Barrancos ( Barranquenho: ''Barrancu'') is a town and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in Portugal. With a population of 1,834 in 2011, it is the least populated municipality in

mainland Portugal Continental Portugal ( pt, Portugal continental, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in Continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and 9 ...

. Its area is 168.42 km². The municipality is composed of one parish, being one of the six Portuguese municipalities composed of only one parish, and is located in

Beja District The Beja District () is located in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Beja. It is the largest district of the country by area, and constitutes around 11% of its area. Municipalities The district is composed of 14 municipali ...

, close to the Spanish border. Among its economic activities are

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

and

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

rising, being a production center for ''

presunto ''Presunto'' () is dry-cured ham from Portugal, similar to Italian ''prosciutto crudo'' or Spanish ''jamón''. Among the wide variety of ''presuntos'' in Portugal, the most famous are ''presunto'' from Chaves, produced in the north of Portugal, ...

'' (

dry-cured ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ha ...

), similar to the

jamón ibérico ''Jamón ibérico'' (; pt, presunto ibérico ), " Iberian ham" is a variety of ''jamón'' or ''presunto'', a type of cured leg of pork produced in Spain and, to a lesser extent, Portugal. Description According to Spain's '' denominaci� ...

, made from Black Iberian Pig (also known as ''Porco Alentejano''). The present Mayor is António Pica Tereno, elected by the Unitary Democratic Coalition. The municipal holiday is August 28. Barrancos is famous in Portugal for its festival, which takes place each year during the last four days of August, and where traditional

bullfighting Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations. There are several variations, including some forms w ...

occurs in the town's main square.

History

The territory where the Barrancos municipality stands today was initially conquered from the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

in 1167, by Gonçalo Mendes da Maia, and the area's population was ordered by D. Sancho I in 1200. The original municipality was then located in the village of Noudar, which would only be definitively incorporated in the Kingdom of Portugal in the year 1295, when it was granted ''

foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The word ''foral'' ({{IPA-pt, fuˈɾaɫ, eu, plural: ''forais'') is a noun derived from the Portuguese word ''foro'', ultimately from Latin ''forum'', equivalent to Spanish ''fuero'', Galician '' foro'', ...

'' by D. Dinis. Noudar village was extinct in 1825, beginning a slow process of abandonment and migration to Barrancos. Noudar, with its castle and old village ruins, is today one of the landmarks of the region. It is located 12 km to the northwest of Barrancos.

Language

In Barrancos, the Barranquenho language is spoken. Since 2021, this language is protected in the municipality.

Notable people

* Paulo Guerra (born 1970 in Barrancos) a Portuguese former long-distance runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres and cross-country running

Gallery

References

External links

Photos from Barrancos

Parque de Natureza de Noudar

Web Iberic Ham of P.D.O. Barrancos
Towns in Portugal Populated places in Beja District Municipalities of Beja District {{Beja-geo-stub