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Rota, Spain
 
 
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Rota is a town of approximately 27,000 people in the Andalusia
Andalusia

Andalusia is a country in the Spanish State. It is the most populous and the second largest, in terms of land area, of the seventeen autonomous communities of the Spain....
 region of Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, located in Cádiz
Cádiz (province)

C?diz is a Provinces of Spain of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain of Andalusia, the southernmost part of continental Western Europe....
 province, across the Bay of Cádiz
Bay of Cadiz

Bay of Cadiz can refer to the following places:*Bay of C?diz, a body of water off the province of C?diz, Spain*Bay of C?diz , a comarca in the province of C?diz, Spain...
 from the city of that name. Rota is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Sanl?car de Barrameda is a city in the northwest of C?diz , part of the autonomous communities of Spain of Andalusia in southern Spain. Sanl?car is located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir....
, and El Puerto de Santa María
El Puerto de Santa María

El Puerto de Santa Mar?a is a city located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of C?diz , Spain. According to the 2005 census, the city has a population of 82,306, of which 50,000 live in the urban center, and the remainder in the surrounding areas....
. It is located on the Atlantic coast, approximately halfway between Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 and Gibraltar
Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory shares a border with Spain to the north....
.

aeological evidence suggests that there was a Bronze Age
Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistory, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifact s....
 settlement on the present site of Rota.






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Rota is a town of approximately 27,000 people in the Andalusia
Andalusia

Andalusia is a country in the Spanish State. It is the most populous and the second largest, in terms of land area, of the seventeen autonomous communities of the Spain....
 region of Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, located in Cádiz
Cádiz (province)

C?diz is a Provinces of Spain of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain of Andalusia, the southernmost part of continental Western Europe....
 province, across the Bay of Cádiz
Bay of Cadiz

Bay of Cadiz can refer to the following places:*Bay of C?diz, a body of water off the province of C?diz, Spain*Bay of C?diz , a comarca in the province of C?diz, Spain...
 from the city of that name. Rota is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Sanl?car de Barrameda is a city in the northwest of C?diz , part of the autonomous communities of Spain of Andalusia in southern Spain. Sanl?car is located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir....
, and El Puerto de Santa María
El Puerto de Santa María

El Puerto de Santa Mar?a is a city located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of C?diz , Spain. According to the 2005 census, the city has a population of 82,306, of which 50,000 live in the urban center, and the remainder in the surrounding areas....
. It is located on the Atlantic coast, approximately halfway between Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 and Gibraltar
Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory shares a border with Spain to the north....
.

History

Archaeological evidence suggests that there was a Bronze Age
Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistory, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifact s....
 settlement on the present site of Rota. The current town was founded by the Phoenicians at approximately the same time as Cádiz. Rota is assumed to be the same city known as Astaroth of the Tartesian
Tartessos

Tartessos was a harbor city and its surrounding culture on the south coast of the Iberian peninsula , at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river. It was mentioned by Herodotus, Strabo in Pliny's Natural History....
 empire. It later passed to the Romans, who knew the town as Speculum Rotae.

Following the arrival of the Moors
Moors

In the Spanish language, the term for Moors is Moro; in Portuguese language the word is mouro. There seems to have been some confusion about the relationship of the word moro/mouro to the word moreno , both from Greek language ma?ros, i.e....
 in Spain, the city became known as Rabita Rutta ("watchtower of Rota"), from which it derives its present name. From 1248 onwards, the Moors were gradually expelled from Spain, and the city became Christian. In 1297, Sancho IV
Sancho IV of Castile

File:Sancho IV de Castilla.jpgSancho IV the Brave was the king of Castile and King of Le?n from 1284 to his death. He was the second son of Alfonso X of Castile and Violant of Aragon, daughter of James I of Aragon....
 awarded the town to Alonso Pérez de Guzmán in honour of his defence of Tarifa
Tarifa

Tarifa is a small town on the southernmost coast of Spain. It is part of the province of C?diz , which, in turn, is part of the Andalusia region....
. Later, Pérez de Guzmán gave it to his daughter, Isabel, as a wedding present when she married Fermin Ponce de León, Maestre of Alcantara
Alcántara

Alc?ntara is a municipality in the province of C?ceres , Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. The toponym is Spanish word for "drain" from the Arabic al-QanTarah [???????] meaning the bridge....
 and First Lord of Marchena. Construction of the Castillo de la Luna (Castle of the Moon) had begun in 1295, two years prior to the bequest to Pérez de Guzmán, as part of Sancho IV's effort to develop strong coastal defenses, especially near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, the town was an important port for trading with North Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. In 1780 the 11th Duke of Arcos died without issue, and the city was rendered to the Duke of Osuna.

Economy

Rota is primarily a resort
Resort

A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
 town, offering eight hotels (including the four-star Hotel Duque de Najera) and nearly two thousand beds. It is a summer destination for tourists from all over Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. During the off-season, its main commercial activity centres on the fishing industry.

Rota is also the location of the Rota naval base
Naval Station Rota, Spain

Naval Station Rota is a Spain naval base commanded by a Spanish Vice Admiral. Located in Rota, Spain, and near the Spanish town of El Puerto de Santa Mar?a, NavSta Rota is the largest American military community in Spain and houses United States Navy Sailors, United States Marine Corps, and their families....
, a joint Spanish
Spanish Navy

The Spanish Armada is the maritime arm of the Military of Spain, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of America, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path from the Far East to America ....
 and U.S.
United States Navy

The United States Navy is the navy of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy currently has approximately 331,682 personnel on active duty as of 31 December 2008 and 124,000 in the United States Navy Reserve....
 naval base, opened in 1955 (which also hosts U.S. Marine
United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing Military power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver Marine Air-Ground Task Force....
 and Air Force
United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Military of the United States and one of the uniformed services of the United States....
 units). It is also the usual first port of call for U.S. naval vessels before entering the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
.

According to an article in Diario ABC, eighty percent of Rota's economy depends, directly or indirectly, on the US Naval base. Much of this economic impact involves on-base jobs for Spanish civilians and providing off-base housing and other accommodations for US military personnel.

The surrounding area is used for agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
; the predominant crop is cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
.

Culinary

The most traditional dish is the arranque made with chopped bread, tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, salt and olive oil. The local wine, known as tintilla, is made with dark, ripe grapes. It can be found in the numerous bodegas spread over the old town, most notably El Gato which produces its own wine. The best known, and arguably the most popular nightspot in Rota is The Boars'Breath, located on C/Triana in Rota. With a song selection of almost 20,000 hits (Spanish and American), darts, foosball and more, The Boars Breath(est. 1991) is a welcome breath of fresh air in the community.

Sports

Rota has two football teams: Rota CF and UD La Roteña

See also

  • Costa de la Luz
    Costa de la Luz

    The Costa de la Luz is a section of the Andaluc?a coast facing the Atlantic; it extends from Tarifa in the south, along the coasts of the Province of C?diz and the Huelva , to the mouth of the Guadiana River....
  • Monasterio de La Rábida (La Rabida Monastery)?
  • Naval Station Rota, Spain
    Naval Station Rota, Spain

    Naval Station Rota is a Spain naval base commanded by a Spanish Vice Admiral. Located in Rota, Spain, and near the Spanish town of El Puerto de Santa Mar?a, NavSta Rota is the largest American military community in Spain and houses United States Navy Sailors, United States Marine Corps, and their families....


Demographics


Source:

External references

  • , official website
  • On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... (http://rota.com.es)
  • [https://www.cnic.navy.mil/rota/ U.S. Naval Station Rota, Spain website]