'A Coruña' (
Spanish: 'La Coruña';
Galician: 'A Coruña'; also 'Corunna' in
English, and archaically 'The Groyne'
[1]) is the second largest city after
Vigo in
Galicia in northwestern
Spain. The city was also the capital of
A Coruña province.
A Coruña is a busy port on the
Atlantic Ocean and 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 is an
oil refinery in A Coruña itself.
History
Parishes of A Coruña.
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 France, England and Portugal.
During the
Middle 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), embarked from its harbor to be elected Emperor. In
1598, the city was sacked by an
English fleet under
Francis Drake during
Anglo-Spanish War It was the site of battle during the
Peninsular War, on
16 January 1809, to cover embarkation of British troops after their retreat and in which
Sir John Moore was killed. During the
19th century, the city was the centre of antimonarchist sentiment. See also:
Battle of Corunna.
World War II
The Following German U-Boat has been reported as sunk somewhere near the port of A Coruña:
★
Unterseeboot 514 Sunk
8 July,
1943 north-east of
Cape Finisterre,
Spain. 54 dead (all hands lost).
20th century and early 21st century
'Note:' The population of the City of A Coruña in
1900 was 43,971 meanwhile the population of the rest of the province including the City and Naval Station of nearby
Ferrol was 653,556. It should be noted that A Coruña 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 the moment when the City of Corunna left all the other Galician cities behind.
The miraculous meteoric increase of population of the City of A Coruña 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.
(
Encyclopædia Britannica,
1911).
[2]
In
1975, the clothing company Zara opened its first store in the city and has since become a national and international clothing chain.
21st century
| 'City's Metropolitan area 2006' |
|---|
| District | population | ||
| Coruña | 243.349 | ||
| Culleredo | 23.000 | ||
| Arteixo | 26.272 | ||
| Oleiros | 30.586 | ||
| Sada | 12.867 | ||
| Bergondo | 6.495 | ||
| Abegondo | 5.756 | ||
| Cambre | 22.012 | ||
| Carral | 5.282 | ||
Main sights
The city is the site of the
Roman Tower of Hercules, which is a lighthouse in continuous operation for nearly 2,000 years. The city is also well-known for its characteristic glazed window balconies, called ''galerías''.
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. 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.
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 and
Portugalia to
Madrid,
Barcelona,
Bilbao,
Lisbon,
London and
Paris.
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.
Geography
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 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 ºC | 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 |
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.
City hall.
★
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, 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'' is documented for the first time. As usual in Galician-Portuguese (as well as in Castilian Spanish), the cluster ''ni'' naturally evolved into the sound
, 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.
[1]. Nonetheless, the Spanish form ''La Coruña'' is still widespread.
Sister cities
★
Cadiz,
Spain
★
Bristol,
United Kingdom, since 2007
References
1. Decree of the ''Xunta de Galicia'' 146/1984, 27 September,[3] which follows on the principles of Law 3/1983, 15 June, of Linguistic Normalization, article 10 [4]
★
External links
★
Ayuntamiento de A Coruña
★
Tourism Office website for A Coruña (Turismo Coruña - Town Council)
★
Tourism website for A Coruña (TurGalicia - Regional Tourism Office)
★
Tourism website - Travel Guide for A Coruña (TurEspaña - National Tourism Office)
★
Tourist guide to la Coruna city
★
Panoramics photos A Coruña
★
Pinocho in la Coruña: An illustrated guidebook to la Coruña
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