The elizate of Zaldua, today Zaldibar, was part of the ancient merindad of Durango and had voice and right to vote in the Juntas of Guerendiaga, where it occupied the seat number seven.

Tradition goes that the Navarre king Sancho II of Pamplona (935-994) lived ten years in one of the towers of Zaldibar as a prisoner.

[2] In early February 2020, a landslide in the landfill blocked the main Bilbao-San Sebastián motorway, bringing about a major environmental disaster.

It borders at south with the municipality of Elorrio, at west with Berriz, at north with Mallabia and Ermua and at east with the province of Gipuzkoa.

Zaldibar has a station of the narrow-gauge regional railways, Euskotren Trena, which connects the town with other major municipalities and cities like Bilbao, Amorebieta-Etxano, Durango, Eibar, Donostia and Hendaye.