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Abando was the name of an old municipality of Biscay

Biscay

Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...

 (Spanish Basque Country

Basque Country (autonomous community)

The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....

), that was eventually absorbed by Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

. Nowadays, the name refers to the central district and neighbourhood of this city, holding the provincial administration, the long-distance RENFE

RENFE

Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...

 Bilbao-Abando

Bilbao-Abando

Estación de Abando Indalecio Prieto, also known as Bilbao-Abando and locally named as Estación del Norte is a railway terminal station located on Abando, the sixth district of Bilbao. It is the main and most important train station of Bilbao...

 train station, three subway

Metro Bilbao

Metro Bilbao is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bilbao and the region of Greater Bilbao. Its lines have a "Y" shape, with two lines that transit both banks of the Nervión river and then combine to form one line that ends in the south of Bilbao...

 stations (Abando, Moyúa

Moyúa

Moyúa or Elliptic square is a public square located in the center of Bilbao's extension, in the district of Abando. The square was conceived in 1876 as a central hub in the middle of Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro avenue, from where the main eight streets depart in radius-like shape and was...

and Indautxu), and many commerces like El Corte Inglés

El Corte Inglés

El Corte Inglés S.A. , headquartered in Madrid, is the biggest department store group in Europe and ranks fourth worldwide...

 department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

.

Demography

The district has a population of 51,875 inhabitants and is divided into two neighbourhoods, the proper Abando and Indautxu

Indautxu

Indautxu is a neighbourhood of central Bilbao located between the neighbourhoods of Basurto and Abando. It is centred on Plaza Indautxu, a large, newly reformed square under which there is a small shopping centre and a station for Metro Bilbao....

 to the west of Moyúa square. It has an area of 2.14 km² (0.826258619388025 sq mi), all of it is built up and its population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 is .

History

It is speculated that Abando could correspond to the town of Portus Amanus, mentioned by Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, but it's never been confirmed archaeologically.

In 1300, the city of Bilbao was founded in an area that was previously part of Abando and Begoña

Begoña

Begoña or more puristically but also more rarely spelled Begoina, meaning "the lower foot" , is a historical municipality of Biscay that was incorporated to Bilbao in 1925....

.

During the 18th century Abando was the most populated parish of Biscay, with about 2,100 inhabitants. This population was disperse in farms occupying a wide rural area, except for some denser areas close to the river, on the opposite shore of what was then Bilbao.

During the 19th century Bilbao became too congested and needed space to grow, so finally in 1870 Abando was annexed to expand Bilbao. This annexation affected one of the most famous natives of Abando, Sabino Arana

Sabino Arana

Sabino Arana Goiri, self-styled as Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin, , was a Spanish and Basque writer. He was the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party and father of Basque nationalism....

, and was one of the driving forces for the inception of the Basque nationalism

Basque nationalism

Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...

.

The Ensanche

Ensanche

Ensanche means "widening" in Spanish. It is used to name the development areas of Spanish cities around the end of the 19th century, when the demographic explosion and the Industrial Revolution prompted the tearing down of the old city wall and the construction of neighborhoods under grid plans.The...

 project of Alzola, Achúcarro and Hoffmeyer architects was approved in 1876, Abando was to become the modern center of Bilbao, with wide straight boulevards in a grid layout, the main one being Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro

Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro

The Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro is the main avenue of the city of Bilbao, Basque Country .-History:It's named after the founder of the city, Diego López de Haro V, lord of Biscay...

, contrasting with the maze of narrow alleys of the Casco Viejo

Casco Viejo

' or ' in Spanish or ' or ' in Basque are different names for the medieval neighbourhood of Bilbao, part of the Ibaiondo district...

, the old town of Bilbao.

Today the districts of Abando, Rekalde

Rekalde

Rekalde is the seventh district of Bilbao, Spain. It is divided into the following neighbourhoods: Ametzola, Iralabarri, Iturrigorri-Peñascal, Rekaldeberri-Larraskitu and Uretamendi....

 and Basurto

Basurto-Zorrotza

Basurto-Zorroza is the eighth district of the city of Bilbao, Basque Country . It is divided into the neighbourhoods of Altamira, Basurto, Olabeaga, Masustegui-Monte Caramelo and Zorrotza....

 are built in what was the old parish of Abando. In recent years
the northern part of the district has been refurbished to create the new area of Abandoibarra (translated into Abando's shore), a vast formerly industrial area on the shore of the Estuary of Bilbao

Estuary of Bilbao

The Estuary of Bilbao lies at the common mouth of the rivers Nervion, Ibaizabal and Cadagua, that drain most of Biscay and part of Alava in the Basque Country, Spain. It is a large estuary long that extends from Bilbao to the Bilbao Abra bay, a widening that makes the final transition between...

 that now has been renewed and hosts the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Euskalduna Palace and many recreational and residential areas like the Isozaki Atea

Isozaki Atea

The Isozaki Atea twin towers, in Bilbao, Spain are the tallest residential buildings in the city and the Basque Country. The towers are tall and have 22 floors. The first two floors have a mixed-commercial usage, with the rest having residential usage...

towers.