Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Sanlúcar de Barrameda or simply Sanlúcar is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.

1 Demographics
2 History
3 Tourism
4 People
5 External links

[edit] Demographics

Demographic evolution of Sanlúcar de Barrameda between 1999 and 2005
1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
61,648	61,966	61,737	61,908	62,308	62,662	63,187

Source: INE (Spain)

[edit] History

After Sanlúcar de Barrameda was reconquered by King Alfonso X of Castile in 1264, it was again reconstituted in the 13th century, becoming in the 15th and 16th centuries one of the most important ports of the trade which connected the Atlantic with the Mediterranean. Sanlúcar also borders Doñana National Park and is known for its seafood and manzanilla as well as a popular tourist resort with various hotels.

Sanlúcar de Barrameda from the mouth of the Guadalquivir river

Sanlúcar became a port of reference and departure for various Spanish conquistadors after the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, who on May 30, 1498 left for his third trip from Sanlúcar. Another historical departure was that of Ferdinand Magellan on August 10, 1519, with a fleet of five ships under his command that left Seville and traveled south from the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda at the mouth of the rivers, where they remained more than five weeks. Salucar also wirnessed the arrival in 1522 of the last surviving ship led by Juan Sebastián Elcano, the first ship to circumnavegate Earth. Alonso Fernández de Lugo, conqueror of the Canary Islands of La Palma (1492) and Tenerife (1495) and subsequent governor of these islands, was born in Sanlúcar.

[edit] Tourism

Sanlúcar de Barrameda is one of Spain's three better known sherry-producing towns. Having a visit on its centenary cellars is a must for any wine lover.

The seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda is also home of the oldest horse races in Spain and some of the oldest in Europe. The races take place along the beach at the mouth of the river Guadalquivir every August with the sight of thousand of people and the presence of a beautiful sunset. These were the first-ever regulated horse races in Spain. Riders wear colours and caps and the distances covered are 1500 and 1800 metres.

Image:Paseo.jpg Sanlúcar is a paradise for those who love to eat and drink snacks, one of the better opportunities is the Sanlúcar Tapas Fair, a competition of the local gastronomy where the winner is the visitor. Other events are : Feria de la Manzanilla in early June which leads up to the Noches de Bajo de Guía flamenco season, classical and jazz festivals and the occasional top rate concert and of course Rocio pilgrimage , one of the most popular pilgrimages that can be compared in importance with the Santiago pilgrimage or Lourdes pilgrimage.

This city has a lot of reminiscences of its relation with the history with numerous monuments, such as the castle of Santiago, from the 15th century; the palace of the Infantes of Orleans and Borbón, present site of the City Hall; the church of Nuestra Señora de la O; the palace of the dukes of Sidonia, which at present houses the municipal archives; and the convent of Santo Domingo, from the 16th century.

[edit] People

Inhabitants of Sanlucar, named "Sanluqueños", are calm people, who like to celebrate any event in company of friends. This may be an inheritance of Muslims, but the conjunction of a mild weather, a gastronomy based on local products and the way of living, explains why Sanlucar is one of the places with more festivities in Spain.

People in Sanlúcar use to work in primary activities related with the agriculture (mainly in grape fields) and fishing the local fauna (famous Sanlúcar prawn). New times arrives trying to move people to new activities. With some kind of resignation, this people has found themselves trying to adapt to the tourists, new ways of agriculture, like the flower’s greenhouses, and bit by bit become integrated in the world.

This two activities (agriculture and fishing) were located in different parts of the town and until the modernization in the last decades, makes a big distinction between the people living in each area.

People living near the sea, in the area known as Bajo de Guía, where exclusively dedicated to the fishing. Nowadays these people combine the effort of fishing with restaurants that makes the menu with fish and seafood fished just the day before.

People living in the high part of the town or Barrio Alto, used to dedicate themselves to agricultural activities, nowadays this sector requires less manpower throughout the year, and most farm workers do temporary jobs during the grape harvest in vineyards around Sanlúcar, Jerez de la Frontera and Puerto de Santa María, the so-called Sherry’s Triangle.

The town centre developed as a trade area, with a particular architecture combining historical buildings (monastery, churches, etc) with newly created ones. This part of the city grew around the bourgeoisie and aristocracy at the beginning of the 20th Century. Sanlúcar was then a popular beach resort. The social classes living in this area are generally link to the local winemaking bourgeoisie and tourist industry.

[edit] External links

City's official home page
Infosanlucar.com Digital mass media of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Updated daily.
Curiosities and anecdotes

Değiştir	Cádiz'in Belediyeleri	Image:Flag of Andalusia (simple).svg
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