The Mayor of Ordizia, José Miguel Santamaría, and the director of the Iberdrola Spain Foundation, Ramón Castresana, signed a collaboration agreement this Monday, September 17, in Ordizia for the ornamental lighting of the facade of the Barrena Palace, to highlight the architecture and artistic elements of its facades. The president of Fundación Iberdrola, Mr. Fernando García Sánchez, the director of Iberdrola Distribución Región Norte, Mr. José Mª Grijalba and the councilor of Culture of Ordizia, Joseba Aranburu, accompanied the signing, which took place in the palace itself. The initiative is part of the program prepared for the commemoration of the 750th anniversary of the granting of the Town Charter to the town.
The investment, assumed by the Iberdrola Spain Foundation, will be 80,000 euros and the work will include the preparation of the lighting project, the supply of luminaires, the technical management, and execution of the installation of the luminaires. For its part, the Ordizia Town Council will assume the maintenance and conservation of the electrical installations and the costs of electricity consumption. It is estimated that this project will be completed in the first half of 2019.
The Barrena Palace, designated as an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1964 and the current house of culture and music school of the town, is a faithful exponent of the Basque urban palatial architecture of the seventeenth century. It is one of the most illustrious buildings of the Villa and its name means the house below and clearly indicates the situation it occupies. It was once in communication, by means of a gallery, with the house called Jaques until the last Carlist civil war, when the gallery was demolished, separating the two buildings, the works were directed by the famous architect Juan de Herrera. It is a rectangular building with a first floor and three floors. It has different architectural styles in its three facades, being an almost unique case of architecture in the Basque Country.
