| Santutxu | |
| Settlement Type: | Neighbourhood |
| Population: | 32.881 inhabitants |
| Population Demonym: | Santutxutarra |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Spain |
| Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous community |
| Subdivision Name1: | Basque Country |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Biscay |
| Subdivision Type3: | City |
| Subdivision Name3: | Bilbao |
| Subdivision Type4: | District |
| Subdivision Name4: | Begoña |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 48001 – 48015 |
| Area Code Type: | Dialing code |
| Area Code: | +34 94 |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Official language(s) |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Basque Spanish |
Santutxu is a neighbourhood of the Spanish city of Bilbao. It belongs to the 4th urban district, named Begoña. It is a popular residential neighbourhood which has a significant number of small businesses and has received some waves of immigration in the last years, particularly Romanians. The Begoña district consists of three neighbourhoods: Santutxu, Begoña and Bolueta.
According to research on population density,[1] and data from the Bilbao City Council,[2] Santutxu has the third most densely populated sq/km in Europe, with about 41.378 residents per sq/km, when considering districts of a certain size coming in third place after L'Hospitalet de Llobregat in Greater Barcelona and La Goutte d’or in Paris, neighbourhoods which have slightly more than 50.000 residents per sq/km. However, there is a popular myth among locals that Santutxu is the most densely populated neighbourhood in Europe.
Santutxu (meaning little Saint in Basque), owes its name to a hermitage which was dedicated to Francisco de Paula. This hermitage was founded in 1737 by Francisco Fernando de Barrenechea among others, and was built with the sole purpose of enabling its colonists to hear masses without moving to Begoña church. Since both the hermitage and the Saint figure inside were small sized, it was popularly given the name Santutxu, Santuchu in Spanish. Moreover, the word Santutxu is the result of the union of two basque words, santu which means holy in basque and txu which is a diminutive suffix, also in basque.
In those first years, every second of April was celebrated in honor of San Francisco de Paula with a Major Mass of great solemnity. Representatives of the Hall of the República de Begoña would attend this event, as well as members of the clergy that would take part in every religious event back in those days, where rockets, drumming and of course, a typical homemade Basque wine named txakoli or chacolí in Spanish, were the order of the day.
In 1925, the church of Begoña was annexed (and with it, the neighbourhood of Santutxu) to Bilbao. In the 20th century it went from being a semi-rural zone with great sandlots, to a highly populated neighbourhood, especially after the building and demographic growth of the 1960s.
Luis Briñas Public school is a detached building in Santutxu, located on Iturriaga street, near the Campa de Basarrate. It is monumentally protected and was designed by the architect Pedro Ispizua Susunaga (Bermeo, 1895 - Bilbao, 1976), who also designed the del Tigre, the Mercado de la Ribera, the pergola of Parque Casilda Iturrizar or the Kiosco del Arenal.
In Santutxu, according to the Bilbao Hall census data of 2008, there are 33,346 inhabitants.
| Line | Itinerary | Frequency (minutes) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | San Ignacio - Txurdinaga | 15' | |
| 34 | Otxarkoaga - Santutxu | 30´ | |
| 40 | La Peña - Plaza Biribila | 20´ | |
| 43 | Garaizar - Santutxu | 30´ | |
| 48 | Santutxu - Lezeaga | 20´ | |
| 77 | El Peñascal - Mina del Morro | 12´ |
There are two underground stations (Metro Bilbao):