Baix Camp

Baix Camp
	The location of the Comarca Baix Camp in Catalonia
Basic data
Province:	Tarragona
Main place:	Reus
Surface:	697.36 km²
Residents:	190,973 (2019)
Municipalities:	28

The Comarca Baix Camp (German "lower country", Spanish Bajo Campo ) is located in the province of Tarragona of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia ( Spain ). Baix Camp was founded in 1936 when the historic Camp de Tarragona region was divided into three comarcas. The community association has an area of 697.36 km² and 190,973 inhabitants (2019).

location

The association of municipalities is located in the southwest of Catalonia, it borders in the north on the Comarca Conca de Barberà , in the east on Alt Camp and Tarragonès , in the southwest on Baix Ebre and Ribera d'Ebre , in the west on Priorat and in the south on the 30 km long coast of the Mediterranean . Together with the comarcas Anoia, Alt Camp, Baix Penedès , Conca de Barberà, Priorat, Tarragonès, the region forms the territory of Camp de Tarragona .

The Comarca Baix Camp, together with Alt Camp and Tarragonès, forms the natural landscape of the Camp de Tarragona, a large plain between the upstream mountain ranges and the Mediterranean Sea . There are two completely different types of landscape: on the one hand the mountain ranges of Prades and Pratdip , on the other hand the plain that extends from the foot of these mountains to the coast. Although almost half of the comarca is below 200 m above sea level, around 5% are above 1,000 m above sea level. This is remarkable in that these mountain ranges are only 20 km from the coast as the crow flies.

climate

The coastal mountains protect the plain from the continental climate of the Central Catalan Plain . On the other hand, there is a typical low mountain range climate on the Prades plateau , in which snow is not unusual. Because of the channeling effect of the mountain ranges, high wind speeds are regularly measured in the Baix Camp .

population

About 190,000 people live in the Baix Camp. The population has increased steadily since the middle of the 20th century, by an average of 1.5% annually in the last 30 years alone. However, the population growth is spatially unevenly distributed, in particular it is concentrated on Reus , the industrial and administrative center of the comarca. Around two thirds of the inhabitants of the comarca live in Reus. Already between the 17th and the 19th century Reus was next to Barcelona the most populous city in Catalonia, and in 1910 it was in fourth place (today in tenth place). Apart from Reus, only Cambrils now exceeds the 10,000-inhabitant limit.

economy

In agriculture , the cultivation of dried fruits ( almonds and hazelnuts ) predominates with a share of 30% in the primary sector alone , a reaction to the devastating phylloxera infestation in the 19th century. However, the great dependence on almonds and hazelnuts has resulted in their currently falling world market price having a strong impact on the economy of the comarca. The protected designation of origin for the Avellana de Reus ("Hazelnuts from Reus"), which also includes the Alt Camp, Tarragonès, Priorat, Conca de Barberà and Terra Alta growing areas, provides a certain compensation .

traffic

The comarca is well served by a motorway , trunk roads , railways and Reus airport .

Communities

Status: 2019

local community	Pop.	Area (km²)	local community	Pop.	Area (km²)	local community	Pop.	Area (km²)
l'Albiol	485	20.38	Castellvell del Camp	2857	5.15	Riudecanyes	1124	17.05
l'Aleixar	873	26.15	Colldejou	176	14.38	Riudecols	1180	19.50
Alforja	1801	38.02	Duesaigües	245	13.63	Riudoms	6594	32.36
Almoster	1351	6.03	la Febró	40	16.00	la Selva del Camp	5652	35.20
Arbolí	137	20.90	Maspujols	827	3.57	Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant	6482	102.73
l'Argentera	124	9.95	Montbrió del Camp	2890	10.58	Vilanova d'Escornalbou	545	17.33
les Borges del Camp	2037	8.32	Mont-Roig del Camp	12,136	63.58	Vilaplana	574	23.27
Botarell	1068	11.95	Prades	589	32.98	Vinyols i els Arcs	2056	10.89
Cambrils	33,898	35.08	Pratdip	738	36.01
Capafonts	121	13.40	Reus	104,373	52.97

Web links

Commons : Baix Camp - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Comarca website (Catalan)
Association of municipalities (Catalan, Spanish, English, German, French, Italian)
Turisme (Catalan, Spanish, English, French)
gencat-Turisme (Catalan, Spanish, English, German, French)