Aia

This note was published at EITb:

Routes

Boundary between two provinces

Peñas de Aia

04/04/2008

The Peñas de Aia stand out clearly in the scenery of the area lying to the east of Donostia-San Sebastián (the Donostia-San Sebastián - Irún “corridor”).

Its unmistakable outline is also remarkable because of its height which, although moderate in absolute terms (833 m) is considerable if we take account of the fact that it is so near the coast (less than 10 km away as the crow flies).

The Aiako Harria (the Basque name for Peñas de Aia) massif stands in both Gipuzkoa and Navarre (it marks the boundary between the two provinces), and one of its far ends also lies on the border with the French side of the Basque Country, known as Iparralde in Basque. In fact, the north-eastern part of the park reaches as far as the river Bidasoa.

Among the mountains in the Basque Autonomous Community, the Aiako Harria massif enjoys the singularity of standing at the end of the Pyrenean Cordillera. We will no longer find plutonic rock (granite and its metamorphic aureole) towards the west on leaving behind the Aiako Harria and its area of influence. We are therefore talking about a geological singularity in the context of our province, i.e., the fact that the oldest land dates from the Primary or Paleozoic Era.

This rocky mass of solidified magma has given rise to veins of different metals which have been exploited since very ancient times, some since Roman times, and the number of wells and mining galleries dotted over the massif can be counted in dozens. It has been calculated that there is a total tunnel length of some 15-18 km. Minerals are still extracted at Arditurri.

The coast forms a part of the neighbouring scenery, with in the foreground the bay of Txingudi, an important enclave on the migration paths of aquatic birds; the towns of Hondarribia, Irún and Hendaye, Mount Jaizkibel, the Oiartzun valley... But the Nature Reserve extends southwards, through a landscape of summits and passes along the whole boundary with Navarre: Aritxulegi, Bianditz, Aldura, Urdaburu, etc.

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