ALAVA, one of the Provincias Vascongadas, or Basque Provinces, in the north of Spain. It is of a triangular shape, and is bounded on the N. by Guipuzcoa and Biscay, on the E. by Navarre, on the S.W. by Logrono, and on the W. by Burgos; with an area of about 1200 square miles. The surface of Alava is very mountainous, especially on the north, where a part of the Pyrenees forms its natural boundary. It is separated from Logrono by the Ebro, and the other rivers are the Zadorra and the Ayuda. The soil in the valleys is fertile, yielding wheat, barley, maize, flax, hemp, and fruits. Oil, and a poor kind of wine called chacoli, are also produced. Many of the mountains are clothed with forests of oak, chestnuts, beeches, and other trees, and contain iron, copper, lead, and marble. Salt is also found in large quantities in the province. The manufactures of Alava are unimportant; coarse cloth, iron ware, earthenware, hats, and shoes being among the chief. The capital of the province is Vitoria. Population in 1870, 102,494....
ALAVA, Don Miguel Ricardo d', a Spanish general and statesman, born at Vitoria in 1771. He served first in the navy, and had risen to be captain of a frigate when he exchanged into the army, receiving corresponding rank. In politics he followed a very devious course. At the assembly of Bayonne, in 18)8, he was one of the most prominent of those who accepted the new constitution from Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain. In 1811, when Joseph’s position was becoming insecure, Alava joined the national independent party, who were fighting in alliance with the English. The Spanish Cortes appointed him commissary at the English headquarters, and Wellington, who seems to have regarded him with great favour, made him one of his aides-de-camp. Before the close of the campaign he had risen to the rank of brigadier-general. On the restoration of Ferdinand, Alava was cast into prison, but the influence of his uncle Ethenard, the inquisitor, and of Wellington, secured his speedy release. He soon contrived to gain the favour of the king, who appointed him in 1815 ambassador to the Hague. Four years later he was recalled, owing, it is said, to the marked kindness he had shown to his banished fellow-countrymen. On the breaking out of the revolution of 1820 he was chosen by the province of Alava to represent it in the Cortes, where he became conspicuous in the party of the Exaltados, and in 1822 was made president. In the latter year he fought with the militia under Ballasteros and Murillo to maintain the authority of the Cortes against the rebels. When the French invested Cadiz, Alava was commissioned by the Cortes to treat with the Duc d’Angoulême, and the negotiations resulted in the restoration of Ferdinand, who pledged himself to a liberal policy. No sooner had he regained power, however, than he ceased to hold himself bound by his promises, and Alava found it necessary to retire first to Gibraltar and then to England. On the death of Ferdinand, he returned to Spain, and, espousing the cause of Maria Christina against Don Carlos, was appointed ambassador to London in 1834, and to Paris in 1835. After the insurrection of La Granja, he refused to sign the constitution of 1812, declaring himself tired of taking new oaths, and was consequently obliged to retire to France, where he died at Barèges in 1843.
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