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Estuary stingaree&o=10616

A Coruña
A Coruña (Spanish: La Coruña; Galician: A Coruña; also Corunna in English, and archaically The Groyne ) is the second largest city in Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city is also the capital of A Coruña Province and it was the capital of Galicia from the year 1563 to 1982 when it moved to Santiago de Compostela.

The symbol of the city is the Tower of Hercules, built by the romans in the II century, being the anciest light-house still working in the world.

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 goods from the region. Although much of the heavy industry is based on the shipyards and metalworks of the neighbouring city of Ferrol, there is 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.

Neighborhoods

  • Cidade Vella
  • A Marina
  • Os Cantóns
  • Pescadería
  • Ensanche
  • Cidade Xardín
  • Catro Camiños
  • A Gaiteira
  • Os Mallos
  • Monte Alto
  • Falperra - Santa Lucia
  • Juan Florez - San Pablo
  • Os Castros
  • Agra do Orzán
  • Sagrada Familia
  • Labañou - San Roque
  • Barrio das Flores
  • Elviña
  • O Ventorrillo
  • O Castrillón
  • Adormideras
  • O Birloque
  • Matogrande
  • Os Rosais / Los Rosales
  • Paseo das Pontes
  • Mesoiro
  • Novo Mesoiro
  • Someso
  • Vioño
  • Cidade do Mar
  • Eirís
  • San Pedro de Visma
  • Bens
  • A Silva - San José
  • Palavea
  • Casablanca - As Xubias
  • Feáns
  • A Zapateira

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 is often overcast. The ocean keeps temperatures mild, and frost and snow are rare. In summer, it is drier and sunnier 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 the 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 foreign countries, but contacts with the Mediterranean were slowly replaced by a more Atlantic-oriented commercial strategy. The process of deurbanization that followed the fall of the Roman Empire also affected A Coruña. Between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, the city was no more than a little village of laborers and sailors.

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..."

[King Miro granted to his irienses headquarters the dioceses of Morrazo, Salnés (...). Bergantiños, Faro...]

The Arabian invasion of the Iberian peninsula left no archeological evidence in this area, so it cannot 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 of the city, called at 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 for it, he gave power over the city to the bishop of Santiago. The bishop of Santiago became the most important political post of Galicia until 15th century.

In 1208, Alfonso IX again founded the city 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 in fishing and mercantile business. The city grew and extended through the isthmus. In 1446 Xoán II granted to A Coruña the title of "City". The Catholic Kings established the Royal Audience of the Kingdom of Galicia in the city, leaving Santiago. A Coruña also received the headquarters of the General Captain.

Modern Ages

During the Modern Ages, the city was an important port and centre for the manufacturing of textiles. In 1520, king Charles I of Spain (future Emperor Charles V of Germany), met in the Courts of A Coruña 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 start of conscription. 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. The campaign of Unión Monárquica was very important in A Coruña and was 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 into 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". During this time, the Nazis murdered 13 citizens of A Coruña in Manthausen. During World War II, the following German U-Boat had been reported as sunk somewhere near the port of A Coruña:

A group of franquists, lead by Pedro Barrié, bought the Pazo de Meirásand gave it to Franco. In the year 1970, ETA almost managed to assassinate Franco in A Coruña, but failed at the last moment.

Democracy arrives again

In 1975 democracy was restored in Spain. From 1983 to 2006, Francisco Vázquez Vázquez (PSOE) was the mayor. He won 6 consecutive local elections with absolute majority;. During the 80's and 90's the city developed several large urbanistic works and buildings (14 kilometers-long maritimal promenade, science museums, the opera hall) and also became the healthest city in Galicia, devoted to bussiness and services. During the last years Vazquez was criticised because of his offenses to the galician language and his latest urbanistic politics. On January 20, 2006 Francisco Vázquez was named Spanish ambassador in Vatican City, and was replaced by Javier Losada, of the same party. Since the 2007 Municipal Elections the local government has now become a coalition of the two left-wing parties, PSdeG (socialist) and BNG (Galician nacionalist).

Population

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

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 aftermath of the Spanish Civil War at a similar rate to other major Galician cities, but it was after the death of Francisco Franco when the City of Corunna left all the other Galician cities behind (i.e.: 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 designed 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

A Coruña is nowadays the richest region of Galicia and its economic engine. 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, which 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 Vigo which was traditionally economically stronger. 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 also has 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 had been mayor of the city from 1983, however he became the Spanish ambassador to the Vatican and was replaced by Javier Losada on February 10, 2006.

Notable people

Etymology and linguistic issues

The toponym derives from Crunia, of unknown origin and meaning. At the time of Ferdinand II of León (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

References

External links

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday October 10, 2008 at 10:28:34 PDT (GMT -0700)
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