'A Coruña' (also: La Coruña in
Spanish, La Corogne in
French and La Croyne and Corunna in
English) is the most
North-western Atlantic facing province of
Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the
autonomous community of
Galicia. This province is surrounded by the
Atlantic Ocean to the
West and
North, the
Pontevedra Province to the
South and the
Lugo Province to the
East.
International Airports and Helicopter Airfields
★
Aeropuerto de Lavacolla in
Santiago de Compostela
★
Aeropuerto de Alvedro in the
City of A Coruña
★
Helipuerto de la Graña in the
Naval Base of La Graña (Ferrolterra)
★
Helipuerto de Narón in
Naron (
Ferrolterra).
Railway
★
Spanish National Railway Network Linking every single major City:
Ferrol,
Betanzos,
A Coruña and
Santiago de Compostela.
★
Spanish Narrow-Gauge Railways Linking the
City of El Ferrol with different towns of
Ferrol and
Ortegal. This line is also known as
El Ferrol-
Irun (
Basque Country).
★
Spanish High Speed Railway Network (AVE) Linking most major cities of the province with
Lisbon and
Madrid is under construction and sometime in the future will be a reality (Possibly, before the end of the next decade).
Major Commercial and Fishing Ports
★
A Coruña - 'Major Commercial Ports' -
-
The death Coast of Galicia
★
Malpica - 'Fishing Port' -
-
The death Coast of Galicia
★
Camariñas - 'Fishing Port' -
-
The death Coast of Galicia
★
Fisterra - 'Fishing Port' -
-
The death Coast of Galicia
★
Ferrol - 'Major Commercial Ports' (also:
Military) -
-
Upper Rias of Galicia
★
Cariño - 'Fishing Port' -
-
Upper Rias of Galicia
★
Espasante - ' Fishing Port' -
-
Upper Rias of Galicia
★
Cedeira - ' Fishing Port' -
-
Upper Rias of Galicia
National Parks
★
The "Fragas" of the River Eume National Park extends itself throughout the
Eume and
Ferrol regions of
Ferrolterra.
★
The Dunes of "Corrubedo" National Park is a
beach park at the very end of the
Barbanza Peninsula.
★
Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park[1] shared between the Provinces of A Coruña and
Pontevedra.
International World Surf Competitions
★
logo
gathers every year some of the most international and remarkable figures in the world of
surf
★
logo
the north of the province is very privilege for the quality of its beaches a most of them are ideal for
Water Sports like surfing.
History of the Province
The history of this province starts sometime at the end of the
Middle Ages during the reign of the
Catholic Kings of Spain. But during those years this province was far smaller than what it is today, and this is because in
1833 the entire
Province of Betanzos together with half of the
Mondoñedo were amalgamated onto one single province with its capital
city in A Coruña. That was going to be the beginning of a love hate relationship between the major cities caught in between:
El Ferrol,
Santiago de Compostela and
A Coruña. It should be noted, that due to this unusual situation the
dioceses of these parts of
Galicia do not match any longer with the administrative divisions. Even worst than that, the capital city of the province does not have, and never had a
Cathedral but both
El Ferrol and
Santiago de Compostela do have one. It should be note too, that the
City of Santiago de Compostela is not the provincial capital, but has always been the
Capital of Galicia and historically a rival to
Toledo for being the most important city in
Spain ecclesiastically speaking.
Since
1833 the Province of
A Coruña has always been the one with the largest population and largest coast. Till the second half of the
20th century this province was both the religious and cultural centre of the entire region. It should be taken into account that the
University of Santiago de Compostela was the only one university in North-western
Spain till the arrival of democracy after the death of
General Francisco Franco.
The Industrial Revolution: El Ferrol
The
City of El Ferrol in the Province of A Coruña was one of the first places, not just in
Galicia but in
Spain to experiment and suffer from the entire set of socioeconomic changes which affected the
United Kingdom in the first half of the
18th century and the
United States and some parts of
Europe a century later. As a consequence of that,
El Ferrol will be one of the first
shipyards in the world to produce wooded ships covered with copper sheets in the early years of the
19th century, and by the end of the same century, the same shipyards were producing iron
armoured ships.
El Ferrol was at one point the largest city in
Galicia, the place of birth of people like
Pablo Iglesias Posse the founder of the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party,
Concepción Arenal founder of the
Spanish Feminist Movement, the
Franco Brothers one pioneer of world’s aviation and the other hero of the
Spanish Second Republic during the early years of the
20th century.
The Peninsular War
In the Peninsular War,
Sir John Moore headed a 30,000-strong
British Force, which attacked Napoleon near Burgos, but they were soon forced into a long retreat chased by the French, ending in an evacuation from A Coruña in January
1809 in the
Battle of Corunna (also known by its many variants and as the "Battle of Elviña". Moore was killed by a cannon shot while directing the defence of the town. His burial inspired a well-known poem.
Spanish Civil War
★
Battle of La Corunna Road Fought in the outskirts of
Madrid literally on the road which lead at the time to the Province. (
13 December 1936 to
15 January 1937).
The Second World War
The Following
German U-Boats has been reported as sunk somewhere along the A Coruña Province's Coast:
★
Unterseeboot 514 Sunk
8 July,
1943 north-east of
Cape Finisterre,
Spain. 54 dead (all hands lost).
★
Unterseeboot 504 Sunk at 1543hrs on
30 July,
1943 in the
North Atlantic north-west of
Cape Ortegal,
Spain. 53 dead (all hands lost).
★
Unterseeboot 508 Sunk
12 Nov,
1943 in the
Bay of Biscay north of
Cape Ortegal,
Spain. 57 dead (all hands lost).
The City of Corunna during the 20th Century
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 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 the moment 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.
(
Encyclopædia Britannica,
1911).
[1]
The end of a University Monopoly: Santiago de Compostela
The late second half of the
20th century saw the
City of Santiago de Compostela loosing its monopoly over the university studies in
Galicia; when all the other
Galician Universities were created. Still, not all were loses as the historical
Capital of Galicia ended up being the chosen city for the
Galician Government and its
Parliament: both, new institutions created with the arrival of
democracy in
Spain in the
1980s.
The burial-place of Saint James the Great
The
cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is the reputed burial-place of
Saint James the Great, one of the apostles of
Jesus Christ. It is the destination of the
Way of St. James (popularly known by its local denominations:
Galician ''Camiño de Santiago'',
Portuguese ''Caminho de Santiago'',
Spanish ''Camino de Santiago'',
French ''Chemin de St. Jacques'',
German ''Jakobsweg'', and so on), a major historical
pilgrimage route since the
Middle Ages which still gathers thousands of pilgrims each year from all sort of places in the world.
Football Teams (Soccer)
★
Deportivo de La Coruña Spanish
FA Premier League team from the
City of A Coruña.
★
Racing de Ferrol Spanish
Segunda Division team from the
City of Ferrol.
★
SD Compostela Spanish
Tercera Division team from the
City of Santiago de Compostela.
★
Atlético Arteixo Spanish
Segunda Division team from the
Municipality of Arteixo.
★
Bergantiños CF Spanish
Tercera Division team from the
Municipality of Carballo.
★
SD Negreira Spanish
Tercera Division team from the
Municipality of Negreira.
★
Autos Lobelle de Santiago FS Spanish
División de Honor of Futsal team from the
City of Santiago de Compostela.
See also
List of municipalities in A Coruña
References
★
1. Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park
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