Andalusia Andalusia Andalusia ' onMouseout='HidePop("9068")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Spain">Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
).
The city of Vila Real de Santo António is situated at 37°12′ north 7°25′ west, making it and its surroundings the southeasternmost tip of Portugal. The city lies on one side of the mouth of the Guadiana river, at the point where it flows into the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
. Spain lies on the opposite side of the river, and from there are directly facing Vila Real de Santo António the city of Ayamonte and its adjacent
Isla CanelaIsla Canela is a small island located south of the town of Ayamonte, in Andalusia, Spain. The mouth of the Guadiana River is next to the island, and Portugal can be easily seen from Isla Canela...
.
The topography of the municipality is diverse. Marshes are common, especially north of the city where a section of the salty wetlands became the
Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Marsh Natural ReserveCastro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Marsh Natural Reserve is a natural reserve in Portugal. It is one of the 30 areas which are officially under protection in the country....
(established in 1975, this was continental Portugal's first natural reserve). Woodlands spread for a considerable area within the plain civil parishes of Vila Real de Santo António and Monte Gordo. In Vila Nova de Cacela, barren lands and
schistThe schists form a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is produced...
ous hills are more predominant. The easternmost part of the
Ria FormosaThe Ria Formosa lagoon, located in Algarve, in southern Portugal, is a system of barrier islands that communicates with the sea through 6 inlets. Five of these inlets are natural and have mobility characteristics...
system of lagoons is located in this civil parish.
The three civil parishes are washed by the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
. Each has several kilometers of continuous sandy beaches.
The climate of the region is
MediterraneanA hi Mediterranean climate resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes most of the area with this climate type worldwide...
. Winters are short and mild, while summers are usually very hot. November and December are the rainiest months. On average, the municipality has around 300 sunny days a year.
History
Vila Real de Santo António has a relatively recent history. The region was sparsely populated prior to its foundation. For centuries,
Castro MarimCastro Marim is a town and a municipality in the southern region of Algarve, in Portugal. The municipality is composed of 4 parishes.The present Mayor is José Fernandes Estevens, elected by the Social Democratic Party.The municipal holiday is June 24....
was the only town protecting the area from neighboring hostile
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. But on December 30, 1773, during the reign of
Joseph I{|align=right|-|Joseph I , the Reformer , 25th King of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, was born in Lisbon, on June 6, 1714. He was the third child of King John V of Portugal and his wife Mary Anne Josepha of Austria...
, a royal decree was signed demanding the creation of a new town in the tip of the Algarve. The exact motives behind this decision are unclear, but they may include the following: to increase human presence near the Spanish border to help prevent any unauthorized incursions; to better control duty charged on cross-border transactions; to be better prepared to defend from a full scale attack; to provoke Spain with a state-of-the-art town easily seen from Ayamonte; or to simply rebuild the nearby town of Santo António de Arenilha and resettle its population. Santo António de Arenilha was a medieval piscatory town that was destroyed by the sea, possibly by a
tsunamiA is a series of water waves that is caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean. The original Japanese term literally translates as "harbor wave." Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been recorded...
triggered by the devastating
1755 Lisbon earthquakeThe 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place on 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami and fires, which caused near-total destruction of Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and adjoining areas...
. Yet the new town inherited part of its predecessor's name ("Vila Real de Santo António" means "Royal Town of Santo António").
Vila Real de Santo António was erected at great speed, in only two years time (construction took place between 1774 and 1776). The
Marquis of PombalCount of Oeiras was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from July 15th, 1759, by King Joseph I of Portugal, and granted to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Head of the Portuguese Government.Later, through another royal decree dated from September 16th, 1769, the same...
was responsible for its planning. He designed the town in a
PombalineThe Pombaline style was a Portuguese architectural style of the eighteenth century, named after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquês de Pombal who was instrumental in reconstructing Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755. Pombal supervised the plans drawn up by the military engineers Manuel...
orthogonal grid, much like the one he did to rebuild Lisbon's downtown, which had also been destroyed by the earthquake. In a pioneering technique, entire buildings were prefabricated in pieces outside the city, and then transported to their final destination to be assembled. This procedure permitted a fast and methodical construction of the town. It soon became the seat of the municipality, stripping the once important town of
CacelaCacela Velha is a village located in the civil parish of Vila Nova de Cacela, municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve, Portugal...
from this status. Cacela had been steadily declining due to the effects of the earthquake and also
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
piratePiracy is a war-like act committed by private parties that engaged in acts of robbery and/or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the...
attacks.
Vila Real de Santo António started to thrive by the end of the 19th century thanks to the growth of the fish industry and concentration of fish-processing plants in the city.
TunaTuna are ocean-dwelling carnivorous fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers—they have been clocked at —and include several warm-blooded species...
and
sardineSardines, or pilchards, are a group of several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines were named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where they were once in abundance....
were particularly important to the city's economy. In 1886, it became the first city in the Algarve to have
gas lightingGas lighting refers to a technology used to produce light from a gaseous fuel including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, or ethylene....
installed.
The fish industry came to a decline in the 1960s and
tourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other...
quickly took over as the principal income generator. Its extensive stretch of sandy beaches attracts both national and international tourists, especially during the warm season. Monte Gordo is particularly visitor-oriented, counting with many hotels, bars and a
casinoA casino is a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other tourist attractions...
.
Environment
The municipality has a rich fauna and flora.
ChameleonThe family Chamaeleonidae are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, and the...
s,
oysterThe word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s, and
jellyfishJellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish have several different morphologies that represent several different cnidarian classes including the Scyphozoa , Staurozoa , Cubozoa , and Hydrozoa Jellyfish (also known as jellies or sea jellies) are free-swimming members of...
(of the genus
RhopilemaRhopilema is a genus of jellyfishes.Species include* R. esculentum Kishinouye 1891 * R. hispidum Vanhoffen 1888...
) are among the species that can be found in the region and its coastal waters.
Carob treeThe carob tree , Ceratonia siliqua, is a species of flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Mediterranean region. It is cultivated for its edible seed pods. Carobs are also known as St. John's bread because, according to tradition of some Christians, St...
s,
gum rockroseThe Gum Rockrose is a species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae. It is a native of the western Mediterranean region. It is indigenous to Spain, Portugal and north-west Africa....
,
broomsBrooms are a group of evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family Fabaceae, mainly in the three genera Chamaecytisus, Cytisus and Genista, but also in five other small genera . All genera in this group are from the tribe Genisteae...
and almond trees are examples of flora present in the area.
The establishment in 1975 of the
Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Marsh Natural ReserveCastro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Marsh Natural Reserve is a natural reserve in Portugal. It is one of the 30 areas which are officially under protection in the country....
provided a refuge for several species of birds, namely
mallardThe Mallard , probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, New Zealand , and Australia...
s,
flamingoFlamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus and family Phoenicopteridae. They are found in both the Western Hemisphere and in the Eastern Hemisphere, but are more numerous in the latter. There are four species in the Americas and two species in the Old World...
s,
Kentish ploverThe Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, is a small wader in the plover bird family. Despite its name, this species no longer breeds in Kent, or even Great Britain....
s,
little ternThe Little Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It was formerly placed into the genus Sterna, which now is restricted to the large white terns . The former North American and Red Sea S. a...
s,
pied avocetThe Pied Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta, is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and western and Central Asia. It is a migratory species and most winter in Africa or southern Asia...
s,
dunlinThe Dunlin, Calidris alpina, is a small wader, sometimes separated with the other "stints" in Erolia. It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa and southeast Asia...
s,
stiltStilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. They are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates....
s,
white storkThe White Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae, breeding in the warmer parts of Europe , northwest Africa, and southwest Asia...
s, and
spoonbillSpoonbills are a group of large, long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, which also includes the Ibises.All have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly-opened bill from side to side...
s. Some species of
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
and crustaceans breed in the reserve.
Demography
| Evolution 1801 - 2004 |
| Year |
Population |
| 1801 |
2,112 |
| 1849 |
3,953 |
| 1900 |
9,817 |
| 1930 |
12,313 |
| 1960 |
14,999 |
| 1981 |
16,347 |
| 1991 |
14,400 |
| 2001 |
17,956 |
| 2004 |
18,158 |
Vila Real de Santo António is one of the most densely populated municipalities of the Algarve, with a population density above the national average.
Economy
TunaTuna are ocean-dwelling carnivorous fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers—they have been clocked at —and include several warm-blooded species...
and
sardineSardines, or pilchards, are a group of several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines were named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where they were once in abundance....
fisheriesFishing is a major economic activity in Portugal. The country has a long tradition in the sector, and is among the countries in the world with the highest fish consumption per capita. Roman ruins of fish processing facilities were found across the Portuguese coast. Fish has been an important staple...
were and still are particularly important to both the city's and the
AlgarveThe Algarve from the Arabic word meaning "the west" is the southernmost region of mainland Portugal. It has an area of 5,412 square kilometres with approximately 410,000 permanent inhabitants, and incorporates 16 municipalities...
's economy. However, the fish industry came to a decline in the 1960s and
tourismPortugal attracts many tourists each year. In 2006, the country was visited by 12.8 million tourists. Tourism is playing an increasingly important role in Portugal's economy contributing with about 5% of the Gross Domestic Product ....
quickly took over as the principal income generator and attracts both national and international tourists, especially during the warm season. Administration and general services are also well developed in the city.
Politics
Luís Gomes, the candidate by the
PSDThe Social Democratic Party is a center-right political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD, however on voting ballots its acronym appears as PPD/PSD, the first three letters coming from the party's initial name, Partido Popular Democrático .The party has 75 of the 230...
(Social Democratic Party), was elected mayor in the 2005 local elections. In those elections, the PSD was the most voted party in the civil parishes of Vila Real de Santo António and Monte Gordo, while the
PSThe Socialist Party is a centre-left political party in Portugal. It was founded on April 19, 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
(Socialist Party) won in Vila Nova de Cacela.
AbstentionAbstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot...
reached 35% in the whole of the municipality.
| Party |
Votes |
Percentage (%) |
Mandates In politics, a mandate is the authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative.The concept of a government having a legitimate mandate to govern via the fair winning of a democratic election is a central idea of democracy...
|
Social Democratic Party (PSD)The Social Democratic Party is a center-right political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD, however on voting ballots its acronym appears as PPD/PSD, the first three letters coming from the party's initial name, Partido Popular Democrático .The party has 75 of the 230...
|
4,185 |
44.1 |
3 |
Socialist Party (PS)The Socialist Party is a centre-left political party in Portugal. It was founded on April 19, 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
|
3,349 |
35.3 |
3 |
Communist Party (PCP)The Portuguese Communist Party , or PCP, is a major left-wing political party in Portugal. It is a Marxist-Leninist party, and its organization is based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself to be patriotic and internationalist.The party was founded in 1921 as the Portuguese...
|
1,405 |
14.8 |
1 |
Left Block (BE)Left Bloc , sometimes translated as leftist bloc or left-wing bloc, is a Portuguese left-wing political party founded in 1999. It is sometimes abbreviated to B.E. but always spoken in its full name...
|
209 |
2.2 |
0 |
| Popular Party (CDS-PP) |
57 |
0.6 |
0 |
Transportation
There is a frequent direct
DMUA diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
service to Lagos with connections to mainline electric trains at Faro.
Close proximity to the main A22 road enables easy travel to other parts of the Country to the west and across the border into
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
.
Culture
Several artists were born and/or worked in Vila Real de Santo António, providing a rich heritage in literature and visual arts. The native poet António Aleixo was particularly prominent. Xylographer Manuel Cabanas stood out in the city's artistic panorama and was a fierce opponent of the
Portuguese dictatorshipEstado Novo is the name of the Portuguese authoritarian regime installed in 1933, following the army-led coup d'état of 28 May 1926 against the democratic First Republic. The Estado Novo was developed by António de Oliveira Salazar, ruler of Portugal from 1932 to 1968...
.
External links