Everything about La Coru A totally explained
|
time_zone = CET (GMT +1)|
time_zone_summer = CEST (GMT +2)|
image_skyline = Spain LaCorunaFromTower.jpg|
image_skyline_size = 250px|
founded = |
native_language = Galician|
community = Galicia|
community_link = Galicia (Iberian peninsula)|
province = A Coruña|
province_link = A Coruña (province)|
comarca = |
comarca_link = |
divisions = 5|
neighborhoods = 9|
mayor = Javier Losada|
political_party = PSdeG|
political_party_link = Socialist Party of Galicia|
area = 36.8|
altitude = 13|
population = 244,388
(city proper, INE) Metropolitan area: 384,616|
date-population = 2007|
population-ranking = 17|
density = 6,613|
date-density = 2005|
website = http://www.aytolacoruna.es|
postal_code = 15xxx|
area_code = 981|
}}
A Coruña (
Spanish:
La Coruña;
Galician:
A Coruña; also
Corunna in
English, and archaically
The Groyne (External Link
)) is the second largest city in
Galicia in northwestern
Spain, second only in size to the port of
Vigo in the
Pontevedra Province. The city is also the capital of
A Coruña Province.
The name A Coruña is said to be derived from the ancient
columna, or
Tower of Hercules, which still exists, having been converted into a light-house in
1791.
A Coruña is a busy port located on a promontory in the entrance of an estuary in a large gulf (the
Portus Magnus Artabrorum of the classical geographers) on the
Atlantic Ocean. It provides a distribution point for agricultural goods from the region. Although much of the heavy industry is based on the shipyards and metalworks of the neighbouring city of
Ferrol, there's an
oil refinery in A Coruña itself.
Geography
A Coruña is located on a peninsula and its isthmus was at times formed only by a small strip of sand. Erosion and sea currents caused a progressive accumulation of sand, making it wider to the extension it has nowadays.
The climate of A Coruña is
temperate maritime and heavily moderated by the
Atlantic Ocean; however it does display some characteristics of a
Mediterranean climate.
Autumn and
winter are often unsettled and unpredictable with strong
winds and abundant
rainfall, coming from Atlantic
depressions and it's often
overcast. The ocean keeps
temperatures mild, and
frost and
snow are rare. In
summer, it's quite dry and sunny with only occasional rainfall, temperatures are warm but rarely uncomfortably hot due to the sea's cooling influence during the day.
Spring is usually cool and fairly calm.
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Temp. in °C |
10.0 |
9.9 |
11.5 |
12.4 |
14.1 |
16.5 |
18.2 |
18.8 |
17.6 |
15.5 |
12.5 |
10.4 |
| Precipitation in mm |
83.8 |
56.1 |
51.8 |
69.8 |
51.0 |
30.8 |
23.7 |
27.9 |
48.2 |
103.6 |
99.5 |
83.2 |
History
Prehistory
A Coruña extended from its peninsular part where the
Tower of Hercules is located, to the continent. The oldest part, known popularly as Cidade Vella (Old City), Cidade Alta (High City) or the Cidade (City), is built on an ancient Celtic castro. It was supposedly inhabited by the
artabrians, the celtic tribe of the area.
Roman times
The Romans came to region in the 2nd century BC, and the colonisers made the most of the strategic position and soon the city became quite important in sea trade. In
62 BC Julius Caesar came to the city (known at the time as Brigantium) in search of the metal trade, establishing commerce with the regions that would eventually be France, England and Portugal. The town began growing, mainly during the I and II centuries (when the
Torre de Hércules was built), decaying after the IV century and especially with the
incursions of the normands, which forced the population to flee towards the interior of the
Estuary of O Burgo.
Middle Ages
After the fall of the
Roman Empire, A Coruña still had a commercial port connected to the foreign countries, but the contacts with the Mediterranean were slowly replaced by a more Atlantic-oriented commercial strategy.
The process of desurbanization that followed the fall of the Roman Empire also affected A Coruña. Between the centuries VII and VIII, the city was no more than a little village of laborers and sailors at the beach.
The
Iriensian Cronic -written in the
11th century-, names Faro do Burgo (ancient name of A Coruña) as one of the dioceses that king
Miro granted to the episcopate of
Iria Flavia in the year
572:
"Mirus Rex Sedi suae Hiriensi contulit Dioceses, scilicet Morratium, Salinensem, (...) Bregantinos, Farum..."
[KingMiro granted to his irienses headquarters the dioceses of Morrazo, Salnés (...). Bergantiños, Faro...]
The Arabian invasion of the peninsula left no evidence in the archeological remainders found in the city, so it can't be said whether or not the Arabian invaders arrived in the city.
The main problem for the city's inhabitants in the Middle Ages were the Normand
razzies. During
9th century there were several Viking attacks to the city, called in that time Faro or Faro Bregancio.
In the year
991, king
Vermudo II began the construction of defensive military positions on the coast. At Faro, in the ruins of the
Tower of Hercules, a fortress was built, which had a permanent military guarnition. To pay it, he gave the power over the city to the bishop of Santiago. The bishop of Santiago became the most important political post of
Galicia until
15th Century.
At
1208,
Afonso IX founded again
Crunia. Some privileges, such as those of disembarking and selling
salt without paying taxes, were granted to the city, and it enjoyed a big development on fishing and mercant. The city grew and extended through the isthmus. In
1446 Xoán II granted to A Coruña the title of "City". The
Catholic Kings established in this city the
Royal Audience of the Kingdom of Galicia, leaving
Compostela. A Coruña also received the headquarters of the General Captain.
Modern Ages
During the
Modern Ages, the city was an important port and center for manufacturing of textiles. In
1520, king
Charles I of Spain (future Emperor Charles V of
Germany), met in A Coruña the Courts and embarked from its harbor to be elected Emperor. Charles I allowed the
Government of the Kingdom of Galicia to distribute space in Europe between
1522 and
1529. Commerce with the
Indies was allowed between
1529 and
1575. The
Castle of San Antón was built as a defense of the city and its harbour.
From the port of
Ferrol in the
Province of A Coruña,
Philip II left to marry
Mary Tudor in
1554 and well after in
1588, from the same port the
Spanish Armada would set sail to the
Spanish Netherlands and
England.
In the following year, during the
Anglo-Spanish War,
Francis Drake besieged A Coruña, but was rejected, starting the legend of
María Pita, a woman who took the weapon of her dead man and continued shooting until she captured a flag of the British enemy.
In the
16th and
17th centuries, the wars of the Spanish kings caused a great increase in taxes and the compulsory recruitment of the population. In
1620,
Philip III created the School of the Boys of the Sea. In
1682 the Tower of Hercules was restored by
Antúnez.
19th Century
A Coruña was the site of the
Battle of Corunna during the
Peninsular War, on
16 January 1809, in which British troops fought against the French to cover embarkation of British troops after their retreat. In this battle
Sir John Moore was killed.
Resistance during the
spanish independence war was led by
Sinforiano López, and
A Coruña was the only
Galician city that achieved success against the French troops. French troops left Galicia at the end of May 1809.
During the
19th century, the city was the centre of anti-monarchist sentiment.
On
August 19,
1815,
Juan Díaz Porlier, pronounced against
Fernando VII in defense of the
spanish constitution of 1812. He was supported by the
bourgeoisie and the educated people. But in
August 22 he was betrayed. He was hanged in the Campo da Leña two months later.
In all the rebellions of the 19th century, A Coruña supported the
liberal band.
A Coruña also played an important role in the
Rexurdimento, and there were founded the
Galician Royal Academy in
1906 and the
Brotherhoods of the Galician Language in
1916.
Regarding economy, in
1804 the National Factory of Cigarettes was created, and there the worker movement of the city had its origins. During the
19th century other businesses (glass, fundition, textiles, gaz, matches, etc.) were slowly established, but it was the sea business and the migration business that attracted Catalan, Belgian, French and English inversions. The Bank of A Coruña was founded in
1857. The new provincial division of
1832 also influenced the economic development.
20th century
At the beginning of the
20th Century, A Coruña had about 45,000 inhabitants. After the decade of 1960, it recovered the business initiative that had been lost, with
Barrié de la Maza (
Banco Pastor,
Fenosa, Aluminio de Galicia, Genosa, Emesa, etc.).
Elections of 1931
In the
Spanish general elections, 1931, all the political parties knew that the electoral results had important political consequences. It was very important the campaign of
Unión Monárquica in A Coruña, supported by
El Ideal Gallego. Republicans and socialists constituted a block, made up of
ORGA, independent republicans,
PSOE and the
Partido Radical Socialista.
In the elections, the republican parties obtained 34 of the 39 council seats. The better results were of the
ORGA and of the
Partido Radical Socialista, and the
Partido Radical lost a lot of support.
During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco
After the
spanish civil war, supporters of the Republic were forced to go to exile, and those who remained in the country suffered repression by the new government. Supporters of the fascist faction occupied all the charges of the "depurated", obtaining university titulations "by war".
In the meantime, the
Nazis murdered 13 citizens of A Coruña in
Manthausen.
During the World War II, the Following German U-Boat has been reported as sunk somewhere near the port of A Coruña:
Democracy arrives again
From
1983 to
2006, the mayor of the city was
Francisco Vázquez Vázquez (
PSOE), and the city became a city devoted to services, but he also was criticised because of his offenses to the
galician language and his urbanistic politics.
On
January 20,
2006 Paco Vázquez was named ambassador in
Vatican City, and he was replaced by
Javier Losada. After the 2007 Municipal Elections the local government is a coalition of the two left-wing parties,
PSdeG and
BNG.
Population
The Province and City of Corunna during the 20th Century
After the
Battle of Trafalgar (
1805) and the
War of Independence (
1808-
1814), the fortunes of
El Ferrol began to deteriorate. The largest port in northern
Spain, site of one of the three
Royal Dockyards, together with
Cartagena and
Cadiz, almost became a “dead” town during the reign of
Ferdinand VII. By
1833 the City and Naval Station of
Ferrol saw its civilian population reduced to just 13,000. During the administration of the
Marquis de Molina, Minister for Naval affairs in the
mid-19th century new activities sprang up, but
Ferrol never fully returned to its former glories. It must be noted that during those years, most of the
Spanish Colonies in Latin America succeeded in gaining independence from its former
metropolis.
| City's Metropolitan area 2007 |
| District |
population |
| Coruña |
244.388 |
| Culleredo |
26.707 |
| Arteixo |
27.713 |
| Oleiros |
31.694 |
| Sada |
13.606 |
| Bergondo |
6.540 |
| Abegondo |
5.808 |
| Cambre |
22.513 |
| Carral |
5.647 |
Ultimately, the population of the
City of A Coruña in
1900 reached 43,971, while the population of the rest of the province including the City and Naval Station of nearby
Ferrol as well as
Santiago de Compostela was 653,556.
A Coruña's miraculous growth happened during aftermaths of the
Spanish Civil War at the same speed as other major Galician cities, but it was the arrival of democracy in Spain after the death of
Francisco Franco when the
City of Corunna left all the other Galician cities behind (for example: with the exception of Vigo of course).
The miraculous meteoric increase of population of the
City of Corunna and to a lesser degree
Ferrol and
Santiago de Compostela, during the years which follow the
Spanish Civil War during the mid
20th century, can only be explained when we see the figures of the number of villages and hamlets of the province which disappeared or nearly disappeared during the same period. We are talking here about an economic revolution and not so much to an explosion of births or a substantial increase in living standards which of course has happened too, but looking to the overall picture what has happened is that the fields have been abandon due to the introduction of new machinery and most of the population has moved to find jobs in the main cities increasing the number of people working in the
Tertiary and
Quaternary sectors.
Main sights
The city is the site of the Roman Tower of Hercules, which is a lighthouse that has been in continuous operation for nearly 2,000 years.
The city is also well-known for its characteristic glazed window balconies, called galerías. Originally, this type of structure came about as a naval architecture solution for the challenging weather, particularly design for rainy days. This fashion started in El Ferrol in the 18th century when some of the technicians working for the Royal Dockyards had the wonderful idea of using the shape of the back of a war ship in a modern building. Soon, afterwards, most sea ports in northern Spain, including the Basque region were adding these glazed window balconies to their city-port houses.
Economy
There have been various changes in the city's structure over the last few decades — it now shares some administrative functions with the nearby city of Ferrol. Companies have grown, especially in sectors such as finance, communication, planning, sales, manufacturing and technical services, making A Coruña the wealthiest metropolitan area of Galicia. The port itself unloads large amounts of fresh fish, and with the increase in other port activities like crude oil and solid bulk, make up 75% of Galician port traffic.
In 1975, the clothing company Zara, founded by Amancio Ortega Gaona, opened its first store in the city and has since become a national and international clothing chain.
Inditex, the main textile manufacturer of the world, has its headquarters in the nearby town of Arteixo. A Coruña concentrates the 30% of the GDP of Galicia and in the period between 1999 and 2001 it grew 35%, surpassing the traditional economic ruling area of the community, Vigo. Other important companies of the city are Banco Pastor, Caixa Galicia, Martinsa Fadesa, the Repsol-YPF refinery and La Voz de Galicia, the main daily newspaper of Galicia.
Over the last few years, emphasis has been placed upon better access and infrastructure, especially cultural, sporting, leisure and scientific areas. Following a spectacular oil spill when the Aegean Sea wrecked and exploded, considerable resources have been used in the recovery of the shoreline and strengthening the tourist sector. All this has reaffirmed the city's existing character as a centre for administration, sales, port activities, culture and tourism. The city is served by a regional airport which operates services by Iberia, Spanair, easyJet, Clickair and Portugalia to Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville, Lisbon and London. During the winter of 2007-2008, the airline Pyrenair linked A Coruña with the Aragonese city of Huesca, one of the most important winter sports centers of Spain.
Sport
The city has a football club in Spain's top division, Deportivo de La Coruña.
Politics
Francisco Vázquez Vázquez was mayor of the city from 1983, however he became the Spanish ambassador to Vatican and was replaced by Javier Losada on February 10, 2006.
Notable people
José Andrés Cornide Saavedra (1734-1803), writer
Ramón de la Sagra Peris (1798-1871), botany teacher, philosopher and social economist.
Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851–1921), novelist, journalist, essayist and critic.
Eduardo Dato Iradier (1856-1921), lawyer and politician.
Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869-1968), writer.
José Millán Astray (1879–1954), founder and first commander of the Spanish Foreign Legion.
Santiago Casares Quiroga (1884–1950), lawyer and politician.
Wenceslao Fernández Flórez (1885–1964), narrator, journalist and humorist.
Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo (1896–1978), writer and poet.
Fernando Casado D'Arambillet (1917–1994), better known as Fernando Rey, actor.
María Casares Pérez (1922–1996), actress.
Luis Suárez Miramontes (born 1935), football player and manager.
Amancio Amaro Varela (born 1939), football player.
Emilio Pérez Touriño (born 1948), current president of the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia.
Manuel Rivas Barros (born 1957), writer, poet, essayist and journalist.
Andrés Díaz Díaz, (born 1969), athlete.
Etymology and linguistic issues
The toponym derives from Crunia, of unknown origin and meaning. At the time of Ferdinand II of Leon (12th century) the name Crunia was documented for the first time. As usual in Galician-Portuguese (as well as in Castilian Spanish), the cluster ni naturally evolved into the sound /ɲ/, written nn (later abbreviated to ñ) in the Spanish orthography, and nh in the Portuguese.
Currently, the only official form of the name is the Galician one.. Nonetheless, the Spanish form La Coruña is still widespread.
Sister cities
Cádiz, SpainFurther Information
Get more info on 'La Coru A'.
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