Karrantza

Karrantza (in Basque and officially, in Spanish Carranza), also known as Karrantza Harana (Basque for Valley of Karrantza) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country. It is located in the comarca of Enkarterri and it is the westernmost and largest (by area) municipality of the province.

Valley of Karrantza is national nature amusement park. Pozalagua Cave in valley opened for public at weekends and holidays.

Film director Víctor Erice was born there.

Etymology

The first recorded appearance of the toponym of Karrantza is on the Chronicle of Alfonso III, dated in the 10th Century, where it appears as Carrantia. According to the text, Carrantia was one of the towns known to be populated during the reign of Alfonso I, King of Asturias. The origin of Carrantia comes from the Cantabrian dialect, meaning "high rocks". From Carrantia it would evolve to Carranza, the current Spanish toponym. Karrantza is the Basque toponym, an adaptation of Carranza following the Basque orthographic rules, and it is the official name of the municipality since 2001.