Torrelavega

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Torrelavega
View of Torrelavega
View of Torrelavega
coat of arms Map of Spain
Torrelavega coat of arms
Torrelavega (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : CantabriaCantabria Cantabria
Comarca : Besaya
Coordinates 43 ° 21 ′  N , 4 ° 0 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 21 ′  N , 4 ° 0 ′  W
Height : 25  msnm
Area : 35.5 km²
Residents : 51,494 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 1,450.54 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 39300
Municipality number  ( INE ): 39087
administration
Mayor : José Manuel Cruz Viadero
Website : www.aytotorrelavega.es
Location of the city
Municipality of Torrelavega (Cantabria) .png
Torrelavega Town Hall

Torrelavega is a city in the Cantabrian Autonomous Region in northern Spain . It is an industrial and economic center of the region and the county seat of Besaya County. Over ten percent of the Cantabrians live in Torrelavega.

geography

Torrelavega is surrounded by the municipalities of Cartes , Los Corrales de Buelna , Cieza , Arenas de Iguña , Bárcena de Pie de Concha , Molledo , Anievas and San Felices de Buelna , it is eight kilometers from the coast and 27.5 km from the provincial capital of Santander away. The city is on the edge of a mountain range. The municipality is between 12 and 606 meters above sea ​​level . The Saja and Besaya rivers converge in the city.

In the area are north: Santillana del Mar , Suances and Polanco, south: Los Corrales de Buelna and San Felices de Buelna, east: Piélagos and Puente Viesgo and west: Reocín and Cartes.

history

Several caves with rock paintings from ancient times , of which Puente Viesgo is the best known, testify to the prehistoric settlement of the region . You are at the top of Dobra, which is also the highest point in the city (606 m above sea level).

Torrelavega was at the end of the 13th century by Garcilaso I de la Vega the Elder, Adelantado Mayor of the Castilian Kingdom , on behalf of Alfonso XI. founded.

The place name results from the contraction of "Torre de la Vega". Leonor de la Vega, daughter of Garcilaso II. De la Vega, the younger, and mother of Íñigo López de Mendoza , Marqués de Santillana, had this tower (torre) or castle built in order to secure the privileges and tax collection in the domain of the family .

In the Middle Ages, Torrelavega was a trading center and trading center, where products from Castile and overseas were traded for import and export. However, due to industrialization, the city has completely lost its role as a trading city.

Torrelavega is an example of the emergence of a social hotspot due to urban planning errors. At the height of mining, huge working-class quarters were built for the employees of the mines and processing plants. Most of the mines have been closed due to rising costs of raw material extraction and cheap competition from Asia. The economic restructuring of the region is promoted by means of EU - funding to successful modern service industries and high-tech industry. However, the qualified personnel for these new, well-paid jobs could not be recruited from the group of former miners and industrial workers. Most of them couldn't find work on site and some of them have left the city. Most of the vacant apartments were occupied by immigrants from Latin America and Eastern Europe, who, however, find it difficult to integrate into society, while the financially better off have left the city center and live in new housing estates outside the city. On the one hand, Torrelavega is a prosperous regional economic engine that offers jobs for a considerable part of the region, on the other hand, there is an inner-city social hotspot with a population that is not integrated into the local labor market.

economy

Torrelavega is the second largest economic center of the autonomous region of Cantabria after Santander . Torrelavega is also a congress and trade fair city.

Besaya County is one of three industrial locations in Cantabria . International industrial groups such as esco , Solvay , Sniace and Firestone are represented here and attract many workers from the area. Zinc was mined up to 2003 . In 2003, 9.47% of the Cantabrian GDP was generated in Torrelavega, which was only exceeded by the provincial capital Santander (39.18%) and reached 0.6% more than in 2000 (then 8.87%).

Since the city is surrounded by large chemical companies instead of fields and the service sector also plays a major role, agriculture is practically absent in Torrelavega. The city is only home to the Torrelavega National Cattle Market , one of four large cattle markets in Spain where butchers and farmers buy cattle for breeding and slaughter.

traffic

Attractions

Even if the city is not far from the sea, it is an industrial city that is completely uninteresting for a vacationer to visit and consequently remains unmentioned in some travel guides. However, there are a few old churches and industrial plants that are listed buildings.

Natural resources

  • On the Dobra mountain you have a good view of the city area at a height of 200 m.
  • The Viesca Park on the banks of the Besaya River serves as a local recreation area, and the Manuel Barquín and Pedrosa parks serve as green lungs in the city.
  • The Besaya and Saja rivers converge in this city and run through a dune landscape into the Cantabrian Sea . The Besaya River is one of the largest rivers in Cantabria and has its source in the Campoo region near Reinosa .
  • Flora and fauna

Since the city is located on a river delta and is not far from the coast, it is home to many species of seabirds that are a hygiene problem. Attempts are made to solve this problem by systematically planting trees and technical equipment to attract these birds to other places.

Culture

In mid-August, the place celebrates the festival in honor of the Virgen Grande with a beautiful flower gala and a carriage parade.

Educational institutions

Torrelavega has the University of Cantabria Faculty of Law (Campus de la sección de Relaciones Laborales de la Facultad de Derecho de Cantabria) and a college of mining . There is also a language school that offers French, English and German courses. There is also a music conservatory .

gastronomy

Torrelavega is known for polkas, a puff pastry cake with a sweet cream.

Sports

Town twinning

Sister cities of Torrelavega are Rochefort (Charente-Maritime) in France, La Habana Vieja in Cuba and Zug in the Democratic Arab Republic of the Sahara .

Born in Torrelavega

Web links

Commons : Torrelavega  - 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).