Official Name: | Abetxuko |
Settlement Type: | Neighborhood and concejo |
Pushpin Map: | Spain Álava#Spain Basque Country#Spain |
Pushpin Label Position: | left |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Spain |
Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous community |
Subdivision Name1: | Basque Country |
Subdivision Type2: | Province |
Subdivision Name2: | Álava |
Subdivision Type3: | Comarca |
Subdivision Name3: | Vitoria-Gasteiz |
Subdivision Type4: | Municipality |
Subdivision Name4: | Vitoria-Gasteiz |
Area Blank1 Title: | Neighborhood |
Area Blank1 Km2: | 1.06 |
Population As Of: | 2022 |
Population Footnotes: | [1] [2] |
Population Blank1 Title: | Neighborhood |
Population Blank1: | 3443 |
Population Blank2 Title: | Concejo |
Population Blank2: | 29 |
Population Density Blank1 Km2: | auto |
Elevation M: | 524 |
Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
Postal Code: | 01013 |
Abetxuko (eu|Abetxuku|label=in [[Basque language|Basque]] according to [[Euskaltzaindia]], es|Abechuco) is a neighborhood and concejo in the municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz in Álava, Basque Country, Spain. It is located north of the Zadorra river, which separates it from the rest of the city.[3]
Abetxuko was first mentioned in the of 1025, where the name is spelled Avoggoco. In 1257 and 1331 it appeared as Abuchucu.[4] It was from the seventeenth century that the modern form, Abechuco, started to be more widely used. At first the Basque name of the village was a simple adaptation to the Basque spelling, which is the one that became official. However, in 2001 the Royal Academy of the Basque Language proposed Abetxuku as its standard Basque name.[5]
Abetxuko became administratively linked to Vitoria-Gasteiz in the fourteenth century, when king Alfonso XI granted the city jurisdiction over it and another 41 hamlets in dispute between the city and the Bortherhood of Álava. The construction of the modern neighborhood started in 1957.[6] The first phase consisted of single-family buildings (some built by the owners themselves), while in the second apartment blocks were built.[7] During its first decades of existence, the neighborhood suffered from a lack of services caused its location far from the city center and across the river.[8] The city tram was extended to the outskirts of Abetxuko in 2009, and in 2012 two more stops were added within the neighborhood. Despite the increased integration of Abetxuko into the city, most socioeconomic indicators remain lower than in the rest of Vitoria-Gasteiz and its inhabitants retain a strong local identity.[9]
Abetxuko was a small rural hamlet up to the late 1950s. The new neighborhood was populated primarily by internal immigrants, primarily from Andalusia, Castile and León and Extremadura. The population in 1964 was more than 1800 and had risen over 6000 by the late 1970s. The number of young people in the neighborhood has been in decline since the 1990s,[10] with the population of Abetxuko having one of the highest average ages of the city.[11] The original village still exists as a much smaller settlement.[12]