THE GREAT DUKE AT IRUN

Evening Star, Issue 22450, 22 September 1936, Page 9

THE GREAT DUKE AT IRUN

Irun, where the fiercest fighting has been taking place, is the classical gateway to Spain, says a writer in the ‘ Sydney Morning Herald.’ The invaders marched through it, and the Spaniards passed out that way to the wars in Europe. The river Bidassoa, on which it stands, is the frontier line. On an island in midstream Louis XIV. and Philip IV. ended the Thirty Years War with a conference. In the Carlist war in 1873-74 it was besieged, artillery being taken up to the heights, and Don Carlos in person took command. But Irun held out. Down the river, and in sight from the international railway bridge which crosses it, is the quaint old town of Fuenterrabia, on the Bay of Biscay, which also came under fire and sword at various times. Soult strongly fortified the heights on the river hank in 1813 in opposing the passage of Wellington. With the French army occupying Irun and strongly fortified positions on the river, and every known ford covered by cannon, the passage seemed impossible. The Iron Duke, however, discovered a ford opposite Funeterrabia available at certain tides, and, hiding his men behind the hills, he awaited the right day. At sunrise they sallied out, and, making the passage, drove the surprised Frenchmen from the redoubts. Irun is important as the head of the Spanish railway lines and because of its position as the principal Custom house opposite the French town of Hendaye. Passengers into Spain change there into the broad-gauge Spanish railway. It is also connected with the mines of the provinces of Guipuzcoa and Navarre, and with pine, oak, and beech forests, by narrowgauge railways and steam tramways. It is a small town of normally about 14,000 inhabitants, but thrives on its clearance business, iron works, and other industries.

Fuenterrabia, old and proud, represents old Spain, with its characteristic narrow steep streets, its fallen ramparts, and half-ruined houses. The Prince of Coude was under its walls in 1638, and was repulsed, whereupon Philip IV. raised it to the rank of a “ most noble, loyal, and valiant city, which accorded certain privileges. It surrendered to the French in 1719, and again fell in 1794, when it suffered badly. With the advantage later of popularity as a summer resort for sea bathing, hotels and villas built outside the picturesque walls improved its appearance somewhat. Its ancient Palacio de Carlos Quinto, founded in the tenth century, was restored by the municipality and made a museum. San Sebastian is about 10 miles along the coast to the westward. Burgos, the rebel headquarters, is about 160 miles distant.