Valencian Community

Coordinates: 39°30′N 0°45′W / 39.500°N 0.750°W / 39.500; -0.750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the autonomous community. For other uses, see Valencia (disambiguation).
Valencian Community
Comunitat Valenciana (
Autonomous community
Parliament of Spain
Congress seats32 of 350 (9.1%)
Senate seats17 of 265 (6.4%)
Area
 • Total23,255.43 km2 (8,978.97 sq mi)
 • Rank
Valencian
 •valencià, -ana (va)
 •valenciano, -na (es)
Official languages
11th)
Time zoneCET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST)CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code prefixes
03XXX - A / 12XXX - CS / 46XXX - V
ISO 3166 codeES-VC
Telephone code(s)+34 96
CurrencyEuro (€)
Official holidayOctober 9
Patron saint(s)Saint Vincent
Websitegva.es
Map

The Valencian Community[a] is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with more than five million inhabitants.[3][4] Its homonymous capital Valencia is the third largest city and metropolitan area in Spain. It is located along the Mediterranean coast on the east side of the Iberian Peninsula. It borders Catalonia to the north, Aragon and Castilla–La Mancha to the west, and Murcia to the south, and the Balearic Islands are to its east. The Valencian Community is divided into three provinces: Castellón, Valencia and Alicante.

According to Valencia's

Spanish War of Succession. Valencian nationalism emerged towards the end of the 19th century, leading to the modern conception of the Valencian Country.[6] The current autonomous community under the Generalitat Valenciana self-government institution was established in 1982 after the Spanish Transition
.

Official languages are Spanish and

Valencian (the official and traditional name used in the Valencian Community to refer to what is commonly known as the Catalan language).[b][7][8][9][10][11]
As of 2020, the population of the Valencian Community comprised 10.63% of the Spanish population.

Etymology

See also: Valencia § Name

The city of Valencia (capital of the region) was founded by the

Saetabis and Dianium
).

With the establishment of the Muslim Taifa of Valencia, during the Al-Andalus period, the name developed to بلنسية (Balansiyya). The modern names of the city areValencia (Spanish) and València (Valencian). The older spellings Valençia, Ualençia and Ualència are also found in pre-reform Spanish and Valencian texts.

To distinguish it from its capital city, a number of names have been used for the region. After the Christian conquest, it became the kingdom of Valencia. In the last decades, Valencian community has become the preferred name to avoid any controversy.

Naming controversy

Main article: Names of the Valencian Community

"Valencian Community" is the standard translation of the official name in Valencian recognized by the Statute of Autonomy of 1982 (Comunitat Valenciana).[5] This is the name most used in public administration, tourism, the media and Spanish written language. However, the variant of "Valencian Country" (País Valencià) that emphasizes the nationality status of the Valencian people is still the preferred one by left-wing parties, civil associations, Valencian written language and major Valencian public institutions.[12][13][14]

"Valencian Community" is a

Països Catalans). This nationalist subtext was opposed by anti-Catalan blaverists
, who proposed "Former Kingdom of Valencia" (Antic Regne de València) instead, in order to emphasize Valencian independence from Catalonia. Currently, blaverists have accepted the official denomination.

The autonomous community can be homonymously identified with its capital "Valencia".[15] However, this could be disregarding of the provinces of Alicante and Castellón. Other more anecdotal translations have included "Land of Valencia",[16] "Region of Valencia"[17] and "Valencian Region".[18] The term "Region", however, carries negative connotations among many Valencians because it could deny their nationality status.

History

Greek–Carthaginian–Roman city of Akra Leuke or Lucentum
, Alicante.
Villena castle (see Route of the Castles of Vinalopó)
See also: Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin

The pre-Roman autochthonous people of the Valencian Community were the Iberians, who were divided in several groups (the Contestani, the Edetani, the Ilercavones and the Bastetani).

The Greeks established

Saguntum and Dianium beginning in the 5th century BC, where they traded and mixed with the local Iberian populations. After the end of the First Punic War between Carthage and Rome in 241 BC, which established their limits of influence in the Ebro river, the Carthaginians occupied the whole region. The dispute over the hegemony of Saguntum, a Hellenized Iberian coastal city with diplomatic contacts with Rome, destroyed by Hannibal in 219 BC, ignited the Second Punic War
, which ended with the incorporation of the region to the Roman Empire.

The Romans founded the city of

taifas were established at the region, Valencia and Dénia, along with the small and short living taifas of Orihuela, Alpuente, Jérica and Sagunt and the short Christian conquest of Valencia by El Cid
.

However, the origins of present-day Valencia date back to the Kingdom of Valencia, which came into existence in the 13th century. James I of Aragon led the Christian conquest and colonization of the existing Islamic taifas with Aragonese and Catalan colonizers in 1208; they founded the Kingdom of Valencia as a third independent country within the Crown of Aragon in 1238.

The kingdom developed intensively in the 14th and 15th centuries, which are considered the Golden Age of the Valencian culture,[19] with significant works like the chivalric romance of Tirant lo Blanch. Valencia developed into an important kingdom in Europe economically through the silk trade. It also rose to power politically with the rise of the Crown of Aragon, (within which the Kingdom of Valencia had achieved the largest population and the greatest economic power at that time)[20] and the ascension of the Valencian House of Borja in Rome (see Route of the Borjas, Route of the Monasteries and Route of the Classics).

After a slow decline following the

city of Valencia

In 1707, in the context of the War of the Spanish Succession, and by means of the Nova Planta decrees, king Philip V of Spain abolished the Kingdom of Valencia, and the rest of the states belonging to the former Crown of Aragon and which had retained some autonomy, and subordinated it to the structure of the Kingdom of Castile and its laws and customs. As a result of this, the institutions and laws created by the Law of Valencia (Furs de València) were abolished and the usage of the Valencian language in official instances and education was forbidden. Consequently, with the House of Bourbon, a new Kingdom of Spain was formed implementing a more centralized government and absolutist regime than the former Habsburg Spain

.

The first attempt to gain

President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Joan Lerma, took office in 1982 as part of the transition to autonomy.[23]

The Valencian Statute of Autonomy make clear that Valencia is intended to be the modern conception of self-government of the Valencian Community from the first autonomist movements during Second Spanish Republic, but also joining it to the traditional conception of Valencian identity, as being the successor to the historical Kingdom of Valencia.[6] In fact, after a bipartisan reform of the Valencian Statute of Autonomy in 2006, it records the foral civil law, using the traditional conception of a kingdom, and, on the other hand, it also recognizes Valencia as a nationality, in accordance with the modern conception.

Geography

Relief map of the Community.

Relief

The inland part of the territory is craggy, with some of the highest peaks in the Valencia and Castellón provinces forming part of the Iberian Mountain Range. The mountains in the Province of Alicante are in turn a part of the Subbaetic Range.

The most emblematic mountain of the Valencian Community is the

exclave between Aragon and Castilla–La Mancha. The most emblematic mountain in the southern part of the territory is the Aitana
(1,558 m).

The rather thin coastal strip is a very

L'Albufera close to Valencia, El Fondo in Elche and Crevillent, La Marjal near Pego, Albufera of Gayanes in Gayanes or El Prat in Cabanes, also the former wetlands and salt evaporation ponds in the Santa Pola and Torrevieja area. All of them are key Ramsar sites
which make Valencia of high relevance for both migratory and resident seabirds and waterbirds.

There are many important

Guardamar
area, both of them were planted with thousands of trees during the 19th century in order to fix the dunes, thus forming now protected areas of remarkable ecologic value.

In addition to mainland Valencia, the Valencian territory administers the tiny Columbretes Islands and the coastal inhabited islet of Tabarca.

Climate

Satellite image of the Valencian Community.

Valencia has a generally pleasant climate, with mild winters and hot summers, heavily influenced by the neighbouring Mediterranean sea. Still, there are important differences between areas:

  • Typical
    micro climate in the Marina Alta and the Safor comarques just north of Cap de la Nau cape, which accumulates an average of up to 1000 mm. due to an orographic lift
    phenomenon.
  • highland climate (Köppen Csb). These are the innermost lands and those at a higher elevation (cities included here are, amongst others, Alcoy, Morella, Requena and Villena). Here winters are cool to cold, especially at night (a few days of snow are not unusual), summers mild to hot and rainfall more evenly distributed through the year. The lower registered temperatures in the Valencian Community were in these inland areas during the cold wave of 1956. Temperatures plunged to nearly −20 °C; as in Vistabella del Maestrat (−19 °C) and Castellfort (–17 °C).[24]
  • Villajoyosa through the southernmost border of the territory (cities included here are, amongst others, Alicante, Benidorm, Elche, Orihuela and Torrevieja). Summers are hot and dry, winters are mild and its most prominent feature is a very scarce precipitation, typically below 300 mm. per year which is most likely to happen during spring and autumn. The reason for this lack of precipitation is the marked rain shadow effect caused by hills to the west of the Alicante province (and, to a lesser degree, those in the northern part of the province which, in turn, enhance the inverse orographic lift effect around Cap de la Nau
    ).

The

Serra de Mariola and Sierra de Aitana. Both Cfa and Cfb climates can be only found in the interior of the province of Castellón, with marginal presence in the Valencian province, only in the Rincón de Ademuz comarca. The presence of the desertic climates (BWh) is marginal to scarcely populated areas south of Elche.[25]

Hydrography

There are only two major rivers: the

Sénia
.

Demographics

Main article:
Valencian people
Historical population
YearPop.±%
19001,587,533—    
19101,704,127+7.3%
19201,745,514+2.4%
19301,896,738+8.7%
19402,176,670+14.8%
19502,307,068+6.0%
19602,480,879+7.5%
19703,073,255+23.9%
19813,646,870+18.7%
19913,857,234+5.8%
20014,162,776+7.9%
20115,009,931+20.4%
20215,067,911+1.2%
Source:
INE

Urbanization

See also: List of municipalities in the Valencian Community

The estimate population according to the

INE in January 2020 is 5,057,353[3]
ranking the fourth most populous in Spain. The list of largest cities is topped by Valencia, the third largest city in Spain overall.

 
 
Largest municipalities in the Valencian Community
Rank
Comarca
 Municipal pop. Rank
Comarca
 Municipal pop.
Valencia
Valencia
Alicante
Alicante 		1 Valencia Valencia 800,215 11 Sagunto Camp de Morvedre 67,173 Elche
Elche
Castellón de la Plana
Castellón de la Plana
2 Alicante Alacantí 337,482 12
Alcoy
 Alcoià 59,354
3 Elche Baix Vinalopó 234,765 13
San Vicente del Raspeig
 Alacantí 58,978
4 Castellón de la Plana Plana Alta 174,264 14 Elda Vinalopó Mitjà 52,813
5 Torrevieja Vega Baja del Segura 84,667 15
Vila-real
 Plana Baixa 51,239
6 Torrent Horta Oest 83,962 16 Alzira Ribera Alta 44,938
7 Orihuela Vega Baja del Segura 78,505 17 Mislata Horta Oest 44,320
8 Gandia Safor 75,798 18 Dénia Marina Alta 42,827
9 Paterna Horta Oest 71,035 19 Burjassot
Horta Nord
 38,632
10 Benidorm Marina Baixa 70,450 20 Ontinyent Vall d'Albaida 35,761

Valencian population traditionally concentrated in localities with

fertile cultivation and growing lowlands by the most important rivers (Júcar, Turia, Segura, Vinalopó), also in harbour cities important to the agricultural trade. In actuality, population is particularly dense along the coast as well as in central and southern regions of the territory, and more sparse around the inner and northern regions.

Areas in red mark higher population density in the central and southern regions.

Important historical cities include Sagunt and Dénia in Roman times; Valencia, Alicante, Xàtiva, Orihuela, Elche, Gandia, and Vila-real later on in history and, more recently, Alzira and Castellón de la Plana. Another set of noncoastal cities increased significantly in numbers due to industrialization in the 20th century, including Alcoy, Elda, Ontinyent, Petrer, Villena, and La Vall d'Uixó

. Furthermore, traditionally small fishing towns like Benidorm and Torrevieja have increased in population significantly, more remarkably during summertime, due to seasonal migration of tourists.

Metropolitan areas

In more recent years, concentration in provincial capitals and its metropolitan areas has augmented considerably (e.g.

San Vicente del Raspeig
, etc.). Besides Valencia, Alicante-Elche is the eighth most populous urban agglomeration in Spain. According to the INE, the largest metropolitan areas are:

Rank Metropolitan Area Province Population
1 Valencia
Valencia
 1,705,742
2 Alicante–Elche
Alicante
 785,020
3 Castellón de la Plana Castellón 386,906
4 Alzira–Xàtiva
Valencia
 348,582
5 Benidorm–Villajoyosa
Alicante
 183,253

Government

Institutions of government: La Generalitat

See also: List of Valencian political parties
Palau de la Generalitat Valenciana, seat of the Valencian government

In the process whereby democracy was restored in Spain between 1975 and 1978, the

Statute of Autonomy
, the basic organic law, later approved by the General Courts of Spain.

All autonomous communities were organized politically within a

legislative power, whose members elect him by majority
.

A new Statute of Autonomy was promulgated in 2006. The government of Valencia is represented by the Generalitat Valenciana (statutorily referred to simply as La Generalitat) constituted by three institutions:[26]

The Generalitat can also be integrated by the institutions that the Valencian Courts create. The Courts have approved the creation of the Síndic de Greuges (Ombudsman), the Sindicatura de Comptes (Public Audit Office), the Consell Valencià de Cultura (Valencian Council of Culture), the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (Valencian Academy of the Language), the Consell Jurídic Consultiu (Juridic and Consultative Council) and the Comité Econòmic i Social (Social and Economic Committee).

The current government is formed by a left coalition between the Socialist Party of the Valencian Country and Compromís, with also the support of Podemos.

Administrative divisions

Prior to the 1833 territorial division of Spain Valencia was divided into four administrative provinces of Spain: Alicante, Castellón, Valencia and Xàtiva.

From 1833, the current three-province system was consolidated:

The Valencian Community is further divided into 34

municipalities
(141 in the Province of Alicante, 135 in the Province of Castellón, and 266 in the Province of Valencia).

Economy

Valencia
Skyline of Benidorm
Cullera Tourism, town near the Albufera Natural Park

Valencia is long and narrow, running mainly north–south; historically, its rather steep and irregular terrain has made communications and the exploitation of the soil difficult, although the soil of the coastal plain is particularly

fertile. This coastal axis has facilitated connections with Europe, either by sea through the Mediterranean, or by land through Catalonia
.

The Valencian territory has few natural resources; the only important mineral deposit is the marble quarried in Alicante province.

Hydrological resources (see Geography above) are also lacking: the demand for water exceeds the supply, with this imbalance especially serious in Alicante province. In particularly severe drought years, the problem is managed through occasional nocturnal restrictions during summer and exploitation of aquifers. Valencia's water needs result in harsh contention with neighbouring regions such as Castilla–La Mancha and Catalonia.

Agriculture—more specifically,

vegetables, especially in the Vega Baja del Segura
area.

Though the low insulation rate and overall stable weather during the summer may pose a threat to water supplies for agriculture and human consumption, conversely this climate allows tourism to be the province's main industry. Very dense residential housing along the coast, occupied by locals, people from inland Spain and from other EU countries (mostly from the British Isles, Benelux, Germany and Scandinavia), boosts the summertime population (and hydrological demands).

In 2004, Valencia's GDP was 93.9% of the European Union average,

2008–13 Spanish financial crisis
.

In 2008, the Valencia Country generated 9.7% of the Spanish GDP. In L[vague] of human resources, the unemployment rate was over 21% in 2009, and even greater among women,[28] and the rate of activity reached 56.8% in 2002. The typical Valencian business is a small-to-medium-sized company, mainly family-owned and operated, although there are some multinationals.

In addition to tourism, the Valencian Community has significant exports, and it ranks second in this respect among the Spanish autonomous communities, constituting 12% of the national total. Major exports include agricultural products, ceramic tiles, marble products and cars (Ford has an assembly line in Almussafes), which make the port of Valencia one of the busiest in Europe.

Unemployment

The unemployment rate stood at 15.6% in 2018 and was higher than the national average.[29]

Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
unemployment rate
(in %) 		8.3 8.7 12.0 20.8 22.9 24.0 27.2 28.0 25.8 22.8 20.6 18.2 15.6

Language

Main articles:
Valencian (valencià) as the language native (llengua pròpia) to the Valencian people,[citation needed] and commends its protection and regulation to the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL) under the Generalitat Valenciana
.

Valencian is the name Valencians use to refer to the Catalan language.[30] In the Late Middle Ages, due to Valencia becoming its own kingdom, Valencians popularized the term Valencian over the term Catalan.[31]

Valencian was marginalized during Franco's dictatorship (1939–1975) in favor of

Statute of Autonomy, Valencian has been implemented in public administration and the education system, leading to a dramatic increase in knowledge of its formal standard.[36] According to the general survey from 2015, Valencian is understood by almost the entire population living within the Valencian Community and is spoken by a wide majority, but almost half of the population cannot write it.[37]

Modern Valencian shares similar

g (before e and i) and j /dʒ/, and x /tʃ/, especially in initial position. Common specific lexicon includes: granera (broom), xiquet (boy), espill (mirror), corder
(lamb), etc.

Valencian Sign Language is widely used by Valencian deaf persons and is also granted protection under the Statute.

The

seseo
(the merger of /θ/ into /s/), depending on the speaker and area. In the east, traits in common with the Spanish of either Aragon or La Mancha are found in the local Spanish.

Areas of linguistic predominance

The traditionally Valencian-speaking territories are marked in green

Not all of the Valencian territory is historically Valencian-speaking; about 500,000 people, or 10% of the population, live in inland areas that are traditionally Spanish-speaking. These regions include the areas where

Valencia and Alicante
, where Spanish has become predominant in spite of Valencian being the traditional language. In addition, large numbers of foreign immigrants who have arrived since 2000 have become Spanish speakers. Outside the aforementioned cities, and the traditional Spanish-speaking areas in the west, Valencian predominates or is on an equal footing in the rest of the territory.

Knowledge

Knowledge of Valencian
1986 1991 2001 2011
Can understand 77.12% 83.24% 86.36% 84.78%
Can speak 49.49% 51.09% 48.88% 51.18%
Can read 24.36% 37.98% 47.24% 58.35%
Can write 7.03% 15.17% 24.07% 31.77%
Source: Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Esport(2010) Cens 2011. Dades generals coneixement[38]

Most of the population have at least a passive knowledge of Valencian, which allows normal communication in this language across the Valencian Community. Thanks to its implementation in public administration and the education system in recent decades, knowledge of Valencian has increased phenomenally both in absolute and relative terms, most significantly in the case of its written standard. The source also reveals that knowledge varies greatly within the territory, with knowledge in the Province of Alicante being consistently lower than in Castellón and Valencia.

Social use

Languages spoken at home
Use Valencian Spanish
Always 28.8% 56.2%
More often 3% 2.6%
Alternatively 5.6%
Other languages 3.8%
Source: Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Esport (2010) Knowledge and social use of Valencian[39]

Despite the increase in knowledge of Valencian, its social use in relative terms is declining, with only a third of the population using it at home according to the Generalitat in 2010. The data collected varies greatly within the Valencian Community, with the percentage of use being over 50% in the regions of Alcoy–Gandia and Júcar–Turia, approximately 40% in Castellón and about 15% in Alicante and the Valencia metropolitan area.

Valencian language controversy

Main article:
Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) and the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL) respectively. Much of the bibliography used in the Valencian education system consists of Catalan works and translations in Catalan with only occasionally some words being swapped for those more commonly used in Valencia. Furthermore, the Universities of Valencia and Alicante
refer to Valencian studies of language and literature as Catalan Philology.

In spite of these arguments, a significant proportion of the Valencian population refuse to identify Valencian with Catalan.

Transports

Air

New Alicante Terminal being built

The Valencian Community is served by three international airports:

Alicante Airport, located in the south, is mainly tourist-oriented and is currently the busiest airport in the Valencian Community. Valencia Airport is located in the capital and carries more business traffic. The third airport, Castellón–Costa Azahar Airport, is located in the north of the Valencian territory and has several international connections. This airport was opened in 2011 but its first commercial flight arrived in September 2015, so it has been considered as a white elephant due to its expensive construction and maintenance and relatively less usefulness.[40]

A new terminal at Alicante Airport was opened in March 2011. The New Alicante Terminal (NAT) replaced the other two existing terminals T1 and T2, doubling the passenger capacity of the airport to 20m passengers per annum. Valencia airport is also being expanded to serve the higher passenger demand due to new flight connections to the city.

Train

Provisional station of Valencia

The Valencian Community has an extensive rail system which connects the principal cities with the rest of Spain such as the

RENFE
.

In December 2010 the

Madrid–Levante high-speed rail line. High-speed lines arrive to Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla, a provisional station located south of the city centre. It is expected that in the coming years the high-speed line Madrid–Valencia will reach the main Valencia-Estació del Nord through a tunnel under the new Valencia Parque Central
.

High-speed rail Madrid–Alicante opened in 2013.

There are some medium-range plans for further high-speed connections, like the Valencia–Bilbao link via Zaragoza or the Mediterranean high-speed rail corridor.

In addition, the Generalitat Valenciana has planned on building a regional high-speed rail along the coast to connect all major coastal cities like Valencia, Gandia, Dénia, Benidorm, Villajoyosa, Alicante and Torrevieja.

Commuter rail and Metro

Alicante light tram through the city centre

RENFE
.

While the Valencian-owned company,

Sant Vicent del Raspeig
.

Ports

Main article: List of seaports of the Valencian Community
Port of Dénia

By sea, the Valencian Community is served by several ferry routes and cargo ports, and in the major cities, Valencia and Alicante, cruise ships dock on a regular basis.

In point 20 of article 149 of the

Spanish Constitution, referring to the exclusive powers of the State, direct reference is made to the ownership of the ports of general interest, which in the Valencian case are those of Alicante, Castellón, Valencia, Sagunt and Gandia. For this reason, all these ports are managed by the public body, dependent on the Ministry of Development. This body is in charge of executing the port policy of the government and of coordinating and controlling the efficiency of the port system, made up of 28 Port Authorities that they administer the 46 ports of general interest of the State. There are 3 Port Authorities of the Valencian Community, which manage the 5 Valencian ports of general interest. Thus, the Port Authority of Valencia is in charge of managing the ports of Valencia, Sagunt and Gandia, while those of Alicante and Castellón only manage their reference port. In addition to the ports of general interest, there are also other ports, known as the ports of the Generalitat Valenciana. There are currently 35 ports dependent on the Generalitat, of which 16 are managed directly by the Generalitat, while the rest are managed from the private sector through concession. Some of the main ports managed by the Valencian Government are those of Altea, Benicarló, Benidorm, Borriana, Calp, Cullera, Dénia, Tabarca, Xàbia, Moraira, Peníscola, Santa Pola, Torrevieja, La Vila Joiosa, Vinaròs, etc. In the Valencian Community, the body entrusted with the responsibility of creating the necessary infrastructures that allow the development of the Valencian ports network is the Entity of the Transport and Ports Network of the Valencian Community, dependent on the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.[41]

Public services

Education

Main article: Education in Spain

State Education in Spain and the Valencian Community is free and compulsory from six to sixteen years of age. The current education system is called LOE (in reference to the Llei Orgànica d'Educació).[42]

  • From three to six years: Preparatory School (Infantil, popularly known as Preescolar)
  • From six to twelve years: Primary School (Primaria)
  • From twelve to sixteen years: Compulsory Secondary School (Secundaria)
  • From sixteen to eighteen years: Post-Secondary School (Bachillerato)

Children from three to five years old in the Valencian Community have the option of attending the infantil or pre-school stage, which is non-compulsory and free for all students. It is regarded as an integral part of the education system with infantil classes in almost every primary school. There are some separate nursery schools.

Valencian students aged six to sixteen undergo primary and secondary school education, which are compulsory and free of charge. Successful students are awarded a Secondary Education Certificate, which is necessary for entering further (optional) education as for their University or Vocational Studies. Once students have finished their Batxillerat (Spanish: Bachillerato), they can take the PAU exams (Proves d'Accés a la Universitat), commonly known as Selectiu.

The secondary stage of education is normally referred to by their initials, e.g. ESO standing for Educació Secundària Obligatòria.

The Valencian Community is home to a number of prestigious universities like the

Canon law, and medicine
.

Nowadays the

Polytechnic University of Valencia has become one of the most prestigious universities in Spain, according to its technology, investigation, several degrees offering a close relation with some the most important universities in the world such as Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard. Most faculties and colleges are based in the city of Valencia, with some branches in Gandia and Alcoy
.

Other universities are

CEU Cardenal Herrera University
in Valencia.

Media

Main articles:
Ràdio Televisió Valenciana and Valencian Media Corporation
Employees demonstrate in front of the RTVV headquarters in Burjassot the day of its closure.

Until its dissolution in November 2013, the public-service Ràdio Televisió Valenciana (RTVV) was the main broadcaster of radio and television in the Valencian Community. The Generalitat Valenciana constituted it in 1984 in order to guarantee the

their own language.[43]

Prior to its dissolution, the administration of RTVV under the People's Party (PP) had been controversial due to accusations of ideological manipulation and lack of plurality. The news broadcast was accused of giving marginal coverage of the Valencia Metro derailment in 2006 and the indictment of President de la Generalitat Francisco Camps in the Gürtel scandal in 2009.[44] Supervisors appointed by the PP were accused of sexual harassment.[45]

In face of an increasing debt and shrinking audiences that had fallen under 10 and even 5% of share in recent years, RTVV announced in 2012 a plan to shed 70% of its labour. The plan was nullified on 5 November 2013 by the

National Court after trade unions appealed against it. On that same day, the President de la Generalitat Alberto Fabra announced RTVV would be closed, claiming that reinstating the employees was untenable.[46] On 27 November, the legislative assembly passed the dissolution of RTVV and employees organized to take control of the broadcast, starting a campaign against the PP. Nou TV's last broadcast ended abruptly when Spanish police pulled the plug at 12:19 on 29 November 2013.[47]

Having lost all revenues from advertisements and facing high costs from the termination of hundreds of contracts, critics question whether the closure of RTVV has improved the financial situation of the Generalitat, and point out to plans to benefit private-owned media.[48] Currently, the availability of media in the Valencian language is extremely limited. All the other autonomous communities in Spain, including the monolingual ones, have public-service broadcasters, with the Valencian Community being the only exception despite being the fourth most populated.

In 2016 the renewed Valencian government announced that a new public media corporation was to be created. The Valencian Media Corporation was founded in July 2016, as it started the creation of a new TV channel and radio station, by the name of À Punt (ɑ̀). In June 2018 the new public TV channel was launched by Valencian Media Corporation, the newly formed agency of the Generalitat Valenciana.

Culture

Gastronomy

Main article: Valencian cuisine
Valencian paella

The Valencian gastronomy is of great variety, although their more international dishes are rice-based (arròs in Valencian), like the Valencian paella known worldwide. Rice is a basic ingredient in many of the typical dishes, like the arròs a banda, arròs al forn, arròs amb costra, arròs caldós, arròs del senyoret, arròs negre, among many.

Pasta dishes include the fideuà. Its main ingredients are pasta noodles, fish and shellfish.

The Valencian Mediterranean climate favors the cultivation of vegetables and citrus fruits, with the cultivation of the orange (Valencian: taronja) being perhaps of highest importance as one of the typical fruits of Valencian agriculture.

Valencia
.

The great majority of

almojábanas
.

Valencian symbols

Valencian coat of arms over the entrance of Serranos Towers
Reial Senyera
, Valencian flag

The official Valencian anthem is the Hymn of the Regional Exhibition of 1909 (Himne de l'Exposició Regional de 1909 in Valencian; commonly known as the Himne de València, "Anthem of Valencia"), in whose composition the old hymn of the City of Valencia of the 16th century is included. The emblem of the Valencian Generalitat (coat of arms) includes the heraldry of King Peter IV of Aragon, representative of the historical Kingdom of Valencia, whose shield is inclined towards the right, or, four bars Gules.

The official flag, the

Royal Senyera (Reial Senyera), also known as Senyera Coronada (Crowned Senyera) or Senyera Tricolor (Tricolour Senyera) is the same as Valencia's City flag, which, in turn, is a historical derivation of the Senyera, the heraldic symbol of the Crown of Aragon, also used today with few variations in all the former Kingdoms and Counties which were a part of this crown. There are also a number of Valencian private and civil entities such as trade unions,[49] cultural associations,[50] or political parties[51]
which simply use the Senyera as Valencian flag.

Other symbols are used at different levels by the Valencian society, like the heraldic animals of rat-penat (a bat) and drac alat (a winged dragon which was the emblem of James I).

One of the most recognized and representative Valencian symbols are the music and dance of the

fallera
dresses (the Falles dresses).

Celebrations

Valencian Community Day

Main article: Dia de la Comunitat Valenciana
  • October 9: Official day of the Valencian Community and public holiday in the entire region. This day commemorates the entrance of James I to the city of Valencia on the year 1238.

Sports

Valencian pilota match
Juliet d'Alginet, Rovellet and other pilotaris, 1982

The

ball games all around the world. This sport has many variants, that may be played at the streets or at special courtfields like the trinquet. It may also be played by teams or on individual challenges. An amazing trait of this sport is that spectators may sit very close or even in the middle of the court. Even while the match is ongoing bookmakers take bets for reds or blues, since these are the colours players must wear, red being the colour of the strongest team or player. The Valencian pilota can be traced to the 15th century, but it was abandoned during modern times, this decadence is being fought back with TV broadcasts, new built colleges have courtfields and a new professional players firm, ValNet

Association football is the most widely known and played sport. There are teams in every town or village, two of which are currently playing in La Liga, Spanish top professional division: Valencia CF (widely considered one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football history, having won six La Liga titles and 8 Copa del Rey) and Villarreal CF. There are two clubs playing in the Segunda División, Levante UD and Elche CF. Other historical teams that have been in La Liga in the past are CD Alcoyano, Hércules CF and CD Castellón.

Professional basketball is represented currently in Liga ACB, the top professional division, by Valencia Basket, who won its first league title in 2017. Two more teams, CB Lucentum Alicante and AB Castelló are present in the second division.

Regarding female professional sports, the historical

Ros Casares Valencia has been 8 times champion of the Spanish Women's League and 3 times winner of the EuroLeague Women
.

MotoGP pilots such as Héctor Barberá, Héctor Faubel or Nicolás Terol
have been competing in different MotoGP classes.

Another relevant game is the

dove race being trained, the gavatxut valencià
.

Petanca and its variant Calitx are traditional sports as well, especially in towns or among elders.

Further information: Valencian Community Handball Cup

Image gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Pronounced /vəˈlɛnsiən  ... , -ʃən  ... / və-LEN-see-ən ..., -⁠shən ...; Valencian: Comunitat Valenciana, pronounced [komuniˈtad valensiˈana]; Spanish: Comunidad Valenciana, pronounced [komuniˈðað βalenˈθjana].
  2. ^ The Valencian Normative Dictionary of the Valencian Academy of the Language states that Valencian is a "romance language spoken in the Valencian Community, as well as in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, the Principality of Andorra, the eastern flank of Aragon and the Sardinian town of Alghero (unique in Italy), where it receives the name of 'Catalan'."

References

  1. ^ "Contabilidad Regional de España" (PDF). www.ine.es.
  2. ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Población de España en 2021, por comunidad autónoma". Statista. July 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  4. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Estatut d'Autonomia". Corts Valencianes. 1982. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Preamble on Valencian Statutes of Autonomy 1982 and 2006: "Aprovada la Constitució Espanyola, va ser, en el seu marc, on la tradició valenciana provinent de l'històric Regne de València es va trobar amb la concepció moderna del País Valencià i va donar origen a l'autonomia valenciana [...]" - Preamble of Valencian Statute of Autonomy (reformed in 2006) Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Real Academia Española
    . Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Dictamen sobre los Principios y Criterios para la Defensa de la Denominación y entidad del Valenciano" (PDF). It is a fact the in Spain there are two equally legal names for referring to this language: Valencian, as stated by the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community, and Catalan, as recognised in the Statutes of Catalonia and Balearic Islands.
  9. ^ Decreto 84/2008, de 6 de junio, del Consell, por el que se ejecuta la sentencia de 20 de junio de 2005, de la Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunitat Valenciana.
  10. ^ "no trobat". sindicat.net.
  11. S2CID 143313778
    .
  12. ^ Mollà, Toni (1998). "A Catalans language and linguistic community in the Valencian Country" Diàlegs: revista d'estudis polítics i socials Vol. 1, Nº. 2, 1998, pags. 33-45
  13. València 1699, impremta de Vicente Cabrera. Biblioteca Nacional de España, Signatura: 3/64918 Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
    . Reproducció: DGmicro/21722.
  14. ^ Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (Partit Socialista del País Valencià, PSPV)
  15. ^ According to article Valencia from Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  16. ^ Scenery in Land of Valencia Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, edited by the Valencian Agency of Tourism
  17. ^ Terms mainly used from the Department of Tourism of the Valencian Government. See official publications[dead link], and an example Archived 12 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine of using "Region of Valencia". The other term, "Land of Valencia" is also used by this department
  18. ^ CVNews, English-language magazine published by the Valencia Region Tourist Board
  19. ^ Siglo de Oro Valenciano (Spanish Wikipedia)
  20. ^ José Escribano Úbeda-Portugués: España y Europa a través de la Historia. Desde el siglo XV al Siglo XVIII pp 16-17
  21. ^ Proyecto de Estatuto de Autonomía para el País Valenciano (1937) (Spanish Wikipedia)
  22. ^ Real Decreto-Ley 10/1978, de 17 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el Régimen Preautonómico del País Valenciano (Spanish Wikipedia)
  23. ^ Caballer, Neus (7 October 2011). "Fallece el expresidente preautonómico de la Generalitat Enrique Monsonís" [Former pre-autonomous president of the Generalitat Enrique Monsonís dies]. El País (in Spanish).
  24. ^ José Ángel Núñez; Carlos Muedra; Vicente Aupí. "La gran ola de frío de febrero de 1956 en la España mediterránea" [The great cold snap of February 1956 in Mediterranean Spain] (PDF) (in Spanish).
  25. AEMET
    . Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  26. ^ "Third Section, First Chapter of the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  27. ^ "Regional GDP per inhabitant in the EU27: GDP per inhabitant in 2004 ranged from 24% of the EU27 average in Nord-Est in Romania to 303% in Inner London" (PDF), Eurostat News Release, Eurostat Press Office, 19 February 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2009, retrieved 17 November 2012
  28. ^ "El paro alcanza el 23% en la Comunidad Valenciana" [Unemployment reaches 23% in the Valencian Community]. Valencia Plaza (in Spanish). EFE.
  29. ^ "Regional Unemployment by NUTS2 Region". Eurostat. European Union.
  30. ^ "AVL". Diccionari normatiu valencià. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  31. ^ Beltran i Calvo & Segura i Llopes 2018, p. 35.
  32. ^ The implementation of Franco's regime in the Valencian Community since 1939 meant the Valencian ban on its use on the radio, books, theater, different civilians forms such as wedding invitations, signs and announcements, person's first names, cinema (until 1964), in all public and private schools, on the gravestones of the cemeteries and mortuary skeletons, in the nomenclature of hotels, restaurants or brands, on inscriptions in the Civil register, on the names of the streets, among other fields. Mayans Balcells, Pere (2019). Cròniques negres del català a l'escola. Edicions de 1979.
    ISBN 9788494720147
    .
  33. ^ Solé i Sabaté, Josep M.; Villaroya, Joan (1994). Cronologia de la repressió de la llengua i la cultura catalanes 1936-1975. Barcelona: Curial.
    ISBN 8472569578
    .
  34. ^ Ferrer i Gironés, Francesc (1985). La persecució política de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: Edicions 62.
    ISBN 8429723633
    .
  35. ^ Ministerio de la Gobernación (Gazeta of 17 May 1940) (CCITT T.& G4 Facsimile TIFF). Order of 16 May 1940 forbidding the use of generic foreign terms in lettering, samples, advertisements, etc.
  36. ^ "La població que sap escriure en català es quintuplica en els últims 25 anys". Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Esport. November 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  37. ^ "Knowledge and social use of Valencian language. General survey 2015. Synthesis of results". Conselleria d'Educació i Cultura, Generalitat Valenciana. Valencian government (Generalitat Valenciana). 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  38. ^ "Cens 2011. Dades generals coneixement" [Census 2011. General information]. Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Esport (in Valencian). 2011. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  39. ^ "Coneixement i ús social del valencià" [Knowledge and Social Use of Valencian]. Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Esport. 2010. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  40. ^ Ortega, Lorena (15 September 2015). "First commercial flight lands at Castellón's former 'ghost' airport". El País.
  41. ^ "Conozca GTP". p. 17. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  42. ^ "Sistema Educativo LOE" [LOE Educational System]. Spanish Ministry of Education (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
  43. ^ "Ley de Creación de la Entidad Pública Radiotelevisión Valenciana (RTVV)" [Law on the Creation of the Public Entity Radiotelevisión Valenciana (RTVV)] (PDF) (in Spanish). 1984. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2015 – via UGT RTTV.
  44. ^ "Los escándalos de Canal 9" [The Channel 9 scandals]. VerteleTV (in Spanish). 7 November 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  45. ^ "Sanz, destituït de secretari general de RTVV per assetjament sexual" [Sanz, dismissed as RTVV's secretary general for sexual harassment]. Vilaweb (in Catalan). 28 May 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  46. ^ Bono, Ferran (7 November 2013). "El fracaso de Fabra acaba con el PP" [Fabra's failure ends with RTVV]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  47. ^ "Police evict TV staff in Spain after closure of station". BBC News. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  48. ^ "El coste del cierre de RTVV asciende a 144,1 millones". Levante-EMV. 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  49. ^ See logo of one of major trade unions: CCOO-PV
  50. ^ See usage of the Senyera by a Valencian cultural association: ACPV Archived 5 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  51. Bloc Nacionalista Valencià
    , Green Parties, amongst others, whose combined participation in the Autonomous Elections of 2007 achieved 9% of the total votes.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valencia.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Valencia.
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