History of Workers’ quarters in Sestao

Sestao's housing problem during industrialisation was critical. The first transplants sublet in housing blocks erected around the factories in the heat of the new economic boom.
But there was so much need for housing for all the people arriving at the same time that it become a top social issue.

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A bit of history

  • The urbanisation process in Sestao followed an upward trajectory starting in 1875 in the areas of San Francisco and La Punta, near the jurisdictional limit with Barakaldo, and later continued toward Urbinaga and Rivas in 1880. Later, in 1882, the Simondrogas and Vega Nueva areas began to be built on, continuing in 1885 with Chávarri and in 1888 with La Iberia. With the arrival of the new century, the new buildings reached the high area, populating part of the old quarter. Subsequently, in 1920 the neighbourhoods of Vista Alegre and Kueto joined the process, with the areas of San Pedro and Albiz beginning to be populated in 1930.

  • Sestao's housing problem during industrialisation was critical. The first transplants sublet in housing blocks erected around the factories in the heat of the new economic boom. But there was so much need for housing for all the people arriving at the same time that even new types of builds were developed, like the walkway homes or bullpens in the areas of La Punta (1885) and La Galana (1892), reducing the space assigned to each family to the bare minimum. In the meantime, the local board approved anarchic building and crowding of the population.

  • This nonchalance from the city council led to intervention from the Civil Governor with the Sestao Forms of Cohabitation in 1880: as a precautionary measure they set the number of guests that each home could house in addition to the family residing there without causing a hazard to public health and hygiene. Additionally, starting in 1884, coinciding with the first outbreaks of cholera in France, all residences were required to have a toilet. In the 1990s, municipal hygiene, ventilation and sanitation demands increased for existing and new buildings. Pig breeding and raising of other animals in courtyards, attics, lofts, and especially bedrooms was banned outright, but the problem of housing was not directly dealt with.

  • The 40 homes made by La Unión Group in 1922 were designed by the architect Santos Zunzunegui. Their homes were large: 84 m2 in two levels. On the ground floor, they originally had an entryway, lounge/dining room, kitchen, pantry and toilet, while the second floor had the three bedrooms needed by any family: one for the couple, one for the boys and another for the girls. Following the English garden city model, they had a front garden and small kitchen garden in back.

  • Right next to the La Unión homes is La Galana, the oldest example of workers’ housing still standing in Sestao: it was designed by master builder Francisco Berriozabal in 1892, decades before the first laws regulating the construction of homes for workers. The flats are small and open onto a balcony that acts as an entryway and a hallway. Although this component was created to foster ventilation and natural light in the homes, it was always a problem for the people living there as there are few windows.

  • La Unión workers’ quarters are highly valuable to our heritage and they are also very close to other notable spots in Sestao like La Galana residence, so the visitable home is, undoubtedly a key industrial tourism resource for the town.

  • Four decades separate these two models of workers’ housing, both quite different from one another. If you deviate from the route in this labyrinth, you’ll find other housing groups splattered around Sestao. When you discover them, remember they are closely linked to industry in Bizkaia.