Güeñes


The council of Güeñes is a municipality in the county of Encartaciones. It is furrowed by the waters of the river Cadagua and forms with its neighbor, the municipality of Zalla, Salcedo Valley.
In the North it borders Galdames and k; in the east Alonsotegi ;in the west the municipality of Zalla and in the south the municipality of Gordejuela. Its more important centres of population are Güeñes, Sodupe, The Quadra, Zaramillo, Sanchosolo and San Pedro de Goicouría.

Geography

The towns of Sodupe, La Quadra, Zaramillo and the administrative centre, Güeñes, all lie within the region.

Population cores in the region

In ancient times, it was included in the Valley of Salcedo, formed by two councils: Güeñes and Zalla. The valley of Salcedo was founded in the late 12th century by Count D. Rubio Diaz de Asturias, who ordered the building of the Tower of Salcedo of Aranguti, which was later on transformed into a palace.
He was succeeded by his daughter Maria de Salcedo, married to D. Galindo de Ayala, Mr. of Ayala. Ayala and Salcedo would remain together for the rest of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th century, under the successive domination of Sancho Garcia "the headstrong" and Hurtado Sanz. They were not, however, the only eminent "owners" of the valley: other characters wielded power in the area, such as Martin Sancho de Santa Marina.
In the early 13th century, Hurtado Sanz de Salcedo,, had a daughter who had two bastard children with Martin Sanchez of Santa Marina: Lope Sanchez, who received Gordexola as inheritance and Sancho Ortiz Marroquin, who kept Zalla and Güeñes.
A generation later, Marroquin divided among three of his four children all their possessions in Salcedo, thus giving rise to three lineages; Montermoso Marroquin, La Jara and Salcedo Salcedo Aranguren.
In the valley of Salcedo direct clashes began at a relatively late date, during the mid 14th century. Relationships between different lineages were difficult. Many of their differences seem to have started from Sancho Ortiz Marroquin's territorial divisions. Despite the opposition from Salcedo, Montermoso still had effective control of the region, especially after the death of Juan Sanchez, and the Marroquines' territorial demands also began to increase.
All sides were well defended, and they all fought tirelessly for the control of the region: zamudianos of Salcedo, Salazares and Muñatones on one hand and marroquines and gordojanos on the other. By 1400, the Salazar Salcedo quarreled with and allied with the marroquines. The atmosphere of generalized violence endured all over the territory, forcing the lords of Vizcaya and kings of Castile to take action on the matter. It was difficult to impose rules, when the lieutenants of the nobles inevitably used them for their own profit. Therefore, it became necessary to resort to outsiders. Violence began to subside during the last years of the 15th century. There was a change in economic conditions, and both production and population increased: the causes that had led to struggle began to disappear. During the first half of the 16th century, disputes concerning neighbouring municipal borders were resolved:
In January 1507, the councils of Güeñes and Gordejuela gathered to mark their respective terms and limits, in order not to contravene the jurisdiction of its justices.
On February 27 in the same year, the representatives of these councils proceeded to the demarcation. During this period of time, iron production and the expansion of cultivated areas acquired a very important role. Güeñes also featured another engine that underpinned its demographic expansion: the works of the church of Santa Maria, which provided work for a good number of workers.
On April 17, 1624, the General Meeting of the Lordship of Biscay, contemplating the possibility of an attack by Dutch ships, decided to fortify the ports and coasts and appoint captains in all the villas and parish churches of Vizcaya.
In September 1642, Mr. Jacinto Hurtado de Tavisón, permanent mayor of the council of Güeñes, asked for the full incorporation of Güeñes into his manor.
In 1704 there were 202 fires in Güeñes, emerging from a "fogueramiento" continuing throughout this year. This fire was started by the General Meeting of the manor on 28 June, in order to mark the divisions of the estate.
From the outbreak of 1766, Güeñes suffered a long series of bad harvests, strong fiscal demands, wars and diseases. This growth forced the regiment to suppress direct taxes between 1772 and 1775 and spread land among neighbours, so that they could increase their resources.
The Board of Merindades of 13 August 1799 had determined the full incorporation of the Encartaciones to the Lordship and had approved the conditions of such a union. On 25 May 1800, authorities of the council of Güeñes met in the City Hall. On February 2 a committee was appointed to be responsible for conferring with the authorities of the manor. On 14 July 1800, the General Meetings of Guernica ended up incorporating the Lordship of Güeñes.
In the War of 1808 a Gallic detachment settled its headquarters in Sodupe, causing a major upheaval: the war absorbed a high percentage of local agricultural production as "rations" for troops.

Politics

The Basque Nationalist Party has been governing Güeñes for the last 37 years. These are the elected mayors to date:
The following are some of the most important monuments and interest places in the territory of Güeñes: