Igualada

Igualada
Municipality
Igualada town hall
Flag Coat of arms
Location in Anoia county
Igualada Show map of Catalonia Igualada Show map of Spain
Coordinates: 41°35′N 1°37′E / 41.583°N 1.617°E / 41.583; 1.617
Sovereign state	Spain
Community	Catalonia
Region	Penedès
County	Anoia
Province	Barcelona
Government
• Mayor	Marc Castells Berzosa (2011)[1] (JxC)
Area [2]
• Total	8.1 km2 (3.1 sq mi)
Elevation	313 m (1,027 ft)
Population  (2018)[3]
• Total	39,540
• Density	4,900/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	igualadí, -dina
Postal code	08700
Climate	Cfa
Website	igualada.cat

Igualada (Catalan pronunciation:

The city is 65 kilometres (40 miles) west of Barcelona and 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of the famous

Montserrat

.

Igualada hosts the

Aerosport airshow

, which takes place every year in April or May.

History

You can help expand this section with text translated from the corresponding article in Catalan. (December 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Catalan Wikipedia article at [[:ca:Igualada]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ca|Igualada}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

COVID-19 pandemic

Igualada was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Its hospital was identified as a hotspot of the coronavirus. Police guarded every entry and exit point, and allowed only essential workers to enter or leave. Igualada was cut off from the rest of the country, as a lockdown within a lockdown.^[5]

Main sights

Igualada Leather Museum

The Igualada Leather Museum (Museu de la Pell d'Igualada) opened in 1954. It was the first leather museum in Spain and the third in Europe. The collections are displayed in two nearby buildings in Igualada: the "Cal Boyer" building, a former cotton textile factory from the late 19th century, and the "Cal Granotes" building, an 18th-century tannery.

"Cal Granotes" displays two floors of a typical tannery: the ground floor, where the leather preparation and tanning was done, and the upper floor, where the leather was dried hanging from bars.

In the early 18th century, the tanning workers from Igualada decided to leave the enclosure of the medieval walls and established new industries along a water pipe or irrigation

Muleteer's Museum (Museu del Traginer)

The "

The new Igualada Cemetery was designed by the architects Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós after winning an architectural competition in 1984. Constructed between 1985 and 1994 as a replacement for the old "Cemetery Vell", it has become widely regarded as one of the most poetic works of the 20th century Catalan architecture. Enric Miralles, who died in year 2000 is buried in one of the tombs.

Church of Santa Maria

The Basilica of Santa Maria is the most important historical building of Igualada. The first settlement of Igualada is dated around year 1000, in the location were the current church lies today, which was at that time a crossing of two routes which were linking

The asil del Sant Crist is one of the most special buildings in Igualada and serves as a nursing home of elder people. Construction started in year 1931 thanks to a donation from Magdalena, Dolors and Concepció Castells and finished in 1941 after the Spanish Civil War. It was designed by Joan Rubió i Bellver, pupil of Antoni Gaudí, in late modernisme style, mixed with influences from the traditional Catalan architecture.

Rail home "Museu del tren"

The largest model railway exhibition in Spain and museum dedicated to trains and railways. Curated by Antoni Rabell,^[6] it took 15 years to create a model railway display. A guided tour is available during the visit.

Economy

The local industries, mainly developed since 1880, include the manufacture of

Igualada has a long tradition of tanning and textile industries. The competition from low-cost countries that produce inexpensive textile products and the stricter environmental laws applied on tanneries have had a serious impact on the local economy. Despite that, there are several well-known textile companies that keep their headquarters in Igualada, including Buff, Sita Murt and Punto Blanco.

Igualada is also home to Ultramagic, the only manufacturer of hot air balloons in Spain.

Transportation

• Igualada is home to the
  European Champions League of Rink Hockey six times and the Spanish League
  five times.
• The local soccer team is CF Igualada, founded in 1939 and currently playing at the Primera Catalana league.
• There is also a local Rugby Union Team, Anoia Rugby, who were founded in 2013 and ply their trade in Catalonia's third rugby division.
• Pep Clotet, football manager and former player, comes from Igualada.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Igualada is

• Lecco, Italy
• Guimarães, Portugal
• Alcántara, Spain
• Nueva Esperanza, Jiquilisco, El Salvador
• Aksakovo, Bulgaria

References