Palamós

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Palamós municipality
Palamós 2.jpg
coat of arms Map of Spain
Palamós coat of arms
Palamós (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Catalonia
Province : Girona
Comarca : Baix Empordà
Coordinates 41 ° 51 ′  N , 3 ° 8 ′  E Coordinates: 41 ° 51 ′  N , 3 ° 8 ′  E
Height : 12  msnm
Area : 13.99 km²
Residents : 17,910 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 1,280.2 inhabitants / km²
Municipality number  ( INE ): 17118
administration
Mayor : Lluís Puig Martorell
Website : www.palamos.cat
Location of the municipality
Localització de Palamós.png

The city of Palamós is located on the Costa Brava in Spain , in the Baix Empordà region in the autonomous community of Catalonia . The population varies between 14,000 and 90,000 depending on the season. Palamós is located on a plain at the foot of the coastal mountain range Massís de les Gavarres .

history

Partial view of the Santa Maria del Mar church

1277 was by order of King Peter III. - called Pere el Gran ('Peter the Great') - bought the Castell de Sant Esteve , a fortress that was built on the remains of a Roman settlement. In 1279, the king had the port settlement Port Reial de Palamós ('Royal Port of Palamós') founded and given market rights. The place quickly gained importance as a fortified anchorage.

King Ferdinand the Catholic had the County of Palamós - Comtat de Palamós - formed in 1484 and appointed Bernat Galceran de Requesens as the first Count of Palamós. He had the port of the place expanded and protected by a pier. In 1543 Palamós was attacked and sacked by a Turkish fleet under Khair ad-Din Barbarossa . As a result, the fortifications of the place were expanded and the citadel Sa Punta was built, which made Palamós one of the most important fortresses on the Catalan coast in the 17th century.

During the Nine Years War , the place was attacked by French troops due to its military importance and completely destroyed in 1694. There followed an economic and demographic decline of the place at the beginning of the 18th century, which only prospered again in the second half of the 18th century when it became a center of the cork industry .

The Flaçà- Palamós railway was opened in March 1887 and the port, which traditionally houses a large fishing fleet, was expanded at the beginning of the 20th century. During the Spanish Civil War , the place was again the target of heavy attacks, in which a third of all buildings in the city were damaged or destroyed. The railway line to Flaçà was ruined after the civil war, so that the last train ran on February 29, 1956 and the line was then closed. Tourism has been rapidly gaining importance as a source of income since the 1960s, with the majority of visitors coming from Catalonia itself.

fishing

Fishing port

As the second largest fishing port in Catalonia - after Roses - Palamós is still characterized by fishing today. 3,000 people live here directly or indirectly from fishing. The fishermen are organized in a cooperative , which also takes over the marketing of all catches. The trawlers leave early in the morning and all the fishing vessels in the fleet are lined up at the exit of the bay. The start signal sounds at exactly 7:00 a.m. and the fastest boats can secure the (supposedly) most profitable routes. In order to avoid fines, the fishing boats must return to the auction no later than 5:00 p.m. The fishermen can only work at a profit because of massive subsidies for diesel fuel.

In the fishing and industrial port there are extensive facilities for auctioning and selling fish as well as the (according to own information) only fishing museum in the Mediterranean. The two-story museum is on the port area. In the museum, the commercially used marine animals are presented, as well as equipment and a fishing boat from the time before motorized shipping. In films, the daily routine and typical activities of the fishermen with different fishing techniques are explained ( longliners , trawlers , sardine fishermen , gillnet fishermen and trap fishermen ). In addition, the various fishing techniques can be traced in display cases using small models. In 2005 the Fisheries Museum reached the finals of the European Museum of the Year 2005 competition and received the Special Commendation 2005 award .

tourism

The place has seven beaches of different categories. The climate is mild in winter, summer temperatures are between 20 and 35 ° C. The main tourist development is currently taking place in Sant Antoni de Calonge to the south , which has since grown together with Palamós.

S'Alguer (in front) and Castell beach (in the background), urban area of ​​Palamós

Attractions

Sports

Palamós is home to the football club FC Palamós, founded in 1898 .

sons and daughters of the town

One of the most famous residents of Palamós was Frederic Pujulà i Vallès , a pioneer of the planned language Esperanto .

Sub-locations

  • Palamós (9.231 inhabitants)
  • Sant Joan de Palamós (7,313 inhabitants)
  • Vila-romà (157 inhabitants)
  • El Figuerar (87 inhabitants)
  • La Fosca (23 inhabitants)
  • Cala Margarida (6 residents)
  • s'Alguer (0 inhabitants) Weekend settlement with around a dozen cottages right on the beach

Twin cities

Web links

Commons : Palamós  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
  2. History of the Palamós-Girona railway line (Spanish)