Palanques
Encyclopedia
Palanques is a small town and municipality
located at the northern end of the Ports comarca
, province of Castelló, part of the autonomous community of Valencia, Spain
. According to the 2009 census, it has a total population of 35 inhabitants. It is located near Morella.
The town's main church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary
and the Ermita de la Verge dels Dolors is a small church dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows
that lies within the town's municipal limit.
town until nearby Morella was conquered by James I of Aragon
in the 13th century. There are remains of an ancient tower in the town's main square.
The town has lost much population in the last 100 years; it had 249 habitants in 1900 and 1.133 in 1950. After the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices, like dryland farming
and sheep and goat
rearing, by the local youth and General Franco's Plan de Estabilización in 1959 the population has declined progressively as people emigrated towards the industrial areas of Barcelona
and coastal Castelló Province in search of jobs.
By 2000 Palanques had only a residual population of 21 habitants. Nowadays some of the houses of the town are in ruins and others have been converted into summer house
s. Palanques revives during the summer season when many former residents return to the town to spend the holidays, for its climate is continental with mild temperatures on summer nights.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
located at the northern end of the Ports comarca
Ports (comarca)
Ports is a comarca in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. It mostly overlaps the historical comarca known as Ports de Morella , except for the municipal areas surrounding Catí and Vilafranca that were excluded from the present-day Ports...
, province of Castelló, part of the autonomous community of Valencia, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. According to the 2009 census, it has a total population of 35 inhabitants. It is located near Morella.
The town's main church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary
Assumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
and the Ermita de la Verge dels Dolors is a small church dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life...
that lies within the town's municipal limit.
History
Palanques was a MuslimMoors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
town until nearby Morella was conquered by James I of Aragon
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror was the King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276...
in the 13th century. There are remains of an ancient tower in the town's main square.
The town has lost much population in the last 100 years; it had 249 habitants in 1900 and 1.133 in 1950. After the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices, like dryland farming
Dryland farming
Dryland farming is an agricultural technique for non-irrigated cultivation of drylands.-Locations:Dryland farming is used in the Great Plains, the Palouse plateau of Eastern Washington, and other arid regions of North America, the Middle East and in other grain growing regions such as the steppes...
and sheep and goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
rearing, by the local youth and General Franco's Plan de Estabilización in 1959 the population has declined progressively as people emigrated towards the industrial areas of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and coastal Castelló Province in search of jobs.
By 2000 Palanques had only a residual population of 21 habitants. Nowadays some of the houses of the town are in ruins and others have been converted into summer house
Summer house
A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places...
s. Palanques revives during the summer season when many former residents return to the town to spend the holidays, for its climate is continental with mild temperatures on summer nights.