History of A Coruña

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A Coruña or Corunna, Galicia (Spain) is located on a promontory in the entrance of an estuary in a big gulf, the Portus Magnus Artabrorum, name of the area used by classical geographers.

Prehistory

A Coruña (La Coruña, Corunna or The Groyne) expanded due to construction between the island where

, and gave their name to the city in ancient times.

Roman times

The Romans reached the area in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC; Julius Caesar stayed in the city in the year 62 BC. The town started growing, mainly during the 1st and 2nd centuries (when the Tower of Hercules) was built; population growth dropped after the 4th century, in particular due to the incursions of the Normans, which forced the population to flee toward the interior of the Estuary of O Burgo).

Middle Ages

After the fall of the

were slowly replaced by the European Atlantic front. But the process of deurbanization that followed the fall of the Romans also affected the city. Between the 7th and 8th centuries the city remained a small town of labourers and sailors who worked mainly on the beach.

The

in the year 572:

"Mirus Rex Sedi suae Hiriensi contulit Dioceses, scilicet Morratium, Salinensem, (...) Bregantinos, Farum..."

[King Miro granted to his iriensi headquarters the dioceses of Morrazo, Salnés (...). Bergantiños, Faro...]

The Arabian invasion of the peninsula didn't affect the archaeological remains of the city, and there is no conclusive evidence that they actually reached the city itself. The main problem that the inhabitants of the city faced in the Middle Ages were Norman raids. During the 9th century the Vikings attacked the city several times, called in that time Faro or Faro Bregancio.

In the year 991, king Bermudo II started the construction of military positions in the coast, with a defensive role. A fortress with a permanent garrison was built at Faro, in the ruins of the Tower of Hercules. To pay for it, gives the power over the city to the bishop of Santiago. He will be the main figure of Galicia until the 15th century.

In 1208,

. A Coruña also received the headquarters of the General Captain.

Modern era

.

From its port left in 1554 Philip II to married with Mary Tudor and in 1588 the Invincible Navy. In the following year Francis Drake besieged it, but he was rejected, and then it was born the legend of María Pita, a woman who took up the weapon of his dead man and continued shooting. After burning the monastery of San Domingos and other places, the English soldiers withdrew on May 19.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the wars of the Spanish monarchy caused a high growth of the taxes and the compulsory recruitment of the population. In 1620, Philip III created the School of the Boys of the Sea. In 1682 the Tower of Hercules was restored by

.

19th century

On August 19, 1815,

were founded there, in 1906 and 1916 respectively.

Resistance during the

was killed. French troops left Galicia at the end of May.

In 1804, the National Factory of Cigarettes was created, and the workers movement in the city began there. During the 19th century, other businesses were slowly established, related to glass, textiles, gas and matches. The sea-related business and the migrations attracted Catalan, Belgian, French and English inversions. The Bank of A Coruña was founded in 1857. The new provincial division of 1832 also influenced in the economic development.

20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, A Coruña had about 45.000 inhabitants. After the decade of 1960, it recovered the business initiative that losts, with Barrié de la Maza (Banco Pastor, Fenosa, Aluminio de Galicia, Genosa, Emesa, etc.).

Elections of 1931

In the

.

In the elections, the republican parties obtained 34 of the 39 council seats. The better results were of the ORGA and of the Partido Radical Socialista, and the

lost a lot of support.

During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco

After the Spanish Civil War, supporters of the republic were forced to go to exile, and those that remained in the country suffered repression by the new government. Supporters of the fascist faction occupied all the charges of the "depurates", obtaining university titulations "by war". In the meantime, the Nazis murdered 13 citizens of A Coruña in Manthausen.^[1]

A group of

. They gave it to the dictator for his summer holidays. In 1970, ETA nearly killed Franco, but logistics failed at the last moment.

Democracy arrives again

From 1983 to 2006, the mayor of the city was Francisco Vázquez Vázquez (PSOE), and the city became a city of services, but he also was criticised because his offenses to the galician language and his urbanistic politics. On January 20, 2006 Paco Vázquez was named ambassador in Vatican City, and he was replaced by Javier Losada. Now the local government is a coalition of the two left-wing parties, Socialists' Party of Galicia and Galician Nationalist Bloc.

See also

• Timeline of A Coruña
• Battle of Corunna
• The Siege of Coruña

References

Bibliography