Lekeitio port

As we know it now, it dates from the end of the XIXth century. Its name, “Contramaestre Txatxo” or “Txatxo Kaia”, refers to a sailor from Lekeitio who joined Christopher Columbus on one of his voyages to the Americas. The construction of the current port involved the removalof the two old pots (which would remain inside the new one at present) and the construction of several docks connected to each other: “el muelle de los curas” (the Priests’ dock), the low dock of the plaza, the “ContramaestreTxatxo” dock and the north dock, which was covered with a shed in 1932. The “Tala” was built in the early XXth century as a breakwater, and the following year it had to be rebuilt again (its toponymic name is Punta Amandari). Before the construction of the port, the houses of Arranegilooked out onto the sandbank (at low tide) or directly onto the sea.
As an anecdote: the “regatas de traineras” (rowing races) find their origin in the row fishing, which requiredspeed to approach the fishing grounds.