Despite the disagreements in certain aspects with regards to the origins of Zumaia, all historians agree that the villa emerged surrounding the Monastery of Santa Maria. According to the first preserved parchment in which is mentioned the place "Zumaya", the Monastery of Santa Maria had been a donation by a privilege of Sancho VI of Navarre to the Roncesvalles's convent in 1292.

Despite the different conclusions about the emplacement of the monastery, the monks of the Monastery of Santa Maria the direct witnesses of the birth of this villa, after the inhabitants dispersed by the valley of Sehatz decided to put an end to the continuous assaults of piracy and plunder and raise a villa walled and strengthened from where they could defend in group against the enemy. Due to its extent, its strategic location and its direct contact with the sea, the chosen place was Zumaia. Nevertheless, the villa was not constituted juridically until 1347, when Alfonso XI of Castile provided the municipal charter to its citizens of "Villagrana de Zumaya's Villa", to which was granted the Jurisdiction of San Sebastián.

In the 16th century, Zumaia relied on 136 houses, 70 of them distributed among six streets that existed inside the wall, and the remaining ones dispersed by three neighborhoods that were staying out of the wall. In total there were 108 neighborhood surnames, 53 of them with the qualification of nobility. Nowadays there is no evidence of the fortification that only was interrupted at a height of solar houses and towers that could play the same function of defending as the wall. The entrance halls included the Principal Entrance Hall of the villa and the great cross that presided over them. They were destroyed in the middle of the 18th century to clear the surroundings of the town. The only natural door was the one of the bar of the sea, which was apparently the most dangerous for being the most accessible.

Since the 16th century the bells of the parish have been melted many times. In 1578 the mayor ordered to ring them three times consecutively so that citizens were well-informed and came more assiduously to the meetings of the regiment, which was retired long time ago. Moreover, on the eve of the General Meetings—that were celebrated in the villa every 18 years, to offer fuel-wood and coal to the secretary of the province—two oaks were cut. In one of these sessions, on 27 December 1620, the same day in which Ignatius of Loyola, Patron Saint of Gipuzkoa was chosen, the patron saint of the town was named as the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.

With the pass of centuries, has brought logically many changes not only in the former ordinances municipal written in 1584, but also in the urban development as well as in the customs and way of living of citizens. However, the best keys to notice the development of the villa from its foundation to the present day, is the economic predominant activity of every epoch. The majority of the first inhabitants of the villa were devoted to agriculture, though grouping in the same place accelerated the appearance of some professional and industrial activities. By the end of the 14th century, ships were constructed in the river. A high percentage of the population was devoted to fishing and navigation. The river was then very rich and many species could be fished, among them salmon, trout, shellfish and eels. Many were reconciling the coastal fishing with agriculture. By then, the manufacturing of cement had also become a relevant activity, for which they were taking advantage of the matters of tertiary areas of the surroundings. From the port they were departing goods towards the Netherlands as well as manufactured products were imported. Some historians even claim that the passenger liner that was joining the villa with the hermitage of Santiago – habitual accommodation of the pilgrims who were going towards Santiago de Compostela, were also among the most prominent sources of Zumaia's revenue in the 16th century.

The following centuries, 17th century and the 18th century, were not brilliant periods at all. The land continued being the principal economic activity of the neighbors, in spite of the fact that Zumaia continued having many deficits in agriculture, especially in the production of wheat, corn and beans; until that in 1766 all the houses were recognized to verify if any neighbor possessed more grain than the necessary for their maintenance. There were also citizens dedicated to both maritime and terrestrial transport of goods, mainly iron, and the fishing activity was maintained and even increased, since in 1610 was created the Cofradía de Mareantes de San Telmo, meaning the Confraternity of the Seagoing of San Telmo.

It was in this period when there was emphasized the emigration begun at the end of the 16th century (in 1616 Zumaia embraced 935 inhabitants) and it did not stop until two centuries later with the economic reappearance.

The situation began to improve very quickly in the 17th century, among other reasons because the desiccation of the marshes enabled the cultivation of the former reed-beds and, consequently, the increase of the agricultural production, especially if corn. But there were some other factors that lead this reappearance, since in the 19th century the factories of cement turned into the engine of the economy of the villa, promoting the commercial activity of the port. The terrestrial transport also improved in this period of time, since between the year 1882 and 1885 a road that joined Zumaia with Getaria was created, which was already communicated with San Sebastián, in 1900 appeared a train that would join Zumaia with Zarautz, and in 1926 the railroad of the Urola was inaugurated, which nowadays is already removed. The improvement of the communications, nevertheless, harmed to the port of Bedua, whose commercial activity started to expire due to the fact that the bridge of Urola river was blocking the way to the ships upstream.

The industry of the cement began to decline at the beginning of the 20th century, at the same time as the naval industry started to arise again strongly, and soon later also the industry of the engine. An interesting fact that took place in Zumaia is that the first diesel engine of the whole Spanish State was set here, precisely in the enterprise Yeregui Hermanos. This industrial rise brought about logically a considerable increase of the population, mainly due to the immigration.

The percentages of the different activities that were stimulating the economy of Zumaia had considerably changed by the beginning of the 20th century. In 1950, the 56.1% of the population worked in the industrial sector, while only the 17% dedicated to agriculture. Some years later, the economic crisis also came to Zumaia, sharpened by moments with readjustment of personnel and even with the closing of some big workshops that had been emblematic until then. Today, fifty years later, several more modest companies have been created, which are also more chords with the new economic trends of the market.