TRAVEL TUESDAY #153 - VALENCIA, SPAIN

“I would sooner be a foreigner in Spain than in most countries. How easy it is to make friends in Spain!” – George Orwell 

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Valencia on the east coast of Spain, is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona, with around 800,000 inhabitants in the administrative centre. Valencia is Spain’s third largest metropolitan area, with a population ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 million depending on how the metropolitan area is defined.

The Port of Valencia is the 5th busiest container port in Europe and the busiest container port on the Mediterranean Sea. The city is ranked at Gamma+ in the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Valencia is integrated into an industrial area on the Costa del Azahar (Orange Blossom Coast).

Valencia was founded as a Roman colony by the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 BC, and called Valentia Edetanorum. In 714 Moroccan and Arab Moors occupied the city, introducing their language, religion and customs; they implemented improved irrigation systems and the cultivation of new crops as well, being capital of the Taifa of Valencia.

In 1238 the Christian king James I of Aragon reconquered the city and divided the land among the nobles who helped him conquer it, as witnessed in the Llibre del Repartiment. He also created a new law for the city, the Furs of Valencia, which were extended to the rest of the Kingdom of Valencia. In the 18th century Philip V of Spain abolished the privileges as punishment to the kingdom of Valencia for aligning with the Habsburg side in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Valencia was the capital of Spain when Joseph Bonaparte moved the Court there in the summer of 1812. It also served as capital between 1936 and 1937, during the Second Spanish Republic. The city is situated on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, fronting the Gulf of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea. Its historic centre is one of the largest in Spain, with approximately 169 ha (420 acres); this heritage of ancient monuments, views and cultural attractions makes Valencia one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Due to its long history, this is a city with numerous popular celebrations and traditions, such as the Fallas (when you can taste the traditional Spanish dish paella), which were declared as Fiestas of National Tourist Interest of Spain in 1965 and Intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in November 2016. In 2015, Joan Ribó, from Coalició Compromís, became mayor.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.