Much of the economic development of the Basque Country is directly related to an iron extraction and steel working past. A substantial part -perhaps some of his monumental works- of Chillida’s works happened in a context strongly marked by the decline of heavy industry and the diminishing of the once flourishing machine-tool industry. Widely documented from the Middle Ages this long tradition of iron working led to a flourishing manufacturing industry of forges, including a blooming arm production since the XIVth century. In the XIX century, a growing iron related industry encompassing mining, shipbuilding, steel and machinery manufacturing developed extensively, brought an industrial landscape teeming with workers. Today, heritage policies, local initiatives and renewed traditions connect us with the recent past of steaming factories and steel mill sounds, but also with a more ancient expertise of medieval forgeries and traditional blacksmithing. The analysis of diverse examples show how iron related past elements have become part of contemporary narratives of Basque identity: traditional sports, heritage celebrating sites and memorial days, but also folk songs, cartoons and art works celebrate and renew the ironwork tradition in the Basque Country.