Sci/Tech

The Basque City of Getaria was the winner of the Google Model Your Town Competition, a contest in which contestants use a program called Google SketchUp to create images of their cities and submit them to Google for consideration.

Along with Getaria, the other finalists were Zielona and Torun (Poland), Lowel and Evansville (United States) and Leominister (United Kingdom).

The winning team received $25,000 for the town's public school district.

The people behind the Getaria project are Josetxo Pérez Fernández and Pedro Domecq Aquirre. Some of the most outstanding parts of the winning project include the old quarters of Getaria, the fishing port, the beach and the lighthouse.

Google Earth gives computer users a bird's eye view of much of the Earth's surface using two-dimensional satellite photos. Thanks to Google SketchUp, Google hopes to enhance that free service by eventually having a 3D image of every building and neighborhood on the planet.