Centro, Casco Histórico, Delicias, Universidad, San José, Las Fuentes, La Almozara, Oliver-Valdefierro, Torrero-La Paz, Actur-Rey Fernando, El Rabal, Casablanca, Santa Isabel, Miralbueno, Sur, Distrito Rural
On 1 January 2021, the population of the municipality of Zaragoza was 675,301,[6] (as of 2023, the fourth or fifth most populous in Spain) on a land area of 973.78 square kilometres (375.98 square miles). It is the 26th most populous municipality in the European Union. The population of the metropolitan area was estimated in 2006 at 783,763 inhabitants. The municipality is home to more than 50 percent of the Aragonese population. The city lies at an elevation of about 208 metres (682 feet) above sea level.
The Iberian town that preceded Roman colonisation was called Salduie[7] or Salduba.[8] The Romans and Greeks called the ancient city Caesaraugusta (in Greek Καισαραυγοῦστα, Kaisaraugoûsta),[9][10] from which derive the Arabic name سرقسطةSaraqusṭa (used during the Al-Andalus period), the medieval Çaragoça, and the modern Zaragoza.
Augustus founded the city as Caesaraugusta between 25 BC and 11 BC[11] as a colony to settle army veterans from the Cantabrian wars. As a Roman city, it had all the typical public buildings: forum, baths, theatre, and was an important economic centre. Many Roman ruins can still be seen in Zaragoza today.
Map of Zaragoza (Saraqusta) during the Muslim rule, superimposed on the current city (light grey)
Despite the general decline of the last centuries of the Roman empire, Zaragoza suffered little. Capture by the Goths in the fifth century CE was without significant bloodshed or destruction.[5]
On 18 December 1118, Alfonso I of Aragon conquered the city from the Almoravids,[16] and made it the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon.[17] The aforementioned monarch created a jurisdictional dominion in the city, which was gifted to Gaston of Béarn.[18] The city remained a lordship up until the early 13th century.[19]
There was a Jewish community in medieval Zaragoza, a notable center where yeshivas also incorporated the study of philosophy alongside Talmud studies.[20]
Early Modern history
An outbreak of bubonic plague decimated the city in 1564.[21] It reportedly killed about 10,000 people out of an estimated population of 25–30,000.[22]
In the context of the 1701–1714 War of Spanish Succession, the city rose in arms in favour of the Archduke Charles, who was proclaimed "King of Aragon" in the city on 29 June 1706, following the uprising of other parts of the Kingdom of Aragon in December 1705.[23] Charles entered the city in July 1706, directing the attack on those places of Aragon that had sided with the Bourbon faction such as Borja or the Cinco Villas.[24] Following the April 1707 battle at Almansa, the tide turned with the Austracist forces fleeing in disarray, and the Bourbon forces commanded by the Duke of Orléans entering the city on 26 May 1707.[25] As he seized control of the kingdom, he began to enact the series of institutional reforms known as the Nueva Planta, abolishing the Aragonese institutions in favour of the Castilian ones.[25] The war turned around again in 1710 after the Battle of Almenar, and, following another Bourbon defeat near Zaragoza on 20 August 1710, Archduke Charles returned to the city on the next day.[24] This was for only a brief period, though, as following the entry of Philip V in Madrid and the ensuing Battle of Villaviciosa in December 1710, the Habsburg armies fled from Zaragoza in haste in December 1710 and Philip V proceeded to consolidate his rule over the kingdom of Aragon, resuming administrative reforms after a period of institutional void.[26]
An important food riot caused by the high price of bread and other necessity goods[27] took place in the city in April 1766, the so-called motín de los broqueleros, named after the repressive agents, volunteer farmers and craftsmen who wielded swords and bucklers (broqueles).[28] The repression left about 300 wounded, 200 detainees and 8 deaths and it was followed by 17 public executions, and an indeterminate number of killings at the dungeons of the Aljafería.[29]
Late Modern history
Assault of the French Army at Santa Engracia Monastery on 8 February 1809 during the Peninsular War. Oil on canvas, 1827.
Zaragoza suffered two famous sieges during the Peninsular War against the Napoleonic army: a first from June to August 1808; and a second from December 1808 to February 1809, surrendering only after some 50,000 defenders had died.[30]
Railway transport came to Zaragoza on 16 September 1861 with the inauguration of the Barcelona–Zaragoza line with the arrival of a train from the former city to the Estación del Norte.[31] The Madrid–Zaragoza line was opened a year and a half later, on 16 May 1863.[31]
The July 1936 coup d'état (with Gen. Miguel Cabanellas, Col. Monasterio [es], Urrutia [es], Sueiro [es], Major Cebollero and Gen.Gregorio de Benito [es] at the centre of the Mola-led conspiration in Zaragoza) triumphed in the city.[32] After the military uprising in Africa on 17 July, the military command easily attained its objectives in Zaragoza in the early morning of 19 July,[33] despite the city's status as stronghold of organised labour (mostly CNT anarcho-syndicalists but also UGT trade unionists), as the civil governor critically refused to give weapons to the people in time.[34] Many refugees, including members of the provincial committees of parties and unions, fled to Caspe, the capital of the territory of Aragon, which was still controlled by the Republic.[35]
Falange members in front of the Basilica of El Pilar (12 October 1936)
The rearguard violence committed by the putschists, with at least 12 murders on 19 July, would only go in crescendo along the beginning of the conflict.[36] Thus one of the two big cities under Rebel control since the early stages of the Spanish Civil War along Seville, Zaragoza profited from an increasing industrial production vis-à-vis the war economy,[37] playing a key role for the Francoist faction as ammunition manufacturer.[38]
Following the declaration of Zaragoza as Polo de Desarrollo Industrial ("Pole for Industrial Development") by the regime in 1964, the city doubled in population in a short time.[40] The increase in population ran parallel to the rural flight and depopulation in the rest of Aragon.[39]
In 1979, a fire at the Hotel Corona de Aragón fire killed at least 80 people, including members of the family of Francisco Franco.[41] The armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization ETA carried out the Zaragoza barracks bombing in 1987 which killed eleven people, including a number of children, leading to 250,000 people taking part in demonstrations in the city.[42]
Since 1982, the city has been home to a large factory built by General Motors for the production of Opel cars, some of which are exported to the United Kingdom and sold under the Vauxhall brand. The city took advantage of the entry of Spain into the European Communities (later European Union).[43]
Geography
Location
Zaragoza, as seen by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2Zaragoza sheet of MTN50 (Spain's National Topographic Map at 1:50,000 scale), at its first digital edition (year 2006).
Zaragoza lies in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula, in the rather arid depression formed by the valley of the Ebro. The Ebro cuts across the city in a west north-west by east south-east direction, entering the municipality at 205 metres above sea level and exiting the municipality at a level of 180 metres above sea level.[44]
The city enjoys a beneficial location at the geographical centre of the rough hexagon formed by the Spanish cities of Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona and the French cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse.[43]
The municipality has a surface of 973.78 km2 (375.98 sq mi),[45] making it the ninth largest municipality in Spain.[46]
While the river banks are largely flat, the territory flanking them can display a rugged terrain, featuring muelas and escarpments.[47] The surrounding elevations rise up to heights of about 600–750 metres above sea level.[44] The locations near the meanders of the Ebro feature some sinkholes formed upon the subsidence of the gypsum-rich soil, that can form ponds fed from irrigation water.[47] There is also an instance of seasonal endorheic lagoon, la Sulfúrica, in the moors located in the southern part of the municipality.[47]
The Roman core of Caesaraugusta was founded on the right bank of the Ebro, with the north-east corner limiting the confluence of the Ebro with the Huerva river, a modest right-bank tributary of the Ebro.[48] The Huerva runs through the city buried for much of its lower course.[49] Zaragoza is also located near the confluence of the Ebro with the Gállego, a more voluminous left-bank tributary born in the Pyrenees.[50]
Climate
Zaragoza has a semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk),[51] as it lies in a wide basin entirely surrounded by mountains which block off moist air from the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The average annual precipitation is a scanty 328 millimetres (12.9 in) with abundant sunny days, and the rainiest seasons are spring (April–May) and autumn (September–November), with a relative drought in summer (July–August) and winter (December–March).
Temperatures in summer are hot, and in winter a cold and dry wind blows from the northwest, the Cierzo. Night frost is common and there is sporadic snowfall. Fog can be persistent in late autumn and early winter.
Climate data for Zaragoza Airport, altitude 263m (1991-2020), extremes (1942-present)
According to a survey carried out by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) in 2019 with a sample size of 300, 51.0% of the surveyed people described themselves as non-practising Catholic, 24.0% as practising Catholic, 6.7% as indifferent/non-believer, 5.0% as agnostic, 4.3% as atheist and 2.3% as "other religions", while a 6.7% did not answer.[56]
Immigration
In 2017, there were 64,003 foreign citizens in Zaragoza,[57] which represent 9.6% of the total population. From 2010 to 2017 immigration dropped from 87,735 to 64,003 people, a 27% drop. Romanians represent 29.8% of foreigners living in Zaragoza, or 2.9% of the total city population, followed by Moroccans (9.1%) and Chinese (7%).
An Opel factory was opened in 1982 in Figueruelas, a small village nearby. The automotive industry is a main pillar of the regional economy along with Balay, which manufactures household appliances; CAF, which builds railway rolling stock for both the national and international markets; SAICA and Torraspapel in the stationery sector; and various other local companies, such as Pikolin, Lacasa, and Imaginarium SA. [citation needed]
The city's economy benefited from projects like the Expo 2008, the official World's Fair, whose theme was water and sustainable development, held between 14 June and 14 September 2008, Plataforma Logística de Zaragoza (PLAZA), and the Parque Tecnológico de Reciclado (PTR). Furthermore, since December 2003, it has been a city through which the AVE high-speed rail travels. Currently, Zaragoza Airport is a major cargo hub in the Iberian Peninsula, behind only Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon.
Zaragoza is home to a Spanish Air and Space Force base, which was shared with the U.S. Air Force until 1992.[58] In English, the base was known as Zaragoza Air Base. The Spanish Air Force maintained a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet wing at the base. No American flying wings (with the exception of a few KC-135s) were permanently based there, but it served as a training base for American fighter squadrons across Europe. It also hosts the main Spanish Army academy, Academia General Militar, a number of brigades at San Gregorio, and other garrisons.[59]
Culture
Christianity took root in Zaragoza at an early date.[60] According to legend, St. Mary appeared miraculously to Saint James the Great in Zaragoza in the first century, standing on a pillar. This apparition is commemorated by a famous Catholic basilica called Nuestra Señora del Pilar ('Our Lady of the Pillar').[61]
The Aragonese language, in decline for centuries and restricted mostly to northern Aragon, has recently attracted more people in the region. Thus, nowadays, in Zaragoza, up to 7,000 people speak Aragonese.[62]
Festivals
Offering of Fruits at the Fiestas del Pilar
The annual Fiestas del Pilar lasts for nine days, with its main day on 12 October. This date also coincides with Spain's national holiday, El Día de la Hispanidad (Day of Hispanicity), which celebrates Spain's cultural and historical ties with Hispanic America.[63] October 12 also corresponds to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.
There are many activities during the festival, from the massively attended pregon (opening speech) to the final fireworks display over the Ebro; they also include marching bands, dances such as jota aragonesa (the most popular folk music dance), a procession of gigantes y cabezudos, concerts, exhibitions, vaquillas, bullfights, fairground amusements, and fireworks. Some of the most important events are the Ofrenda de Flores, or Flower Offering to St. Mary of the Pillar, on 12 October, when an enormous surface resembling a cloak for St. Mary is covered with flowers, and the Ofrenda de Frutos on 13 October, when all the autonomous communities of Spain offer their typical regional dishes to St. Mary and donate them to soup kitchens.
Holy Week in Zaragoza, although not as elaborate an affair as its Andalusian or Bajo Aragón counterparts, has several processions passing through the city centre every day with dramatic sculptures, black-dressed praying women and hundreds of hooded people playing drums. It has been a Festival of International Tourist Interest since 2014.[64]
Education
The University of Zaragoza is based in the city. As one of the oldest universities in Spain and a major research and development centre, this public university awards all the highest academic degrees in dozens of fields. Zaragoza is also home to the MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program, a unique partnership between MIT, the Government of Aragon and the University of Zaragoza.
Zaragoza's Third Millennium Bridge spans the Ebro and is the world's largest concrete tied-arch bridge, with six traffic lanes, two bike lanes, and two glass-enclosed walkways for pedestrians.[65]
The city is connected by motorway with the main cities in central and northern Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Bilbao, all of which are located about 300 kilometres (200 miles) from Zaragoza.
Buses
The city has a network of buses which is controlled by the Urban Buses of Zaragoza (AUZSA). The network consists of 31 regular lines (two of them circle lines), two scheduled routes, six shuttle buses (one free), and seven night buses operating on Fridays, Saturdays and other festivities.[66] Zaragoza also has an interurban bus network operated by Transport Consortium Zaragoza Area (CTAZ) that operates 17 regular lines.[67]
Bicycle
Zaragoza's bicycle lanes facilitate non-motorised travel and help cyclists to avoid running into pedestrians and motor vehicles. The city council also has a public bicycle-hire scheme, the bizi zaragoza, which has an annual charge.
Tram
The first line of the Zaragoza tram (Valdespartera-Parque Goya) is fully operational.
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Zaragoza, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 48 minutes. 9% of public transit riders ride for more than two hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 11 minutes, while 12% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 4.2 km (2.6 mi), while 5% travel over 12 km (7.5 mi) in a single direction.[69]
Sports
Football
A 2013 La Liga fixture in La Romareda vs Real Madrid
Zaragoza's main football team, Real Zaragoza, plays in the Segunda División. Founded on 18 March 1932, its home games are played at La Romareda, which seats 34,596 spectators. The club has spent the majority of its history in La Liga. One of the most remarkable events in the team's recent history is the winning of the former UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1995. The team has also won the Spanish National Cup, Copa del Rey, six times: 1965, 1966, 1986, 1994, 2001 and 2004 and an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1964). A government survey in 2007 found that 2.7% of the Spanish population support the club, making them the seventh-most supported in the country.
The main basketball team, Basket Zaragoza, known as Casademont Zaragoza for sponsorship reasons, plays in the Liga ACB. They play their home games at the Pabellón Principe Felipe with a capacity of 10,744.
Stadium Casablanca, a.k.a. Mann Filter for sponsorship reasons, is the Spanish women's basketball club from Zaragoza that plays in the Primera Division.
The Spanish Baja or Baja Aragon is a Rally raid event held in the region of Aragon in northern Spain. This event was launched in 1983, and chose the desert of Monegros because of the scenery and availability of service infrastructure in Zaragoza.
Near the basilica on the banks of the Ebro are located the city hall, the Lonja (old currency exchange), La Seo (literally 'the See' in the Aragonese language) or Cathedral of San Salvador, a church built over the main mosque (partially preserved in the 11th-century north wall of the Parroquieta), with Romanesque apses from the 12th century; inside, the imposing hall church from the 15th to 16th centuries, the Baroque tower, and finally, with its famous Museum of Tapestries near the Roman ruins of forum and port city wall.
Also in the city centre, there is the palace of the Aljafería, conceived in the third quarter of the 11th century on behalf of the Hudid dynasty, featuring in its interior one of the most rich and complex instances of ornamental Islamic art, either Western or Eastern.[71] It currently serves as the site of the Aragonese parliament.
The churches of San Pablo, Santa María Magdalena and San Gil Abad were built in the 14th century, but the towers may be old minarets dating from the 11th century; San Miguel (14th century); Santiago (San Ildefonso) and the Fecetas monastery are Baroque with Mudéjar ceilings of the 17th century. All the churches are Mudéjar monuments that comprise a World Heritage Site.[72]
Other important sights are the stately houses and palaces in the city, mainly of the 16th century: palaces of the count of Morata or Luna (Audiencia), Deán, Torrero (colegio de Arquitectos), Don Lope or Real Maestranza, count of Sástago, count of Argillo (today the Pablo Gargallo museum), archbishop, etc. On 14 June 2008, the site of Expo 2008 opened its doors to the public. The exhibition ran until 14 September.
Abraham Abulafia (1240–1291), founder of the school of "Prophetic Kabbalah"
Alonso Fernández de Heredia (died March 19, 1782), Captain General and governor of Honduras (1747), Florida (1751–1758), Yucatán (in modern-day Mexico; 1758–?), the Captaincy General of Guatemala (1761–1771) and Nicaragua (1761–1771).
^Sivan, H.; S. Keay; R. Mathisen; DARMC, R.; Talbert, S.; Gillies, J.; Åhlfeldt; J. Becker; T. Elliott. "Places: 246344 (Col. Caesaraugusta)". Pleiades. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
^It is nowadays thought likely that she died during the earlier persecution. It was previously assumed that she had been killed during the Diocletian persecution in around 303 under the prefect Dacian.
^Marciano, Yoel (2019). Sages of Spain in the Eye of the Storm: Jewish Scholars of Late Medieval Spain (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Bialik. p. 231. ISBN978-965-536-266-4.
^"Puente del Tercer Milenio – Third Millennium Bridge". Discover Monuments, Zaragoza. Sociedad Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas, S.A. (SEGITTUR). Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
^"Avanza Zaragoza". www.urbanosdezaragoza.es. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
^Robinson, Cynthia (2012). "Los idiomas del ornamento: la Aljafería y la Alhambra"(PDF). La Aljafería y el arte del islam occidental en el siglo XI: Actas del Seminario Internacional celebrado en Zaragoza los días 1, 2 y 3 de diciembre de 2004. Institución "Fernando el Católico" (C.S.I.C.), Excma. Diputación de Zaragoza. pp. 179, 181. ISBN978-84-9911-207-7.
^Fortnight - Issues 440-448 - Page 23 2006 "Constraints of time, space and blisters explain the omission of Paul Mckinley at OMAC, Felix Anaut at the Arttank and the Disembodied Eye at the Golden Thread."
Adiego Adiego, Elvira (2002). "Visión histórica y urbana de los ríos en Zaragoza"(PDF). In Cal Nicolás, Pablo de la; Pellicer Corellano, Francisco (eds.). Ríos y ciudades: aportaciones para la recuperación de los ríos y riberas de Zaragoza. Institución "Fernando el Católico", Excma. Diputación de Zaragoza. pp. 251–272. ISBN84-7820-606-X.
Corral Lafuente, José Luis (2008). "El diseño urbano de la Zaragoza islámica"(PDF). Revista del Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islámicos. XXXVI. Madrid: Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islámicos: 191–213. ISSN1132-3485. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
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