The Marina.
Before reaching it, traveling up the waters to the Port of Puntal, where the Casa-Lonja stood, along with the commercial port, there was a small dock for fishing boats in the Marina neighborhood. In a report from 1759, there is mention of some boats “that are moored in front of the Hermitage of Magdalena.” Later, in the Town Council session of September 26, 1590, the resident Domingo Igola ed permission to build a house on the Ribera, near the Hospital, to store his fishing nets and gear; and in a 1599 file, there is reference to “the place where the fishermen of the said town of Fuenterrabía usually have their boat landing and disembarkation for small boats in the said port, in front of the Hermitage of Magdalena.”
However, one could not assume that the Marina neighborhood then was what it is now, as the waters covered almost all of its current area, especially at high tide. It was outside the walls, almost within musket range of sometimes ile land, and naturally, the Council granted very few permissions for construction in this extramural location. At first, only brick buildings were allowed, not stone and lime constructions, which were heavier. In 1598, there were only 26 houses, and even in 1764, the king confirmed a municipal ordinance prohibiting the construction of houses and extramural gardens in the Marina unless they met certain conditions.
Despite these restrictions, the Marina neighborhood had become fairly populated by the second half of the 18th century. Severe storms in 1767 seriously endangered the small fishermen’s houses, prompting the Fishermen’s Brotherhood to quickly erect a woven palisade in front of them for protection. As this hurried defense could not last, the same Brotherhood commissioned Colonel of Engineers Don Pedro Olano to construct a wall—a coastal wall—uted on the spot, along with another wall in the form of a pier extending from it toward the canal.
The works were carried out by master stonemasons Juan Bautista Izaguirre, José Antonio de Imaz, and Dionisio de Arriola. According to the contract deed in the Archives of Secular Protocols of Guipuzcoa, File 733, folios 539 onward, it was to be built with “the best and largest stones possible, for the subsistence, permanence, and solidity of the work, all according to the referred plan, except for the said pier, which should be built as deemed best by the commissioners.”
The retaining wall and pier were to extend 708 “estados”; there would be a “ramp” suitable for horses and carts, and in three locations, stone stairs “to go up, down, and embark people on the said pier.” Thus, there was a coastal wall with its pier, a ramp, and three stairs. The project was uted by the Brotherhood, which invested 40,000 reales. The Province subsidized it by agreement of the Juntas of Vergara in 1767.
Later, in 1769, the city and Brotherhood representatives contracted with master stonemasons Juan de Legarra, Martín José de Uriarte, and master carpenter Antonio de Berrotarán to continue this dry wall from the end of the previous one to the house of Thomas de Echeberría; it was to have the same width and height, “starting at seven feet thick and tapering to five at the top, with a height of ten feet, using the same quality stone as the other wall, and covered with large slabs joined with lime for greater solidity; the inner face of the wall was to be filled with stones, earth, and sand.”
The work, uted to satisfaction, was received by deed on January 2, 1772, and it appears that with the “two ramps,” it measured 325 estados of ninety-eight cubic feet each, which, at a price of nineteen and a half reales per estado, amounted to 6,337.50 of said currency. The Deva Juntas of 1774 agreed to contribute to the cost. According to unpublished notes by Don Serapio Múgica, the wall ran through the center of the present San Pedro street. The work was satisfactory to all, but over time, despite minor repairs, a major renovation became necessary; the Brotherhood protested, the City Council protested, the Naval Command protested, but no one paid attention, as the Corporations no longer had the taxing powers they once held.
By then, it was already the second half of the 19th century. Tourism was beginning, and Fuenterrabía, not wanting to fall behind, made an effort. Indeed, in a communication from the general deputy to the provincial Director of Roads on July 21, 1859, he indicated, among other things, that considering the “large influx of notable persons to the coasts of the province during the summer season, whether for bathing or for participating in maritime expeditions, and in order to facilitate foreign visitors and provide safe shelter for sailors in storms, as well as to receive the French emperors who had promised to visit the port during their stay in Biarritz,” it was necessary to prepare an appropriate project for the construction of a pier in Fuenterrabía, since the pier projected by Colonel Don Pedro Olano in 1767 had become unusable.
These reasons likely reflected Fuenterrabía’s own arguments, but in any case, the provincial engineer, Don Mariano José de Lascurain, submitted his project on October 15, 1859. The works were carried out promptly, as the same engineer signed the financial settlement totaling 104,976.50 reales de vellón, excluding hydraulic lime, which was auctioned separately on September 23, 1861. The municipal archives preserve the plan, which s that the project was designed not only for “notable persons” but for the French emperors themselves; the pier’s breakwater extended beyond the wet line at equinoctial low tide, ending in a wide hexagonal platform of well-cut stone, with four boarding and disembarking staircases.
The Marina needed to expand to accommodate urban growth. The land reclamation, marsh drainage, and development projects approved in 1898 (the first expansion) and by Royal Order of June 21, 1907 (the second) altered the appearance of the old Marina of Fuenterrabía, though its character was preserved thanks to the good spirit of its municipal councils, strongly influenced by Francisco Sagarzazu.
The Puntal.
As a result of the second expansion, the old Puntal port was altered by the filling, at least in its original state, making mental reconstruction difficult. To reconstruct it, one must consult old prints, which, rather than helping, complicate the task, as most were inspired by the “Plan de l’isle de Conference” by Beaulieu in 1659, created to illustrate the marriage of Spanish Infanta María Teresa with Louis XIV on the Island of Pheasants, giving a misleading impression of the port.
The error is understandable: the print’s author cared about faithfully depicting the royal cortege and the forces camped on both banks of the river, but did not take the same care with the surroundings. Indeed, Puntal in Fuenterrabía is represented as a spit extending halfway into the river, as if it were a constructed pier, which is surprising given the time and location. French military maps of 1719 followed this interpretation and confirmed a non-existent masonry work. Fortunately, 19th-century prints place Puntal correctly: a sandbar extending from under the San Felipe bastion toward the canal.
At its landward end stood the Casa-Lonja, reproduced in some modernized prints. Upstream from the sandbar, boats anchored; this was the old inner port, sometimes called Puntal, sometimes San Felipe, depending on proximity to the bastion. The earliest reference appears in the Town Council act of October 2, 1532, mentioning a planned pier or cay, and a to the Court for permission to levy a tax on goods to fund its construction. Council records for several years frequently mention the “pier or cay without lime,” and by February 1548, accounts of ducats delivered by master Juan de Casanueva to construct the Puntal pier are documented, suggesting earlier agreements referred to it as well.
Chapter 17 of the Brotherhood’s Ordinances, reformed October 13, 1566, indicates that a pier had already begun at the edge of the Lonja, a retaining wall for the Puntal sandbar, allowing ships to dock for loading and unloading, probably including a staircase, rings, and perhaps a ramp. Article 12 reveals that half of fines imposed on shipmasters for violations funded the Brotherhood’s works, including the pier and mill channels. Article 16 confirms these channels’ existence and establishes priority for large ships over small vessels, implying that these “mill channels” were real canals fed by the Jaizubia and Zubimusu rivers, with mills and secure anchoring.
In 1560, Fuenterrabía obtained a Royal Decree allowing it to collect 5,400 ducats via a tax on goods entering the port for pier works, suggesting the Puntal port was functional. By the mid-18th century, significant works were carried out: a deed of August 7, 1774, commissioned Juan Bautista de Eizaguirre to construct a “pier or lameda” and to make adjustments to the old pier from the corner of San Felipe to the canal. The pier with its Lonja appears in all 19th-century prints; the wall was of large stones where ships docked, with an embedded staircase, typical of classical port design. The Casa-Lonja had a large entrance with a two-arched portal.
The Canal.
These Bidasoa ports, at least the Marina and Puntal, were located on or along the estuary channel, deserving attention, as the estuary has always functioned as a port. Independently of upstream canalization projects, Fuenterrabía mariners were concerned with maintaining a navigable channel to the mouth, as the shifting sandbar was a constant hazard. In addition to constant cleaning and marking measures, in 1881, a plan was made to dig a canal at Errocapunta, with the Provincial Council promising to subsidize half the cost. According to the tender specifications, the canal was to be 310 meters long, 12 meters wide, with a draft at low tide of 1.48 meters, but the project remained unuted.