Larreineta Funicular

The Funicular was inaugurated on September 15th 1926. It was created to link the mining mountains to the valley. Since the beginning of the century there was an 8-kilometre road linking those two areas, but it took men and goods one hour and a half to go up the mountain.

The Funicular leaves from LA ESCONTRILLA (Trapagaran - Valle de Trápaga) and goes to LARREINETA. It runs 1.198 metres, including 100 metres of the intersection of the railway track.

Since the Act of Historical Territories was approved, the Transport Management of the Basque Government operated the Funicular, until EuskoTren assumed the management in 1994. This made the range of possibilities wider.

The company has made some improvement works since then, to boost both the transport nature for men over there and the service nature for those who go there in their spare (people on holiday and weekends).

The Funicular is located in the very heart of the old mining area of Encartaciones, where there are some remains of the ancient activity. Passengers are taken to the “real Balcony of Vizcaya”, said the writer Luis de Castresana, that is, Larreineta.

From the peak of Larreineta there are extraordinary sights of Bilbao, the estuary and the sea. The old forgotten mines, the small dispersed farmhouses and all the Valley of Trápaga can also be seen. Everything – from the landscape full of lakes to the constructive elements of the village - will make us go back in time to early XXth Century, when mining was a mean of life

The Funicular will take us to Larreineta. Once there, we will continue to La Arboleda, where we will see El Negro and Ostión lakes. Then we will go on to the village where the houses of different times – the first ones brick and wooden houses – show the social improvements of the miners.

Walking along the streets we will find the old hospital, the old police-station – so many working uprisings were put down by them – San Fernando institution (today a hostel), the rabble-rouser square with the kiosk, etc. In the typical restaurants of La Arboleda we can taste the best dishes of our gastronomy, in particular the web-known beans.

La Arboleda is a “lung” for people living on the Left bank of Nervión. A place of nature recreation where mountain climbers use to go. There are many different routes through the near mountains, starting from the open field. Nowadays, once in La Arboleda we can do the following activities: have a walk among the lakes, trekking, mountain-bike (bicycles can be transported on Funicular), rent a horse to ride, etc. Some of the equipments over there are: hostel of the council, restaurants, recreation areas with grill and fountains, and “Peñas Negras” Environmental Centre, one kilometre far from La Arboleda.