Water supply. Regarding the wells and fountains used in the city before the modern distribution , F. Portu reports in this list: “There were 3 fountains on the outskirts of the town, two almost in the same moat and the third in the Magdalena neighborhood, with water of reasonably good quality, though not very abundant, and most of the inhabitants used them; there was also, at the foot of the eastern slope of Olearso, half an hour away, a very abundant spring of exquisite water, but no works were ever carried out to make use of it; this lack caused great damage during sieges, and thus the construction of wells was considered, of which there were 5 public and 9 in private houses, not counting many others in gardens that had replaced destroyed buildings; the stronghouse and adjacent warehouse had their own: there was also a large cistern of very good water next to the Santa María gate on the interior side, but it was destroyed when the wall was blown up in 1794.”
The first modern water supply was carried out in 1880 from the springs on the Jaizubía slope, with expansions in 1903 and 1915.
Electricity. Public lighting began in 1898 under contract with the company “Electra-Irún-Endara.”
Lighthouse. Fixed green light service at the end of the North Pier, visible from four miles. At the angle of the same pier, there is a fixed white light visible from 4 miles, and at the end of the South breakwater, a fixed white and red light in sectors, also visible from four miles.
Hospital. Built in 1750, the hospice that sheltered the city’s needy declined in the 19th century. This hospice, which also provided home care, regained its importance in 1863 thanks to the physician Mariano de Lumbier.
Brotherhood of Saint Peter. Founded in 1361, its statutes regulated every aspect of the professional and social life of the seamen of this council. The importance of this institution still persists today, with around 500 members. It celebrates the Kutxa Festival on Saint James’ Day, with the delivery of documents and account books by a graceful young woman carrying the chest on her head, symbolizing the transfer of powers to the senior abbot elected that day.
Archives. In 1688, the Town Hall noted the absence of some documents and ordered that those in private hands be delivered, assigning their arrangement to Juan Díaz Zamorano. In 1772, it was decided to transfer the archives from their original location – under the main altar of the parish – to a better-equipped place in the bell tower. Until 1914, they were installed on the second floor of the Town Hall and later moved to the upper part of the building. In 1892, D. Serapio Múgica was appointed archivist, a position he held until 1926.