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INFO LINK: http://www.portugalete.org
Portugalete covers an area of 3.2 km2 , with half a square kilometre taken up by the Ría. Portugalete is one of a group of five municipalities in Bizkaia with an area of fewer than 5 square kilometres. Nonetheless, it stands in first place in terms of population density, with 15.000 people per square kilometre.
The municipal area matches with an elongated ridge that runs in a NW-SE direction, limited by the Ría and the River Ballonti. This ridge consists of a series of gentle hillocks whose heights are: Los Hoyos, 102m; Campanzar, 103m; San Roque, 85m. The line of hilltops has an approximate length of 1.200 m.
Located on the Biscayan coast on the left side of the Nervion estuary, it borders to the north with Santurtzi, Getxo and the sea; to the south with Trapagaran/Valle de Trápaga and Ortuella; to the east, with Leioa and Sestao; and, to the west, with Ortuella and Santurtzi.
It is situated on a hill whose slopes run down to the river estuary, the Ría, on one side, and to the River Ballonti on the other, with both waterways acting as its boundaries. Part of the district of Greater Bilbao, it is 13 km away from the city itself.
The town was founded in 1322 by Dona María Díaz de Haro. The foundation charter was lost years later, and subsequently ratified in 1432 by means of a confirmation of the privilege granted by John II of Castile.
Given its geographical situation, Portugalete shares the same climate as the rest of Spain's northern coastline.
It belongs to the group referred to as temperate climates, and specifically to the variety known as temperate oceanic, which is characterised by a fairly even distribution of rainfall throughout the year, with no clearly defined dry summer season.
The curve depicting temperatures shows that the highest average temperatures are recorded in July and August, and the lowest in January and February, without there being major temperature variations between the seasons, whereby the winters are wet and relatively mild. Its very proximity to the sea tempers the heat in summer and takes the edge off the cold in winter.
In short, it can be said that it has a damp, temperate climate with an even distribution of rainfall throughout the year and with the warmest month recording an average temperature that does not exceed 22ºC.
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