Álava

 ( Wine Regions Of Spain ) 

Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, Ley 19/2011, de 5 de julio, por la que pasan a denominarse oficialmente "Araba/Álava", "Gipuzkoa" y "Bizkaia" las demarcaciones provinciales llamadas anteriormente "Álava", "Guipúzcoa" y "Vizcaya" is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see.

Its capital city, Vitoria-Gasteiz, is also the seat of the political main institutions of the Basque Autonomous Community. Ley 1/1980 de Sede de las Instituciones de la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco It borders the Basque provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa to the north, the community of La Rioja to the south, the province of Burgos (in the community of Castile and León) to the west and the community of Navarre to the east. The Enclave of Treviño, surrounded by Alavese territory, is however part of the province of Burgos, thus belonging to the autonomous community of Castile and León, not Álava.

It is the largest of the three provinces in the Basque Autonomous Community in geographical terms, with 3,037 Square kilometre, but also the least populated with 331,700 inhabitants (2019).

• The Gorbea Foothills: Green hilly landscape.
• The Valleys: Low valleys, drier, sparsely populated.
• The Plains: Heartland of Álava comprising Vitoria and Salvatierra-Agurain, with a central urban area and crop landscape prevailing around and bounded south and north by the Basque Mountains.
• The Alavese Mountains: High altitude and forested.
• The Rioja Alavesa: Oriented to the south on the left bank of the Ebro River, perfect for vineyards and part of the Rioja denominación de origen.
• Ayala: The area clustering around the Nervión River, with Amurrio and Laudio as its major towns. The region shows close bonds with Bilbao and and an industrial landscape.

Unlike Biscay and Gipuzkoa, but for Ayala and Aramaio, the waters of Álava pour into the Ebro and hence to the Mediterranean by means of two main waterways, i.e. the Zadorra (main axis of Álava) and Bayas Rivers. In addition, the Zadorra Reservoir System harvests a big quantity of waters that supply not only the capital city but other major Basque towns and cities too, like Bilbao.

While in 1950 agriculture and farming shaped the landscape of the territory (42.4% of the working force vs 30.5% in industry and construction), the trend shifted gradually during the 60s and 70s on the grounds of a growing industrial activity in the Alavese Plains ( Llanada Alavesa), with the main focus lying on the industrial estates of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Gamarra, Betoño and Ali Gobeo) and, to a lesser extent, Salvatierra-Agurain and Asparrena. At the turn of the century, only 2% of the working Alavese people was in agriculture, while 60% was in the tertiary sector and 32% in manufacturing. Industry associated with iron and metal developed earlier in the Atlantic area much in tune with Bilbao's economic dynamics, with droves of people flocking to and clustering in Amurrio and Laudio, which have since become the third and second main towns of Álava.

A 2021 sociolinguistic survey found that 22.4% of the adult population spoke Basque language, an increase of six percentage points since 2011.

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 color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M  anchor:till
bar:1877 from:0 till: 96 text: 95,692
bar:1887 from:0 till: 94 text: 94,165
bar:1900 from:0 till: 98 text: 98,066
bar:1910 from:0 till: 99 text: 99,399
bar:1920 from:0 till:101 text:101,357
bar:1930 from:0 till:106 text:105,729
bar:1940 from:0 till:113 text:112,503
bar:1950 from:0 till:114 text:114,139
bar:1960 from:0 till:134 text:133,742
bar:1970 from:0 till:200 text:199,777
bar:1980 from:0 till:258 text:257,850
bar:1990 from:0 till:272 text:272,447
bar:2000 from:0 till:287 text:286,387
bar:2010 from:0 till:321 text:320,778
bar:2020 from:0 till:333 text:333,340
     

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text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"
     

• Eylo, up to 866
• Rodrigo c. 867–870, count of Castile
• Vela Jiménez 870–c. 887
• Munio Velaz c. 887–c. 921
• Álvaro Herraméliz c. 921–931, also count of Cerezo and Lantarón
• Fernán González 931–970, also count of Castile, Álava feudatory of Castile until 1030
• García Fernández 970–995
• Munio González 1030–1043
• Fortunio Íñiguez 1043–1046
• Munio Muñoz (co-lord) 1046–1060, Álava feudatory of Navarre, 1046–1085
• Sancho Maceratiz (co-lord) 1046–1060
• Ramiro 1060–1075
• Marcelo 1075–1085
• Lope Íñiguez 1085–?, Álava feudatory of Castile until 1123
• Lope Díaz the White ?–1093
• Lope González 1093–1099
• Lope Sánchez 1099–1114
• Diego López I 1114–1123
• Ladrón Íñiguez 1123–1158, Álava feudatory of Navarre until 1199
• Vela Ladrón 1158–1175
• Juan Velaz 1175–1181
• Diego López II 1181–1187
• Íñigo de Oriz 1187–1199
• Diego López de Haro I 1199–1214, Álava feudatory of Castile until personal union of 1332
• Lope Diaz de Haro I 1214–1240
• Nuño González de Lara 1240–1252
• Diego López de Haro II 1252–1274
• Fernando de la Cerda 1274–1280
• Lope Díaz II de Haro 1280–1288
• Juan Alonso de Haro 1288–1310
• Diego López de Salcedo 1310–1332

The title is attributed to the Castilian kings after 1332.

The see was suppressed in 1088, when it was merged into the Diocese of Najéra, another suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tarragona. The territory of the diocese of Álava, which corresponded more or less to that of the present Diocese of Vitoria, was reabsorbed into that of Calahorra when Najéra was suppressed in 1170, when King Alfonso VIII of Castile conquered La Rioja. España Sagrada, tomo XXXIII, Madrid 1781, pp. 223–271

Suffragan Bishops of Álava

• Bivere or Aivere (before 871 – after 876)
• Álvaro (c. 881 – c. 888)
• Munio I (937/956 – 971)
• ? Julián (?–984)
• Munio II (984–989)
• García I (996 – c. 1021)
• Munio III (c. 1024 – c. 1030)
• García II (1037 – 1053/1055)
• Fortún Fortuño I (1054/1055)
• Vela (1056–1062)
• Munio IV (1062 – c. 1065)
• Fortún II (c. 1067 – 1088)

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank:

• Stanisław Smolenski (1970/01/14 – death 2006/08/08) as Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków (Poland) (1970.01.14 – 1992.02.01) and on emeritate
• Mario Iceta Gavicagogeascoa (2008.02.05 – 2010.08.24) as Auxiliary Bishop of Bilbao (Basque Spain) (2008.02.05 – 2010.08.24); later succeeded Bishop of Bilbao (2010.08.24 – ...)
• Nelson Francelino Ferreira (2010.11.24 – 2014.02.12) as Auxiliary Bishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (2010.11.24 – 2014.02.12); later Bishop of Valença (Brazil) (2014.02.12 – ...)
• Carlos Lema Garcia (2014.04.30 – ...), as Auxiliary Bishop of São Paulo (Brazil)

• List of municipalities in Álava
• Sonsierra

• GGatholic ecclesiastical history