User:Andrea Vicente/sandbox/Santutxu



Santutxu (spelled as Santuchu when written in Spanish) is one of the most populous neighbourhoods of Bilbao (Basque Country). It belongs to the 4th urban district, named Begoña. It is a popular residential neighbourhood which has also a relatively strong commercial area, including three food retail markets.

History
Santutxu (meaning little Saint in basque), owes its name to a hermitage which was dedicated to Francisco de Paula. This hermitage was founded in 1737 by Francisco Fernando de Barrenechea among others, and was built with the sole purpose of enabling its colonists to hear masses without moving to Begoña church. Since both the hermitage and the Saint figure inside were small sized, it was popularly given the name Santutxu, Santuchu in Spanish.

In those first years, every second of April was celebrated in honor of San Francisco de Paula with a Mayor Mass of great solemnity. Representatives of the Hall of the República de Begoña would attend this event, as well as members of the clergy that would take part in every religious event back in those days, where rockets, drumming and of course, a typical homemade basque wine named txakoli or chacolí in Spanish, were the order of the day.

In 1925, the church of Begoña was annexed (and with it, the neighbourhood of Santutxu) to Bilbao. In the XX century it went from being a semi-rural zone with great sandlots, to a highly populated neighbourhood, especially after the building and demographic growth of the 1960s.

Luis Briñas Public school is a singular building in Santutxu, located on Iturriaga street, nearby the Campa de Basarrate. It is monumentally protected and was designed by the architect Pedro Ispizua Susunaga (Bermeo, 1895 - Bilbao, 1976), to whom is also owed the renowed buildings del Tigre, the Mercado de la Ribera, the pergola of Parque Casilda Iturrizar or the Kiosco del Arenal.

Santutxu, according to the Bilbao Hall census data, has nowadays 33,346 inhabitants.

Famous people from Santutxu

 * Javier Calle, journalist and tv host.
 * Javier Salgado, player of Movistar CB Estudiantes and ex-player of Bilbao Basket and Lagun Aro Bruesa Gipuzkoa Basket
 * Ibai Gómez, footballer, player of Athletic Club de Bilbao.
 * Aitor Mazo, actor.

Events in Santutxu

 * "Santutxu pintxotan" is a gastronomic event and contest for catering proffesionals from Santutxu which takes place once a year in some bars of the neighborhood.
 * "Premios Santutxu y más" is an event created by the journal of the neighborhood to give awards to those relevant people, organisations or entities that have appeared in its pages during the last year.

Organisations related with Santutxu

 * Santutxu families' association, which was created in 1967.
 * Santutxu FC: Santutxu football team.
 * Storekeepers' association
 * Begoña's teenager area: Free time area for teenagers (from 13 to 17 years)from Santutxu, Begoña and Bolueta neighborhoods
 * Social center for the Santutxu elderly
 * "Bizit Santutxu": Associative project of crowdfunding, which seeks sponsorships for the neighborhood's sports clubs, but also to foment the consumption in local shops.

Bilbao Underground
There are two underground stations (Metro Bilbao):
 * Santutxu station, which has two way out, one in Karmelo street and another one in Zabalbide street.


 * Basarrate station which has the way out in Basarrate square.