One of the best known buildings in Gorliz is the Hospital, a former Sanatorium for sailors which now belongs to the Basque public health network of hospitals. Located a stone’s throw from the beach, its light colours and unique façade make it an easily recognisable building.
It was inaugurated in June 1919.
It was the first building of its kind in Spain to be constructed entirely of reinforced concrete.
The shape and colours used were modelled on similar buildings in the French department of Pas de Calais at the time. Some tourists think it is a spa because of the building’s façade.
Its design envisaged large windows to let in plenty of natural light for heliotherapy (the therapeutic use of sunlight).
The present-day Gorliz Hospital was conceived by Dr. Areilza. In collaboration with other professionals, he drew up a project to tackle the health crisis that Bizkaia was experiencing in those times of industrialisation and precarious living conditions. With an increasing number of children suffering from bone tuberculosis, they decided it was time to put a stop to it.
To do so, they analysed the sea waters, the location and the climatic conditions of various places, until they decided that it would be built in Gorliz. Apart from having a large space where it could be built next to the sea, Gorliz had, and still has, iodine-rich waters and more hours of sunlight than any other place in Bizkaia. Thus, the first Heliotherapeutic Maritime Sanatorium was created.
As the number of children with bone tuberculosis decreased over time, other diseases were treated as well.
During the Civil War, in 1937, the Sanatorium had to be evacuated. All the patients and the staff looking after them had to flee. Most went to France where they were able to continue their treatment.
More than a century later, the Sanatorium is still standing, still functioning as a hospital.
Its gardens are home to the bust of the benefactor Laureano de Jado. And in Astondo, looking towards his work, stands the monument to Doctor Areilza. Both are the work of the Valladolid sculptor Moises de Huerta.
