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90-480: The council is headed by Mr Iñaki Beraza, member of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) The municipality, located at the centre of the eastern Alavese Plains, comprises a core built-up area sitting on a low ridge (605 m high) and consisting of three historical streets that stretch out south to north, i.e. Zapatari , Mayor and Carnicería , which bear witness to ancient guild clusters. North and west at

180-451: A bottle of beer": as soon as that cork was removed, all the troubles of Spain would explode into the open. In addition, as part of his police state Ferdinand revived the inquisition and expanded it to have "agents in every single village in the realm." The divide between liberals and conservatives, both unhappy with Ferdinand's reign, was further strengthened by his publication in March, 1830 of

270-456: A century later. Before the start of the Carlist Wars, Spain was in a deep social, economic, and political crisis as a result of mismanagement by Charles IV and Ferdinand VII , and had stagnated from the reforms and successes of Charles III of Spain . Spain had only slightly more than 20 inhabitants per square kilometer in the early 19th century, much less than other European countries. At

360-658: A highly mountainous region which could not support large populations. The end of this option during a period of accelerated population growth meant that the Basque region "faced a bottleneck of impoverished and underemployed men of military age who had little [to] lose by joining Carlist insurrections". It is important to note that Basque support for Carlism was "far more conditional than [historian] traditionalists, neo-traditionalists, and even Liberals believed." As Mark Lawrence writes, "it would be superficial to explain Basque Carlism as

450-523: A lack of improvements in practices and technology. The effects of poor harvests in 1803-1804 and the most "serious shortages of food in a century and a half" that resulted were exacerbated by the Peninsular War. Still, agriculture accounted for 85% of the Spanish GDP . While output had recovered to pre-war levels, the prices remained unattainable for many peasants. As most of the land was concentrated on

540-508: A month before Isabella's third birthday, his reign considered one of the worst in Spanish history, and so the kingdom fell into a regency led first by her mother Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies . A strong absolutist party feared that the regent Maria Christina would make liberal reforms, and sought another candidate for the throne. This was due to her owing her choice as Ferdinand's wife to

630-457: A result, the king founded various strongholds or free towns ( salvas terras , seguras and villas francas ) over the lands of Gipuzkoa and Álava en route to Gascony through the northern Way of St. James , with a view at the same time to fostering Castilian trade. Salvatierra was in the ensuing decades and centuries home to various scuffles, battles and sieges on the grounds of its bordering location with Navarre and its strategic position in

720-483: A sword-wielding general Castaños , and tellingly the San Sebastián council representatives took the oath to the 1812 Constitution with the smell of smoke still wafting and surrounded by rubble . This Constitution abolished Basque home rule, and in the following years the contrafueros (literally "against fueros") removed provisions such as fiscal sovereignty and specificity of military draft . The resentment against

810-530: A war in defence of the fueros" but also states that "Basque Carlism is also impossible to understand without them, not least because their most outspoken defenders were to be found in Carlist ranks and their most outspoken critics amongst the Cristino Liberals." The people of the western Basque provinces (ambiguously called "Biscay" up to that point) and Navarre sided with Carlos because ideologically Carlos

900-437: The 1789 succession discussions which Ferdinand ratified in his Sanction. By September of 1832, it was clear that King Ferdinand would soon die. To avert a civil war, Maria Christina sent Antonio de Saavedra y Jofré to ask Carlos to serve as principal advisor during the regency and arrange a marriage between Isabella and Carlos' son Carlos Luis . Carlos refused on religious grounds. He warned her that God would punish him in

990-822: The Crown of Aragon and included Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands had been abolished in the Nueva Planta decrees of 1717, the Basques managed to maintain a relative autonomy to the rest of the Spanish Kingdom in thanks to their support of Philip V of Spain in the War of the Spanish Succession . The centralisers in the Spanish government supported some of the great powers against Basque merchants from at least since

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1080-571: The French Basque districts . Despite difficulties, on-off trade continued during the period of uncertainty prevailing under the French Convention, the War of the Pyrenees (1793-1795) , Manuel Godoy 's tenure in office, and the Peninsular War. Eventually, Napoleonic defeat left cross-border commercial activity struggling to take off after 1813 . Overseas commerce was badly affected by the end of

1170-753: The Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas (1785), the French-Spanish defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), independence movements in Latin America (started 1808), the destruction of San Sebastián (1813), and the eventual breakup of the Royal Philippine Company (1814) . By 1826 all the grand Spanish (including the Basque) fleet of the late 18th century with its renowned Basque navigators was gone, and with it,

1260-460: The constitutional monarchy . It was the largest and most deadly civil war in nineteenth-century Europe and fought by more men than the Spanish War of Independence . It might have been the largest counter-revolutionary movement in 19th-century Europe depending on the figures. Furthermore, it is considered the "last great European conflict of the pre-industrial age". The conflict was responsible for

1350-537: The cristinos during the war. However, the former statement can be explained by the growing influence of Maria Cristina in the courts. Furthermore, Spain was undergoing a deflationary spiral caused by both the Napoleonic War and the loss of the colonies, which left Spanish producers without the incredibly valuable market to sell their goods to as well as the Mint without the metal crucial to make coins. In order to protect

1440-597: The endorsement of the Basques as long as he respected the Basque institutional and legal framework. Most foreign observers, including Charles F. Henningsen , Michael B. Honan, or Edward B. Stephens, English writers and first-hand witnesses of the First Carlist War, spent time in the Basque districts were highly sympathetic to the Carlists, which they regarded as representing the cause of Basque home rule. A notable exception

1530-557: The Atlantic vocation of the Enlightened Spain. Notwithstanding the ideology of Basque liberals, overall supportive of home rule, the Basques and their industries were getting choked by the above circumstances and customs on the Ebro , on account of the high levies enforced on them by the successive Spanish governments after 1776. Many Basque merchants advocated in turn for the relocation of

1620-628: The Basque language area still in 1867. Nowadays younger generations that come out of Basque-language schools (called ikastolas ) since the 1970s may speak and/or understand Basque . Zadorra The Zadorra is a river tributary of the Ebro in the Basque Country in the north of the Iberian Peninsula . The river flows primarily across Álava province (flowing briefly through the Treviño enclave at La Puebla de Arganzón ) finally reaching

1710-452: The Basques. The British interest was to destroy, for as long as possible, Spanish commercial routes and power, which were mainly sustained by the Basque ports and merchant fleet. The Constitution of 1812 was written without Basque input, but they agreed to it due to the ongoing war against the French. As one example, the 1812 Constitution was signed by Gipuzkoan representatives under the watch of

1800-509: The Carlist cause was the tremendous influence of the Basque clergy whose number per capita was double that of other regions. Basque clergy still addressed the public in their own language, Basque , unlike school and administration, institutions where Spanish had been imposed by then. The Basque pro- fueros liberal class under the influence of the Enlightenment and ready for independence from Spain (and initially at least allegiance to France)

1890-467: The Carlist cause. In fact, the fueros grew in importance only when military victory seemed impossible in the wake of the failed Royal Expedition, and as Carlist peace feelers voiced a growing willingness to abandon Don Carlos who, since 1834, had been the fueros’ champion. and further notes that "the powers of the fueros themselves were increasingly curtailed by the Carlist Royal Government in

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1980-462: The Ebro customs to the Pyrenees, and the encouragement of a Spanish market. However, a majority of Basque consumers benefited from their ability to buy foreign goods without paying Spanish tariffs and participation in the contraband trade. On Ferdinand VII's death in 1833, the minor Isabella II was proclaimed queen, with Maria Christina acting as regent. In November, a new Spanish institutional arrangement

2070-583: The Ebro near Miranda de Ebro in Burgos province, Castille and León . The river's water volume is the largest in Álava, with its basin being the most extensive in the province. Nowadays it provides by means of the Zadorra Reservoir System (comprising reservoirs Uribarri-Ganboa, Urrunaga and Albina) water supply for Vitoria and half of the Basque Autonomous Community . The river rises in

2160-464: The King himself and funded independently by permanent tax revenues. They were recruited exclusively from conservatives and declared its aim the protection of the royals against liberal attacks. This decade was plagued by political instability, with a large ultra-conservative revolt breaking out in 1827 and an unsuccessful British-backed liberal Pronunciamiento in 1831 . Ferdinand was unable to control

2250-454: The King's Highway to France. In the 13th century, the definitive layout of the town was established, with encircling walls and two big fortified churches sealing Salvatierra at the north and south ends ( Santa María and San Juan churches respectively). The so-called olbeas were erected at this time too. These consisted of arcades, made originally of wood, next to both parishes in the one-time bustling marketplaces, and they have endured up to

2340-528: The Medieval Nucleus for decades, currently the main road E-5 A-1 ( Nacional I ) passes by the town west to east en route to France. The main language of use in Salvatierra is currently Spanish and it has been so for at least the last 150 years. In 1841, there was an interpreter required by the town council for Basque speaking residents. The geographer Elisée Reclus includes the town within the boundaries of

2430-599: The Napoleonic War. The economic troubles were portrayed at the time as a result of moral faults in society, introduced by either the one's political enemies or the war. In 1823, the Spanish Government during the Trienio Liberal had re-instated the Spanish Constitution of 1812 , which had abolished the fueros and established a parliamentary monarchy , among other changes. Ferdinand VII repealed it later in

2520-484: The Northern Railway, following that it developed industry since the early 20th century. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the one time stinky Curtidos Salvatierra S.A.L. , a tanning factory, which provided not long ago work for so many inhabitants. Nowadays the town numbers three industrial estates, the two existing so far and a new one under construction, namely, Litutxipi across the train station, Agurain on

2610-730: The Pragmatic Sanction , which replaced the Salic system with a mixed succession system that would allow his daughters to inherit the throne (he had no male heir). This replaced his brother Charles as next-in-succession with his first daughter Isabella, who would be born later that year in October. It was at this point that the Royalist Volunteers and police, which had become politicized towards conservatism, threatened Ferdinand's court as they might support Carlos instead of his heir. Ferdinand died

2700-432: The Royalist Volunteers (which were directly collected by them) and removed the political requirements for joining them. On 15 October, Maria Cristina issued a political amnesty for many exiles and liberals (except for those that had voted in favor of the King's removal and those that had led armed forces against him). A few weeks later, these former political criminals became eligible to hold office again and consequently

2790-435: The Royalist Volunteers; 3 employees of the military treasury; 5 employees of the captain-general's office; the former chief of police; 7 employees of the treasury office; 1 artillery captain; and 3 post office employees. Cea Bermudez 's centrist government (1 October 1832 - January 1834) inaugurated the return to Spain of many exiles from London and Paris, e.g. Juan Álvarez Mendizabal (born Méndez). The rise of Cea Bermudez

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2880-492: The Spanish government would be overburdened with costs needed to establish control over the country over the following decades—88% of taxes collected in February 1822 went to fund the military—which increased when Ferdinand maintained a French garrison between 1824-1828 "as a Varangian Guard " to ensure his power. In 1833, Spain's forces comprised 100,000 Royalist Volunteers, 50,000 regulars, and 652 generals. The progressives of

2970-439: The Spanish people favored a return to a kind of absolute monarchy that they felt would protect their individual freedoms (fueros), their regional individuality and their religious conservatism. This opportunistic view of Carlism is further supported by the fact that "Carlism" was first mentioned in official correspondence in 1824, both after the restoration of absolutism to Spain by the French expedition and more than 35 years after

3060-424: The Spanish throne. The privileges of the Basque provinces are odious to the Spanish nation, of which Charles is so well aware, that if he was king of Spain next year, he would quickly find excuses for infringing them, if not their total abolition. A representative government will endeavour to raise Spain to a level with the Basque provinces, – a despot, to whom the very name of freedom is odious, would strive to reduce

3150-585: The Spanish without the naval strength to maintain healthy maritime trade with the Americas and the Philippines, leading to historically low overseas revenue and ability to control the colonies. The de facto independence of many of these colonies during the Napoleonic Wars and later wars of independence further strained the royal coffers. Between 1824 and 1833 the average annual income was "barely more than half"

3240-499: The Trienio had managed to secure loans from British financiers, which Ferdinand then defaulted on. This made securing further loans even harder for the fledgling Spanish economy. Some historians argue that the Pragmatic Sanction was encouraged in order to please the politically-active liberal financiers, and in fact it was in the interest of loan repayment that the British and French protected

3330-526: The Zadorra are below the standards required for the wildlife in the river. The river's situation is also aggravated by the presence of toxins. The level of toxins is above the amount allowed by the European Union. Fifteen wastewater treatment plants have helped stopping the advance of the pollution in the river. The kind of insects that nest in the river are an indicator of the degradation of the Zadorra. Because

3420-448: The afterlife for giving away a throne that was rightfully his. On September 18, at the urging of Maria Christina who was outnumbered in Court by Carlists, Ferdinand revoked the Pragmatic Sanction. Soon afterwards, however, he regained his health and was no longer in immediate danger of dying (though by that point rumours had been widely published abroad that he had died). This episode spurred

3510-507: The amount of pollution found in the river was well over the permitted amount. As a result, the municipalities have started some control programmes for the authorization of waste disposal. The control programmes have brought about some reduction in pollution. 42°40′03″N 2°53′59″E  /  42.66750°N 2.89972°E  / 42.66750; 2.89972 First Carlist War Liberal victory [REDACTED] Carlists [REDACTED] Liberals 500,000 mobilized throughout

3600-467: The ancient region specific institutions and laws established under historical rights. Navarre and the rest of the Basque provinces held their customs on the Ebro river. Trade had been strong with France (especially in Navarre) and overseas up to the Peninsular War (up to 1813), but getting sluggish thereafter. Another important reason for the massive mobilisation of the western Basque provinces and Navarre for

3690-512: The biggest in the Basque Autonomous Community , with a view to injecting into the power network 350,000 kWh/year. The town of Salvatierra was founded in 1256 by the Castilian king Alfonso X on the former settlement of the village Hagurahin on top of a hill, a highly defensible position. Castile was intent on strengthening the territories bordering on the Kingdom of Navarre seized some decades ago. As

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3780-531: The brain and the root of the intolerance and the hard line" of the Spanish Catholic Church. On the other side, the liberals and moderates united to defend the new order represented by María Cristina and her three-year-old daughter, Isabella. They controlled the institutions, almost the whole army, and the cities; the Carlist movement was stronger in rural areas. The liberals had the crucial support of United Kingdom , France and Portugal , support that

3870-708: The case in mid-1700s Castile and León where land owned by the Church accounted for one-fourth of rent collected. All in all, unsellable land accounted for more than half of Spain's farmland, thus hiking the price of land and making it impossible for small farmers to acquire land. In fact, many Spanish foods were invented in those times to combat the lack of food. In 1817 one finds the first reference to Spanish omelette as "…two to three eggs in tortilla for 5 or 6 [people] as our women do know how to make it big and thick with fewer eggs, mixing potatoes, breadcrumbs or whatever." Ferdinand's governmental gridlock only further exacerbated

3960-534: The deaths of 5% of the 1833 Spanish population—with military casualties alone amounting to half this number. It was mostly fought in the Southern Basque Country , Maestrazgo , and Catalonia and characterized by endless raids and reprisals against both armies and civilians. Importantly, it is also considered a precursor to the idea of the two Spains that would surface during the Spanish Civil War

4050-520: The economic situation, as they were unable to create significant economic policies to tackle the issues or encourage internal demand. In fact, Ferdinand clashed with burghers as to how to manage the rural areas which were now extremely sparsely populated, to the shock of international observers. The sparseness of population as well as the general predicaments of Spanish labourers resulted in gross mismanagement of arable land and inability of Spain to significantly restart industrial and commercial activity after

4140-466: The estimated deaths of over a million civilians out of the twelve that populated Spain at the time. Furthermore, French troops heavily looted the country, especially as the focus of the army shifted towards the French invasion of Russia . In the 19th century, Spain was heavily in debt and in a dire situation economically. Various conflicts with the British and especially the Battle of Trafalgar had left

4230-507: The feet of the ridge, two watercourses, the Santa Barbara and Zadorra , outlined the town's limits not time ago, while increasingly absorbed by the rapid urban development. Outside the walls of the town spread age old neighbourhoods, such as the Madura ( Basque for 'swamp'), La Magdalena or San Jorge. On either side of the road connecting the 'Portal del Rey' (main south entrance to the town) and

4320-484: The growing intervention of Madrid (e.g. attempts to take over Biscayan mines in 1826) and the loss of autonomy was considerably strong. However, King Ferdinand VII found an important support base in the Basque Country. The 1812 Constitution of Cádiz had suppressed Basque home rule, and was couched in terms of a unified Spanish nation which rejected the existence of the Basque nation, so the new Spanish king garnered

4410-506: The hallmark of the Renaissance (late XVI-early XVII). Worth highlighting are the sumptuous walled stately homes in between the main streets, such as the Casa de los Diezmos in the 'Carnicería' st. While the building frenzy of the previous century waned in the 18th century, there were still some outstanding works like the pentagonal San Juan Church's baroque style porch stretching out to the centre of

4500-491: The hands of wealthy nobles and the church who had no incentive to increase production, "vast tracks [of land] lay totally uncultivated". Areas like the Basque Country were privileged exceptions to a Spain where "the majority of the population was made up of landless workers who eked out a miserable existence. One obstacle to increasing the productive use of land were the wide limits on noble, ecclesiastical, and town-owned lands' sale. These lands could be very profitable, such as in

4590-460: The insects show in the top of the river what is happening in the bottom of it. In addition, nitrates have appeared in the river, despite the amount of nitrates being low, there should not be any nitrates. In 2008 the Ebro 's hydrographic confederation published a report about some of the rivers around the Ebro, including the Zadorra river. The investigation, which measured pollution in the rivers over four years, started in 2004. The report showed that

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4680-510: The landscape was densely populated enough to allow regular food and supplies; and (4) the appearance of the extremely gifted guerrilla leader, Tomás de Zumalacárregui. Other parts of Spain may have had one, or some of these factors, but not all four. In this context the additional importance of the loss of the colonies arises. The basques had traditionally emigrated to the New World in order to get better jobs and deal with their rising population in

4770-409: The liberal faction of the court and Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies , wife of Ferdinand's brother Francisco and court rival of Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal , wife of Carlos. The natural choice, based on Salic Law, was Ferdinand's brother Carlos . The differing views on the influence of the army and the Church in governance, as well as the forthcoming administrative reforms paved

4860-590: The liberals mobilized around the Queen. Historically, the loyalty of the Basque regions to the kings of Spain and, until the French Revolution, France depended on their upholding of traditional laws, customs, and special privileges. Their representative assemblies go back to the Middle Ages , yet their privileges had been consistently and progressively devalued by both monarchies. While the fueros that formerly made up

4950-402: The liberals to enact extensive personnel changes in the government, army, bureaucracy, police, and Royalist Volunteers in order to drive out the royalists who had been so close to realizing Carlos's claim to the throne. For example, in one dispatch the captain-general of Extremadura proposed the removal of 12 governors, king's lieutenants, and garrison adjutants ; 1 colonel; 5 field officers of

5040-419: The local industry, Spain established protectionist policies, which served to greatly encourage a black market. In fact, Great Britain was exporting three times as many products into Gibraltar than into the rest of Spain despite the dramatic discrepancy in population size. Moreover, Spain's agricultural production had greatly stalled during Ferdinand's reign, partly due to the wars but also importantly due to

5130-422: The marketplace. The 19th century was to know unrest and turmoil in this area. The First Carlist War left a mayor scar on the town's medieval nucleus, since the walls were demolished in order to furnish the nearby Guevara fortress, a Carlist key position, with proper material. Between both Carlist Wars the railway was established up to the French border; however, the stretch between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Olazagutia

5220-571: The middle of a plain has been an important crossroads as early as the Neolithic age, as evidenced by the presence of two important dolmens nearby (see below). Scholars pinpoint the Roman manor Alba , a milestone in the Astorga-Bordeaux Roman road (extending west to east), in the nearby village of Albeniz (some others point to Salvatierra). The way winding down the pass (cave) of San Adrian into

5310-462: The name of the war effort." The interests of the Basque liberals were divided. On the one side, fluent cross-Pyrenean trade with other Basque districts and France was highly valued, as well as unrestricted overseas transactions. The former had been strong up to the French Revolution, especially in Navarre, but the new French national arrangement (1790) had abolished the separate legal and fiscal status of

5400-604: The plains around Agurain that was to become the Way of St. James evidences prehistoric traces of seasonal cattle migration, dolmens and burial mounds in the area. It was also used by Romans and gained momentum after the seizure of Gipuzkoa and Alava by the Castilians. The use of the Way of St. James lost ground to new and more convenient roads, like the one built through Salinas de Leniz in 1765, which proved more practical for carriages, resulting in

5490-475: The pre-wars' level. Additionally, the political instability further constrained Spain's ability to collect taxes—the Riego revolt meant the government could only collect 12% of its projected revenue for the first half of 1820. Spain had been heavily looted during the Napoleonic Wars and had only managed to fight as a junior partner under British leadership, financed and even clothed by British subsidies. Nonetheless,

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5580-550: The present, although reconstructed in the 16th century. The town thrived on its good location and trade in the Way of St. James , and it even had a Jewish quarter, located in today's 'Arramel' st. In 1521 the town had to fend off the attack of its own lord, the Count of Salvatierra, a rebellious leader that revolted against emperor Charles V in the Revolt of the Comuneros . Yet he failed to win

5670-450: The progressive and centralist supporters of the regent , Maria Christina , acting for Isabella II of Spain , were called Liberals ( liberales ), cristinos or isabelinos . Aside from being a war of succession about the question who the rightful successor to King Ferdinand VII of Spain was, the Carlists' goal was the return to a traditional monarchy , while the Liberals sought to defend

5760-462: The provinces to the same low level with the rest. Modern historian Mark Lawrence agrees: The Pretender’s foralism was not proactive but purely in reaction to the fact that the rest of Spain (which had long been stripped of its fueros) had failed to rally to his cause. He was forced to rely on the fueros because no other wing of the Fernandine state, neither the army nor (mostly) the Church, defected to

5850-446: The situation and cycled through ministers, being described by Friedrich von Gentz in 1814: "The king himself enters the houses of his prime ministers, arrests them, and hands them over to their cruel enemies;" and in 14 January 1815: "the king has so debased himself that he has become no more than the leading police agent and prison warden of his country." This assessment seems accurate, as the king himself described himself as "a cork in

5940-532: The slopes of the Entzia Plateau at the spring known as Los Corrales (municipality of San Millán/Donemiliaga ), meandering thereafter across the Alavan Plains to the west (loops around Agurain/Salvatierra ) past Vitoria by the north, where it takes a turn to the south heading to the Ebro through La Puebla de Arganzón. The Zadorra is the most important river in Álava and is also the most polluted . It ranks in

6030-460: The start of a cycling race that was to have kicked off the local Agurain fiesta. The murders received particular notoriety because the local priest, Ismael Arrieta Pérez de Mendiola, provided details to help the terrorists plan the attack. Father Ismael received 10 years in prison for each of the 3 murders (which the Supreme Court of Spain later reduced to 18 years). The location of Salvatierra in

6120-456: The start of the Carlist War, the population was approximately 12.3 million people. While the Spanish American wars of independence began in 1808, more than two decades before the death of Ferdinand VII, the social, economic and political effects of the American conflicts still were of great significance in the peninsula. In fact, not until the start of the Carlist conflict did Spain abandon all plans of military reconquest. Between 1792 and 1827

6210-426: The time of the abolition of the Jesuit order and the Godoy regime. First they sided with the French Bourbons to suppress the Jesuits, following the formidable changes in North America after the victory of the United States in the American Revolutionary War . Then Godoy sided with the British against the Basques in the War of the Pyrenees of 1793, and immediately afterwards with the French of Napoleon , also against

6300-455: The top six polluted rivers in the Basque Country. More than 2,754 waste disposals have been authorised, 1,783 (65%) of which are urban and 960 (35%) of to which are industrial. From the 960 industries 89 of them are subject integrated environmental authorization. Unauthorized waste disposal also must be taken into account for the pollution. Additionally, waste dumped by industries is often more polluted than it should be. The oxygen levels in

6390-409: The town, the Count was arrested and executed by the imperial forces, much to the joy of the inhabitants. The joy didn't last long though, since shortly afterwards the plague swept through the town, which eventually resulted in the burning of Salvatierra (1564), a disaster that some blame on a desperate attempt to put an end to the grim epidemic. Only the walls (and both main churches) were spared, almost

6480-410: The train station, a sprawl developed in the 1950s and 1960s, called La Moncloa. The town keeps on growing east beside the Madura through new housing projects in the 2000s (decade), i.e. Harresi Parkea. There are other minor nuclei (villages) dotting the outward lands of the municipality of Salvatierra as follows: Agurain benefits from its location on the important European road axis N-1 E-5 E-80 and

6570-420: The transfer of the traffic to the latter. The traffic gone trickle first and drain later brought about some decay to Salvatierra. Yet new communications were being built at the time: Vitoria-Gasteiz was connected to the town with a new road in 1820, and on to the corridor of Burunda. In 1862 the railway connecting Madrid and Irun arrived in the town. After having crossed the town right in the south entrance to

6660-413: The univerisities (which had been closed as centers of liberal agitation) and removed many captains-generals and garrison town military commanders as well as General Nazario Eguía from their positions. These included Vicente González Moreno , José O'Donnell , and Santos Ladrón de Cegama , all of whom would later join the Carlists in the civil war. Additionally, the Queen suppressed the tax raised to fund

6750-659: The value in millions of reales of imports of goods, imports of money, and exports from the Americas had decreased by a factor of 3.80, 28.0, and 10.3 respectively. Furthermore, various conflicts with the British and especially the Battle of Trafalgar had left the Spanish without the naval strength to maintain healthy maritime trade with the Americas and the Philippines, leading to historically low overseas revenue. Between 1792 and 1827, Spanish foreign imports decreased from 714.9 million reals to 226.2 and exports decreased from 397 million to 221.2. This economic weakness would prove crucial at restraining Spain's ability to climb out of

6840-565: The war 5% of the Spanish population died, with half this number being military deaths The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars . It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Spanish monarchy : the conservative and devolutionist supporters of the late king's brother, Carlos de Borbón (or Carlos V ), became known as Carlists ( carlistas ), while

6930-461: The way for the expulsion of the Conservatives from the higher governmental circles. At the same time, moderate royalists and constitutionalist liberals coalesced around their support of the Pragmatic Sanction and against Carlos. As written by one historian: The first Carlist war was fought not so much on the basis of the legal claim of Don Carlos, but because a passionate, dedicated section of

7020-429: The west (with PEM , former PUM Española , as its traditional flagship factory; maximum surface area for building 19,773 m) and Galzar (urbanization works under way in 2008, maximum surface area for building 14,035 m). The two latter industrial estates participate in a wider regional logistic scheme known as Vitoria Logistic Corridor . A solar power plant in the outskirts of the town was inaugurated in 2007, currently

7110-437: The whole town was destroyed, a fact reflected in poems by the writer Juan Perez de Lazarraga . Salbatierra egun ey dago tristeric oyta dabela eguiten asco negarric çerren jarri da guztia destruiduric ez da gueratu barruan ese galantic çerca çabaloc jarri ey dira bacarric oy onezquero ez da mercatu bearric (...) After the burning, a vigorous and elegant reconstruction ensued under

7200-473: The woes of the next decades and leading up to the Carlist wars. While Spain had been an ally of Napoleon , this changed in 1808 after France occupied Spain and installed Joseph Bonaparte as King in place of the Bourbons . Although the high nobility accepted this change, the Spanish people did not and soon a bloody guerilla war erupted . This war lasted until 1814, and during those years Spain would be ravaged by

7290-726: The year after he appealed to European powers of the Congress of Vienna in order to restore his absolute powers and France sent a military expedition . The decade that followed the end of the Trienio became known as the Ominous Decade , in which Ferdinand suppressed his enemies, the press, and the institutional reforms of the liberals. He also established a militia called the Voluntarios Realistas ("Royalist Volunteers") which peaked at 284,000 men in 1832 in order to facilitate this suppression, led by an inspector general who answered only to

7380-478: Was John Francis Bacon, a diplomat residing in Bilbao during the Carlist siege of (1835), who, while praising Basque governance, could not hide his hostility towards the Carlists, whom he regarded as "savages." He went on to contest his compatriots' approach, denied a connection between the Carlist cause and the defense of the Basque liberties , and speculated that Carlos V would be quick to erode or suppress them if he took

7470-403: Was close to them and more importantly because he was willing to uphold Basque institutions and laws. Some historians claim that the Carlist cause in the Basque Country was a pro- fueros cause, but others ( Stanley G. Payne ) contend that no connection to the emergence of Basque nationalism can be postulated. Many supporters of the Carlists cause believed a traditionalist rule would better respect

7560-514: Was designed by the incoming government in Madrid, homogenising Spanish administration according to provinces and conspicuously overruling Basque institutions. The early attempts of the Viceroy of Navarra to recruit villagers into Cristino ranks failed miserably, even when service wages were offered of double, then treble, what the Carlist insurgents promised. Coverdale summarised four factors as to why this

7650-531: Was followed by a closer collaboration and understanding with Spain's debtors, who in turn clearly encouraged the former's reforms and liberalization, i.e. the new liberal regime and the incorporation of Spain to the European financial system. After its formation, Maria Isabella published a manifesto threatening those that would seek any change in the government system (namely, "pure unadulterated monarchy under [...] King Ferdinand VII"). Coverdale suggests this manifesto

7740-549: Was inspired by Bermudez's philosophy of enlightened despotism . Nonetheless, the political situation in Spain was too fragmented for a moderate government like Bermudez's to gain and maintain public support and most of its activity was restrained to controling potential rebelions from both the Carlists and the liberals. On 6 October, Ferdinand named Maria Cristina interim governor and allowed her to publish decrees in his name on both urgent and day-to-day affairs. She quickly re-opened

7830-432: Was put down by the Spanish authorities at the end of the War of the Pyrenees ( San Sebastián , Pamplona , etc.). As of then, the strongest partisans of the region specific laws were the rural based clergy, nobility and lower class—opposing new liberal ideas largely imported from France. Salvador de Madariaga , in his book Memories of a Federalist (Buenos Aires, 1967), accused the Basque clergy of being "the heart,

7920-665: Was ready by 1862, so Agurain had already a railway stop at that time, following that the town started to expand south out of the medieval nucleus by lining both sides of the road to the station and SW of the Main Road N-1. The town garnered particular attention at the height of the ETA (separatist group) terror attacks. On October 3, 1980, three unmasked gunmen murdered three Civil Motor Guard traffic offers -- Corporal Avelino Palma Brioa, Constable Ángel Prado Mella and Lance Corporal José Luis Vázquez Plata. The murders took place just minutes before

8010-517: Was shown in the important credits to Cristina's treasury and the military help from the British (British Legion or Westminster Legion under General de Lacy Evans ), the French (the French Foreign Legion ), and the Portuguese (a Regular Army Division under General Count of Antas ). The Liberals were strong enough to win the war in two months, but an inefficient government and the dispersion of

8100-415: Was so: (1) traditional society was still economically viable for most of population, hence liberalism was seen a threat; (2) natural leadership strata (clergy, landowners) lived cheek by jowl with peasants and supported the Carlist cause; (3) the terrain was sufficiently abrupt and broken to prevent the use of cavalry and to facilitate small bands to escape (to change their shirts and fight another day), whilst

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