The area was a rural one, centered on the parishes of Natxitua and Bedarona. In the 16th century, fishermen from both villages founded a new permanent settlement at the bottom of the tiny estuary of the river Ea. After two centuries, the settlement became far more important than its two neighboring villages, so finally a new municipality was created, uniting the two former villages and with capital in Ea. As a remainder of its past as two separated parishes, Ea has two main churches, one at each bank of the river.