Irun (Basque: Irun, Spanish: Irún) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.
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👉 Irun in the context of Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (US: /ɡiːˈpuːskoʊə/ ghee-POO-skoh-ə, Basque: [ɡipus̻ko.a]; Spanish: Guipúzcoa [ɡiˈpuθkoa] ; French: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques at the northeast, with the province and autonomous community of Navarre at east, Biscay at west, Álava at southwest and the Bay of Biscay to its north. It is located at the easternmost extreme of the Cantabric Sea, in the Bay of Biscay. It has 66 kilometres (41 miles) of coastline.
With a total area of 1,980 square kilometres (760 square miles), Gipuzkoa is the smallest province of Spain. The province has 89 municipalities and a population of 720,592 inhabitants (2018), from which more than half live in the Donostia-San Sebastián metropolitan area. Apart from the capital, other important cities are Irun, Errenteria, Zarautz, Mondragón, Eibar, Hondarribia, Oñati, Tolosa, Beasain and Pasaia.
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Irun in the context of Bidasoa
The Bidasoa (Basque: [bi'd̪as̺oa]; Spanish: [biða'soa]; French: Bidassoa, pronounced [bidasɔa]) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the province of Navarre, the river actually results from the merger of several streams near the village Erratzu, with the stream Baztan that rises at the north-eastern side of the mount Autza (1,306 m) being considered the source of the Bidasoa. It joins the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay) between the towns of Hendaye and Hondarribia.
The river is best known for establishing the borderline at its lower tract. This stretch is crossed not only by aircraft at low height but by important European communication axes, namely AP8 E5 E80 - E70 A63 (motorway, connection at the Biriatu toll), main roads N1 - N10 (connection at the roundabout of Saizar by the river) and major French and Spanish railway networks,—Renfe and SNCF. Besides these major lines, other regional ones cross it too, e.g. regional railway EuskoTren (terminus in Hendaye) and another double bridge (pedestrians/vehicles) joining the towns on the border, i.e. the historical Santiago Bridge (Way of St. James). At this stage of the river, urban landscape prevails (built-up area).
Irun in the context of France–Spain border
The France–Spain border was formally defined in 1659. It separates the two countries from Hendaye and Irun in the west, running through the Pyrenees to Cerbère and Portbou on the Mediterranean Sea. It runs roughly along the drainage divide defined by the Pyrenees, though with several exceptions.
Irun in the context of Autopista AP-1
The Autopista AP-1 (also known in Spanish as Autopista del Norte) is a Spanish autopista. It has two separate sections: the first from Burgos to Armiñón, and the second from Etxabarri Ibiña (a hamlet close to Vitoria-Gasteiz) to Eibar. In Eibar, at the Malzaga junction, AP-1 meets Autopista AP-8, which connects with Irun and the French border.
The first section became toll-free in 2018. However, it has kept the AP prefix, usually reserved to tolled motorways.