Castro Urdiales, a seaport of northern Spain, in the province of Cantabria, situated on the bay of Biscay and at the head of a branch railway connected with the Bilbao-Santander line. Pop. (1870) about 3500; (1900) 14,191. Capital Santander Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 15th  5 321 km²  1. ... Map of the Bay of Biscay. ... Cityscape of Bilbao, with the Guggenheim Museum on the bottom right Bilbao from satellite (NASA World Wind Landsat) Bilbao (Basque: Bilbo) in the North of Spain, is the largest city in the Pais Vasco and the capital of the province of Vizcaya (Basque: Bizkaia). ... For alternate uses, see Santander. ...

Castro Urdiales is a modern town, although its castle and parish church date from the middle ages. It was destroyed by the French in 1813, but speedily rebuilt and fortified. Its rapid rise in population and prosperity dates from the increased development of iron-mining and railway communication which took place after 1879. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Its chief industries are iron-mining, fishing, and the preservation of fish, especially sardines, in oil. Between 1894 and 1904 the exports of iron ore rose from 277,200 tons to 516,574 tons.