Iron ore has been mined here since Roman times and the two parts of the municipality, which are at different altitudes, are linked by a funicular railway.

Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran is located 12 km (7 mi) from Bilbao in the Triano mountain range in the province of Biscay.

Ninety percent of the population live in the lower zone in the neighbourhoods of Durañona, El Juncal, Elguero, Galindo-Salcedillo, Valle de Trápaga, which is the administrative centre, Trápaga-Causo and Ugarte.

[2] The town of Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran expanded with the mining activities and most of the buildings date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

[2] The iron ore deposits became exhausted in the mid-twentieth century and now the area is residential and recreational, although traces of its industrial past remain.