1989 on the conservation of natural areas, with the explicit aim of reconciling protection of the landscape with traditional farming, livestock and forestry use. In 1997 it was declared a Site of Community Importance and in 2016 a Special Area of Conservation of the Natura 2000 network.

The dominant feature is the contrast between rock and forest: pale limestone walls rising almost vertically above dense beech and oak woods, with ravines set between them. The ridge line formed by Untzillaitz, Anboto, Zabalandi and Arangio is the area of greatest scenic and vegetation value in the park. The highest summit is Anboto, at 1,337 m, and the administrative and visitor heart is the Urkiola pass, at about 700 m, where the interpretation centre and the sanctuary that gives the pass its name stand.

Urkiola is one of the central places of Basque mythology. On the northern face of Anboto opens the cave of Mari, the principal figure of the pre-Christian Basque pantheon, a goddess associated with storms and with the earth who, according to oral tradition, moves seasonally between different mountain sanctuaries. There are other emblematic caves too — Bolinkoba, Gentilkoba, Baltzola — and those of the Atxarte defile document human occupation since prehistory, with pottery of Roman and medieval date in some walls in the park. The use of the woodland is equally ancient: pollarded beeches for charcoal and oaks for firewood marked the appearance of the forest for centuries, and between 1990 and 2006 185 hectares were replanted, mostly with native broadleaves. Grazing by sheep, cattle and horses remains decisive in the present landscape.