Opening of the first environmental centre in Araba of the Ekoetxea Network on World Water Day

13/03/2025

The new Ekoetxea Añana-Sobron centre will be the first in Araba and will be completed with the future Ekoetxea Añana-Gatz Harana in the Añana Salt Valley.

It will be open every day of the week with a special programme for families and school children.

Ekoetxea Añana-Sobron will become a key tool to promote environmental education and sustainability among the society of Araba.

During the weekend of 22 and 23 March, the new centre will be open to the public and with a special programme to mark World Water Day (22 March).

The Basque Country's Ekoetxea Network of environmental centres, managed by the Basque Government through Ihobe, now has Ekoetxea Añana-Sobron, its new centre in Lantarón and the first in Araba. This centre, whose main theme will be water given its location in the former Water Museum, joins the four of the Ekoetxea Network in the Basque Country: the Ekoetxea of Urdaibai and Metzaldea in Bizkaia; and Azpeitia and Txingudi in Gipuzkoa. A new centre in the Añana Salt Valley, the future Ekoetxea Añana-Gatz Harana, will shortly join the network; it will complement the new Ekoetxea Añana-Sobron centre, meaning there will only be one Ekoetxea in Añana but with two bases, in Sobron and in the Salt Valley.

The Basque Government's Deputy Minister for the Environment, Josu Bilbao, its Director for Natural Heritage and Climate Change, Adolfo Uriarte, the Araba Provincial Minister for Economic Development and Sustainability, Saray Zárate, the Chair of the Cuadrilla de Añana Administrative Unit, Rubén Torremocha, and the Mayor of Lantarón, Francisco Javier Uriarte, will open the new Ekoetxea as the representatives of the driving forces behind this centre on Saturday 22 March, which coincides with World Water Day.

These dignitaries will visit the facilities and learn about what visitors will be able to enjoy from that date onwards. Regarding the opening of this new centre, Deputy Minister Josu Bilbao stressed the good cooperation shown by all the institutions involved in project and pointed out that ‘with the opening of this Ekoetxea we are ensuring a balanced presence of environmental centres throughout the Basque Country. Ekoetxea Añana-Sobron is a gateway to an environment of great natural and hydrological importance; it can therefore offer a range of unique environmental educational experiences related to water and its importance for the environment’. Josu Bilbao explained that the new Ekoetxea 'seeks to be an essential travel companion on the path for the citizens of Añana, Araba and the Basque Country as a whole to change their mindset and to act in a more sustainable way’.

In turn, Provincial Minister Saray Zarate stressed that ‘this centre, which is the result of close interinstitutional cooperation, sets in motion practices aimed at saving and reducing water consumption. This action is in addition to the sustainability undertakings of the Provincial Government’.

The opening of the new Ekoetxea has been possible thanks to the agreement reached between the sponsors, along with the Basque Water Agency (URA). The centre will be managed by Ihobe, in conjunction with the Cuadrilla de Añana, Lantarón Local Council and Araba Provincial Government. Ekoetxea Añana-Sobron will thus benefit from the Ekoetxea network’s integrated management model and it will become a key tool to promote environmental education and sustainability among the society of Araba. 

Following the Ekoetxea Meatzaldea model, Ekoetxea Añana will have two operational centres: the one in the Salt Valley and the other in Sobrón. Once the future Ekoetxea-Gatz Harana has been built –which will be shortly be put out to tender – it will be managed jointly with Ekoetxea-Sobron as if they were a single unit. 

Ekoetxea Añana-Sobron will be open to the public every day of the week and will be run by experts in environmental education. You can find out about all the activities being organised at the centre on the Ekoetxea network website www.ekoetxea.eus, as well as on the social media profiles.

Special programme

As the new Ekoetxea is in the former Sobrón Water Museum, the new Araba environmental centre has a special programme for 22 and 23 March to mark World Water Day.

Special activities with something for everyone have been organised for Saturday 22 March. The day will begin at 11.00 a.m. with ‘Water is not just water’, a water tasting run by the sommelier Israel Gómez. During the tasting, the participants will have the opportunity to try waters from different places and learn about their different degrees of mineralisation, taste and medicinal uses. This free activity is for adults.

In the afternoon, from 4.00 to 5.30 p.m., families are invited to take part in ‘Water's memories’, a family scavenger hunt. The participants will become ‘water guardians’ and enjoy an exciting scavenger hunt through the landscape shaped by the water and the history of the Sobrón Spa. This activity is free of charge and is for families with children 3 or over.

The activities will continue on Sunday 23 March. At 12.00 noon, children can enjoy Kantu Kantari, Ura Dantzari, a storytelling session designed to both entertain the boys and girls and to make them aware of the importance of water. This activity is free of charge and is aimed at children up to the age of 12.

Finally, Neønymus's The Lady of the Lake will take visitors on a sensory journey through the Sobrón gorge, from 4.00 to 5.30 p.m. Visitors can enjoy Neønymus's polyphonies in a unique natural setting. This activity is also free of charge. 
 

About the Ekoetxea Network

The Ekoetxea Network, the Basque Country's network of environment centres, is made of five locations at strategic points of the Basque Country: Urdaibai and Meatzaldea, in Bizkaia, Txingudi and Azpeitia, in Gipuzkoa, and Ekoetxea Añana–Sobron in Araba. Each centre organises activities adapted to its setting, such as exhibitions, workshops, guided routes and educational programmes. 

During 2024, over 140,000 people visited one of the environmental centres of the Ekoetxea Network, which was a record-breaking figure. Schoolchildren from educational centres throughout the Basque Country accounted for 28,000 of them. Special mention should be made of the high visitor satisfaction, as they scored the experience as 9.3 out of 10.

Further information: www.ekoetxea.eus