BEACHES AND BATHING
The custom of bathing in the sea that spread among the wealthy classes from midway through the 19th century, attracted a growing number of visitors to Getxo who transformed the life of the locals and created new job opportunities.
Although the popular tradition of bathing on Arrigunaga Beach already existed, the quintessential tourist spot was Ereaga Beach (meaning sandy area in euskera), above all from the end of the 19th century, when the beach in Las Arenas disappeared due to the construction of the outside port.
And it was here, in 1887 that “La Perla”, the first health spa, was built. It was a building erected on wooden footings, totally open plan, which, due to the growing demand stemming from the closure of the Bathing Establishment (Establecimiento de Baños) in Las Arenas, soon proved insufficient. Hence, in 1912 the Igeretxe (literally house for swimming) spa was opened, which became a benchmark in therapeutic bathing as a strictly controlled practice: the time, duration, place and number of baths… were all prescribed by a doctor.
But, in addition to being a leisure space, in the past local inhabitants went to the beach and over the rocks to collect seaweed to use as fertiliser for their vegetable gardens, “zaborra” – waste coal from the Blast Furnaces – for the fires in their homes or to gather flotsam and jetsam to try to have a better life.