Ponferrada
Encyclopedia
León (province)
León is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.About one quarter of its population of 500,200 lives in the capital, León. The weather is cold and dry during the winter....
, Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
, 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...
. It lies on the Sil River
Sil River
The Sil is a river in León and Galicia, Spain, a tributary of the Miño. Its total length is 225 km. The source of the Sil is in the Cantabrian Mountains in the Leonese town of Villablino. It flows through the provinces of León and Ourense. The largest city on the Sil is Ponferrada...
, a tributary of the river Miño
Minho River
The Minho or Miño is the longest river in Galicia, Spain, with an extension of 340 km.Both names come from Latin Minius...
, in the El Bierzo
El Bierzo
El Bierzo is a shire in the province of León, Spain. The valley has the administrative status of comarca and its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital.- History :...
valley, completely surrounded by mountains. It is the last major town along the French route
The French Way
The French Way is the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James, the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side and then another 780km on to Santiago de...
of the Way of St. James
Way of St. James
The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried....
(Camino de Santiago) before it reaches its destination of Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
. In 2008, it had a population of 69,769.
History
In pre-Roman times the region was populated by the Astures, a Hispano-CelticHispano-Celtic language
Hispano-Celtic is a hypernym to include all the linguistic varieties of Celtic spoken in the Iberian Peninsula before the arrival of the Romans :...
Gallaecian people. They were conquered by Emperor Augustus in the Astur-Cantabrian Wars
Cantabrian Wars
The Cantabrian Wars occurred during the Roman conquest of the modern provinces of Cantabria, Asturias and León, against the Asturs and the Cantabri. They were the final stage of the conquest of Hispania.-Antecedents:...
(29
29 BC
Year 29 BC was either a common year starting on Friday or Saturday or a leap year starting on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Thursday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
-19 BC
19 BC
Year 19 BC was either a common year starting on Thursday, Friday or Saturday or a leap year starting on Thursday or Friday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
) and the area quickly became the largest mining center of the Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
during the Roman period, where gold and other metals and minerals were extracted. Numerous Roman mining sites are still visible in the area, one of the most spectacular being Las Médulas
Las Médulas
Las Médulas is a historical site near the town of Ponferrada in the region of El Bierzo , which used to be the most important gold mine in the Roman Empire...
, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Romans also imported grapevines, and wine production thrived in the region until the propagation of Phylloxera
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
at the end of the 19th century, which destroyed the majority of the vineyards.
The modern name of the city derives from the iron reinforcements added to the ancient bridge over the river Sil (Latin pons for "bridge" and ferrata for "iron"), commissioned by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to facilitate the crossing of the Sil River
Sil River
The Sil is a river in León and Galicia, Spain, a tributary of the Miño. Its total length is 225 km. The source of the Sil is in the Cantabrian Mountains in the Leonese town of Villablino. It flows through the provinces of León and Ourense. The largest city on the Sil is Ponferrada...
to pilgrims
Pilgrims
Pilgrims , or Pilgrim Fathers , is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States...
in their way to Santiago de Compostela
Way of St. James
The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried....
.
The railroad arrived in Ponferrada in 1881, and during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
local tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
deposits were exploited to supply the arms industry
Arms industry
The arms industry is a global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology and equipment. It comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military material, equipment and facilities...
. In 1918 the Ponferrada Mining, Iron and Steel Company () was founded to exploit coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
deposits in the region, and it grew to became Spain's largest coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
corporation. The Spanish National Energy Corporation (Endesa
Endesa (Spain)
Endesa, S.A. is the largest electric utility company in Spain. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, has 10 million customers in Spain, with domestic annual generation of over 97,600 GWh from nuclear, fossil-fueled, hydroelectric, and renewable resource power...
) was founded in 1944 and in 1949 it opened Spain's first coal-fueled power plant in Ponferrada, Compostilla I. In 1960 the Bárcena Dam () opened and by the second half of the 20th century the economy of the city was mainly based on mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and electricity generation
Electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
, both hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
and coal-fueled.
Starting in the late 1980s most mines were closed, and after the collapse of the mining industry Ponferrada was for a while in a crisis. However, in the late 1990s the city underwent a major transformation with the establishment in the city of several industrial and services firms, the reintroduction of commercial wine production, the opening of a local branch of the University of León offering several undergraduate degrees, and in general a radical improvement of the town's infrastructure. The economy is now based mainly on tourism, agriculture (fruit and wine), wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
generation and slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
mining, with a mild but constant population increase.
Important factors contributing to the recent boom of the tourism industry are the increasing popularity of the Way of St. James
Way of St. James
The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried....
' onMouseout='HidePop("26582")' href="/topics/Santiago_de_Compostela">Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
, Galicia), the designation in 1997 of Las Médulas as a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
and the development of rural tourism lodging and wineries in the area. The Energy City Foundation was established in Ponferrada in 2006 and is currently overseeing the construction of the National Energy Museum () in the city, as well as sponsoring several other initiatives that should further boost tourism and the economy of the city and its region.
Main Sights
Ponferrada lies in the Way of St. JamesWay of St. James
The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried....
, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and every year many pilgrims pass through the city in their way to Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
. Las Médulas
Las Médulas
Las Médulas is a historical site near the town of Ponferrada in the region of El Bierzo , which used to be the most important gold mine in the Roman Empire...
, ancient Roman gold mines also included in the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site List, are only a few kilometres away from the city.
Ponferrada is also noted for its Castillo de los Templarios, a Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
castle which covers approximately 16,000 square meters. In 1178, Ferdinand II of León
Ferdinand II of Leon
Ferdinand II was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to his death.-Life:Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and...
donated the city to the Templar order for protecting the pilgrims on the Way of St. James
Way of St. James
The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried....
who passed through El Bierzo
El Bierzo
El Bierzo is a shire in the province of León, Spain. The valley has the administrative status of comarca and its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital.- History :...
in their road to Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
.
The castle hosted the Knights Templar's Grand Master of Castille. However, the Templars were only able to enjoy the use of their fortress for about twenty years before the order was disbanded and its properties confiscated in 1311. Several noble houses fought over the assets until Alfonso XI alloted them to the Count of Lemos in 1340. Finally the Catholic Monarchs
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...
incorporated Ponferrada and its castle into the Crown in 1486. As with many other historical sites in Europe, many of the blocks that at one point formed the walls of the castle were removed and used in local construction projects. Extensive restoration works are ongoing.
The Basilica de la Encina is a church built in the Renaissance style in 1573. Its baroque tower dates from 1614.
The El Bierzo Museum () offers a tour of the history of the region and hosts several important archeological pieces, while the Museum of Radio () offers an interesting tour of the history of the radio in Spain. The National Energy Museum () is currently under construction, sponsored by the Energy City Foundation (). It will include the restored building and equipment of Compostilla I, Spain's first coal-fueled power plant opened in 1949 in Ponferrada.
The church of Santiago de Peñalba
Santiago de Peñalba
Santiago de Peñalba church is a Mozarabic church in the Valle del Silencio in the region of El Bierzo, close to Ponferrada, province of León, Community of Castile and León, Spain....
(an example of Mozarabic art), the Hermitage of Santo Tomás de las Ollas (10th century) and the Romanesque Church of Santa María de Vizbayo are also nearby.
Outdoor Activities
The city and its surroundings offer many opportunities for outdoor activities. There are many easily accessible hikingHiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
and cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
routes nearby, both on and off-road on
Road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling. It includes recreational, racing, and utility cycling. Road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same rules and laws as other vehicle drivers or riders and may also be vehicular cyclists....
and off-road
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
, including the 330 kilometer long La Mirada Circular which circles the whole El Bierzo
El Bierzo
El Bierzo is a shire in the province of León, Spain. The valley has the administrative status of comarca and its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital.- History :...
valley.
El Morredero peak (2135 m), 20 km from Ponferrada in the Aquilianos mountains
Montes Aquilanos
Montes Aquilanos, also known as Montes de El Bierzo and Alpes Bergidenses, is a mountain range within Montes de León, located to the south-southeast of the region of El Bierzo, pertaining to the Province of León in the autonomous region of Castile and León, Spain.It serves as border between the...
, hosts a small ski resort.
It is possible to visit many wineries in the area to try the local wines and food, or simply visit the vineyards.
Events
Ponferrada hosts its annual festival (Fiestas de La Encina) during the first week of September with many concerts and activities for adults and especially children, and in July it organises a very popular Templar Night in its Templar Castle (participants dress up and recreate town life during the 14th century). The city also organizes music and cinema festivals, and hosts the annual Golden Microphone () award ceremonyAward ceremony
An awards ceremony is an event and television programming genre where an award, of any type, is given to a person or people. Ceremonies are usually held at night, with guests wearing formal gowns and suits. They also usually have a host, with many categories for the awards. In the event that there...
.
Culture and Sports
Ponferrada has several primary and secondary educationEducation in Spain
The current system of education in Spain is known as LOE after the Ley Orgánica de Educación, or Fundamental Law of Education. Education in Spain is compulsory, and free from 6 to 16 years of age, supported by the Government in each Region....
centers, as well as a public language school
Language school
A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, but not limited to, communicative competence in a foreign language...
( Escuela Oficial de Idiomas
Escuela Oficial de Idiomas
A ' is a Spanish language school. Each autonomous community controls its language schools. The schools teach foreign languages as well as Spanish for non-Spanish speakers...
) which offers English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Galician
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
language courses. The city also hosts a University of León campus, which offers several undergraduate degrees, and a UNED
Uned
The Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia , is the only state-run Spanish distance-learning university, with headquarters in Madrid, Spain...
branch, which provides distance undergraduate education.
Theater productions perform regularly at the local Teatro Bergidum, and there is a local multiplex
Multiplex (movie theater)
A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens, typically three or more. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an...
cinema with seven screens. The city hosts regional (El Bierzo Museum) and radio (Museum of Radio) museums, and the National Energy Museum is currently under construction. Each year the city hosts music and cinema festivals, and hosts the annual Golden Microphone () award ceremony
Award ceremony
An awards ceremony is an event and television programming genre where an award, of any type, is given to a person or people. Ceremonies are usually held at night, with guests wearing formal gowns and suits. They also usually have a host, with many categories for the awards. In the event that there...
. These prizes are awarded by the Spanish Federation of Radio and Television Associations () to recognize the outstanding careers of radio professionals in Spain.
The local football team, SD Ponferradina
SD Ponferradina
Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, León, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
plays in the Spanish 2nd Division
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...
. The team had played for most of its history in the 2nd Division B
Segunda División B
Segunda División B is the third level of the Spanish football league system. It is administered by the RFEF. The top two levels are La Liga, also referred to as the Primera División, and the Segunda División. Immediately below Segunda División B is the Tercera Division...
and 3rd Division
Tercera División
Tercera División is the fourth level of the Spanish football league system. The top three are the Primera División, often referred to as "La Liga" in English, the Segunda División, and Segunda División B.-Current Format:...
of the Spanish Football League, however in the 2006-07 season the team was promoted for the first time to the 2nd Division
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...
, quite an achievement for a medium sized city. After only one season it was relegated to the 2nd Division B
Segunda División B
Segunda División B is the third level of the Spanish football league system. It is administered by the RFEF. The top two levels are La Liga, also referred to as the Primera División, and the Segunda División. Immediately below Segunda División B is the Tercera Division...
, but in 2010 the team once again achieved promotion to 2nd Division
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...
, where it currently plays. There are many intramural and regional leagues in football and other sports, including basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, futsal
Futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...
, and athletics.
There are many hiking routes nearby, including the 330 kilometer long La Mirada Circular, which circles the whole El Bierzo
El Bierzo
El Bierzo is a shire in the province of León, Spain. The valley has the administrative status of comarca and its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital.- History :...
valley. Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
is also very popular, as the valley provides opportunities to exercise in both flat and inclined terrain, on
Road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling. It includes recreational, racing, and utility cycling. Road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same rules and laws as other vehicle drivers or riders and may also be vehicular cyclists....
and off-road
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
.
In September 21, 2011, Ponferrada was appointed to organize the 2014 UCI Road World Championships
2014 UCI Road World Championships
The 2014 UCI Road World Championships will take place in Ponferrada, Spain, from the 13th to the 21th September 2014. The event consists of a road race and a time trial for men, women, men under 23 and the junior men and junior women. It will be the 81th Road World Championships and the seventh...
.
Transportation
Ponferrada is easily accessible by highway (Autovía A-6Autovía A-6
The Autovía A-6 or Autopista AP-6 is a Spanish autovía and autopista route which starts in Madrid and ends in Arteixo ....
) and intercity public transportation is readily available, as several daily ALSA
ALSA (bus company)
ALSA is a Spanish subsidiary of the UK company National Express Group, which operates bus and coach services in Spain and other countries across Europe, including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,...
bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
services and RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
passenger trains link the city with major population centers in 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...
and the rest of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. León Airport
León Airport
León Airport , is an international airport located from Léon, Spain. In 2007, the airport handled 161,705 passengers, 7,328 operations and 300 kilograms of cargo.-History:...
is the closest, while airports in Santiago
Santiago de Compostela Airport
Santiago de Compostela Airport - Lavacolla is one of the three international airports in Galicia, Spain. It is located in Lavacolla, a town in the outskirts of Galicia's capital city, Santiago de Compostela. In 2010, 2,172,869 passengers passed through it....
, A Coruña
A Coruña Airport
A Coruña Airport , formerly known as Alvedro Airport, is the airport serving the Galician city of A Coruña in northwestern Spain. The airport is located in the municipality of Culleredo, approximately from the city center. It is a part of the network of airports managed by Aena, a Spanish...
, Asturias
Asturias Airport
Asturias Airport, is the main airport of Asturias, Spain, in Castrillón.Asturias airport is located in Santiago del Monte, municipality of Castrillon, 15 km from Avilés, 40 km from Gijón and 47 km from Oviedo....
, Valladolid
Valladolid Airport
Valladolid Airport is an airport situated in the municipality of Villanubla, ten kilometres northwest of Valladolid, Spain.The new passenger terminal was inaugurated in 2000, and its main features are its clean, functional design, emphasised by spaciousness and numerous aesthetically pleasing...
and Madrid Barajas provide alternative options for national and international air travel
Air travel
Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliding, parachuting or anything else that can sustain flight.-Domestic and international flights:...
.
Notable people
- Enrique Gil y Carrasco, writer
- Luis del Olmo, radio journalist
- Valentín García YebraValentín García YebraValentín García Yebra , was a Spanish philologist, translator and translation scholar.-Biography:...
, renowned translator and member of the Royal Spanish Academy
External links
- Official website
- Jubilee - Way of St. James
- Las Médulas Foundation
- Denominación de Origen Bierzo, a protected designation of originProtected designation of originProtected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...
for the local wineWineWine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
. - León Airport