1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Irun

IRUN, a frontier town of northern Spain, in the province of Guipúzcoa, on the left bank of the river Bidassoa, opposite the French village of Hendaye. Pop. (1900) 9912. Irun is the northern terminus of the Spanish Northern railway, and a thriving industrial town, with ironworks, tan-yards, potteries and paper mills. Its principal buildings are the fine Renaissance parish church and the fortress-like 17th-century town hall. It derives its prosperity from the fact that it is the most important custom-house in Spain for the overland trade with the rest of Europe. Irun is also on the chief highway for travellers and mails. It is the terminus of some important narrow-gauge mining railways and steam tramways, which place it in communication with the mining districts of Guipúzcoa and Navarre, and with the valuable oak, pine and beech forests of both provinces. There are hot mineral springs in the town.