Wearing of Bayonne

The wearing of Bayonne is a port of trade French of the Atlantic Ocean. Its influence relates to the communes of Bayonne, Anglet and Boucau in the Yrénées-Atlantiques and Tarnos in the Landes.

It is the 9th French commercial port.

Economic activity

Since 1997, its annual traffic exceeds 4 million tons. Indeed, the wearing of Bayonne is located at the estuary of the Adour, it profits from an excellent logistic site.

It exports the products of the industrial and agro-alimentary basins of the Landes and the Yrénées-Atlantiques:

sulfur (collected after gas cleaning of Lacq),
extracted crude oil with Lacq,
the corn,
manures,
wood.

It shelters an electric steel-works associated with a continuous rod mill with billets, but without rolling mill, the Aciéries of the Atlantic SA . This factory, created in 1995 by the Spanish group Marcial UCIN based with Bilbao, belongs today to another Spanish, Siderurgica HADDOCK installed with Corogne.

Ford and General Motors chose Bayonne to distribute towards all Europe the cars manufactured in Spain and in Portugal. Terminal of storage of chemicals Sotrasol (liquid chemicals).

Pipeline enters the wearing of Bayonne and Lacq.

History

XIIe - XVIe century

Very early, Bayonne turned to the Ocean.

With the the Middle Ages, Bayonne becomes a seaport and river, it knows its golden age between the 12th century and the 14th century, under the English domination. The city is located at the junction of the river Adour and of its affluent the Nive (“the gran mar”), the city deploys its maritime activities on two banks of Nive.

Moreover, gained on the barthes or flat amphibians, the low city is the district of the interior “ports”: channels gone up by the tide where sail of small boats (tilholes, galupes).

The port activity rests primarily on that of the shipyards which build ocean liners (naves, galées, Norway pines…). The commercial relations are prosperous with Navarre, the Flanders, the Hanseatic cities and especially with England.

To maintain and develop this major activity for the city, the Bayonnes try to fight to dominate the river and its mouth over the Atlantic Ocean. During the Middle Ages, Adour is thrown in the Ocean with Capbreton, true outer harbor with about fifteen kilometers of Bayonne. About 1410-1430, natural phenomena move the mouth in north more, to 32 km of the city, involving the decline of the maritime activities.

In 1578, a colossal building site finishes, carried out by the engineer Louis de Foix; an artificial estuary is created to 6 km of the city. This opening of new Boucau improves the city and the countries of the surroundings… what explains the names of the geographical places called Boucau and the Old man-Boucau: Old man-Boucau-the-Baths

21e century

The District council of Aquitaine became owner of the wearing of Bayonne on September 8th, 2006, within the framework of the law of August 13rd, 2004 envisaging the transfer of the 17 ports of French national interest to the areas.

Its management is ensured for the moment by the Chamber of commerce and of industry of Bayonne Basque Country.

Bayonne

External bond

Official site
Photographs of ships in the ports (personal site)