The Getxo Red Cross of the Sea is based in one of the municipality's most emblematic buildings: the Casa del Náufrago (Castle of the Shipwrecked).
Located at the so-called Punta de Begoña, at the beginning of the Algorta counter-dock, next to the old port of Arriluze, the Casa del Náufrago (Castle of the Shipwrecked) was built in 1912 to house the Shipwrecked Rescue Society of the time.
This completely independent altruistic group was made up of a few local fishermen and seamen who, despite their limited resources, came to the aid of sailors in the event of a disaster.
They had a rescue boat, christened "Ama Begoñakoa," a lifeline, a bronze cannon, two line-throwing rifles, picks and shovels, and some precarious wicker helmets for protection... All of this was transported on a rudimentary wooden cart for easy transport. The reason for the existence of this salvage society is due to the high accident rate at the port of Bilbao throughout history.
Royal Orders from the time of the Catholic Monarchs already mentioned that the coast claimed three or four shipwrecks a year along this stretch. But it was during the construction of the iron pier that engineer Evaristo de Churruca discovered the first remains that confirm the dark legend of the Bilbao Abra. During the dredging of the bar, several coins minted during the time of Emperor Hadrian were found.
During the iron rush, British cartographers also warned their navigators of the deadly existence of the northwest bar at the entrance to Bilbao: a strip of sand between the Las Arenas mojijonera and Santurtzi that, until the construction of the iron pier, claimed thousands of lives. The shallow draft of this stretch of water, which at low tide barely reached a meter deep, tore open the frames of ships, leaving them at the mercy of the waves and sinking irretrievably.
In fact, the freighters that arrived in Bilbao to load ore had flat hulls, without keels, to avoid running aground.
Occasionally, the channel was completely blocked, and the German maritime authorities and pilots opened another access route via El Salto beach to Santurtzi, although this alternative posed the risk of running aground on the cliff.
The Casa del Náufrago also had space to house shipwreck victims, but over time, the area designated for these
Translated by Google •
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