Llodio, Alava, Pais Vasco

Llodio

Laudio (also known as Llodio), is a town located north of Alava, on the border with the province of Bizkaia. It lies in the Valley of Ayala and has a population of close to 20,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest town of Alava in size of population, behind Vitoria, the capital. It is the main town of the region, both in people and in level of industrial and commercial activity.

Laudio covers an area of 37,675 square kilometers and is divided into seven districts: Ugarte, Gardea, Areta, Lateorro, Larrazabal-Landaluze, and the central Larraña. The Nervión is the cornerstone of the activity of the municipality, since it is the main river in the locality. The Nervión runs for seven kilometres across the town and its source is the many streams of water available to Laudio: San Juan, Aldaikorreka, Oleta, Larra, Zabala and Olarte, among others.

All these streams rise in different mountains around the second city of Alava. These mountains have conditioned the development of the valley and Laudio. The altitude at the centre of the town is around 130 metres, but the topography of the land surrounding the town varies in each district and across mountains surrounding the village: Pagola (718 m), Mostatxa (667 m), Elorritxugana (721 m), Zenagortagane (700 m), Kamaraka (782 m), Goikogane (698 m), Lujamendi (470 m)

The geographical location of Laudio, on the border with Bizkaia, leads to good communications from the county (20 to 47 kilometres from Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz). Laudio is bounded on the north by Okondo and Arrankudiaga, on the east by Arrankudiaga and Orozko, and to the south and west by Okondo and Ayala.