Castelldefels () is a municipality in the
Baix Llobregat
Baix Llobregat () is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat.
Municipalities
Proposed changes
It has long been proposed to split the northern part of Baix Llobregat into a separate comarca. ...
comarca
A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...
, in the
province of Barcelona
Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, Spain, and a suburban town of the
Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the Med ...
. Its population is 65,954 (
IDESCAT, 2017).
Geography and location
It is located about southwest of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, just to the north of the
massÃs del Garraf and is the last town on the coast before the comarca of
Garraf
Garraf (), better known as El Garraf (), is a comarca (county) in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain. It is named after the Garraf Massif.
The GR 92 long distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Mediterranea ...
. The town is famous for its long beach (more than 5 km) and well known for being an affluent area, as the place of residence of many famous sportsmen, such as
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
,
Luis Suárez
Luis Alberto Suárez DÃaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...
,
Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. He is known for his combination of vision, ...
, or formerly
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...
; and for being the city which inspired the creation of the character "El Neng de Castefa" who used to appear on the late night show called "BFN" hosted by the showman and presenter
Andreu Buenafuente
Andreu Buenafuente Moreno (born: January 24, 1965) is a Spanish Late night television, late night show host and founder of the group El Terrat. He has worked in TV3 (Catalonia), TV3, Antena 3 (Spain), Antena 3, laSexta and Cero (TV channel), #0 ...
. During the summer, many people from Barcelona and the countryside visit it. Nearby towns include
GavÃ
Gavà () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It borders the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Viladecans and Castelldefels.
Gavà has a beach and two population centers: the cit ...
,
Viladecans
Viladecans () is a town near Barcelona, Spain. It is located between Sant Boi de Llobregat and Sant Climent de Llobregat, and is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between El Prat de Llobregat and Gavà .
Viladecans is basically a service tow ...
,
Sant Boi de Llobregat,
Sitges
Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspot ...
and
el Prat de Llobregat
El Prat de Llobregat (), commonly known as El Prat , is a municipality of Spain located in the ''comarca'' of Baix Llobregat in Catalonia. The Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport largely lies within the municipal limits. It is part of ...
. Castelldefels borders the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
between
Sitges
Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspot ...
and
GavÃ
Gavà () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It borders the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Viladecans and Castelldefels.
Gavà has a beach and two population centers: the cit ...
with a major beach. Castelldefels also enjoys close proximity to the major international airport of Barcelona, as
El Prat Airport
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
is about 15 km of a drive.
The Olympic canal, called Canal OlÃmpic de Catalunya, built for the
1992 Summer Olympic Games of Barcelona is in the town.
The
main-belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
72037 Castelldefels
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...
, discovered in 2000, is named after the town.
Demography and governance
Between 1979 and 2011, the town was governed by the
Socialists' Party of Catalonia
The Socialists' Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE official acronym) is a social-democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Cataloniaâ ...
(PSC). The first democratic mayor after Constitution was . In 2011, the conservative
People's Party (PP) won a plurality of seats for the first time, and Manuel Reyes of the PP was elected mayor of the town. In 2015, the eco-socialist Candela López of the ICV was elected mayor by a leftist government coalition.
Summary of council election results
(a) results for the
Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia
The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya, PSUC) was a communist political party active in Catalonia between 1936 and 1997. It was the Catalan branch of the Communist Party of Spain and the only party n ...
(b) results for the
Party of the Communists of Catalonia
Party of the Communists of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels i les Comunistes de Catalunya) was a communist party in Catalonia that existed from 1982 to 2014. The main organ of PCC was ''Avant'' and the theoretical organ was ''Realitat''. Every year the ...
(c) results for the
People's Alliance
Education
Castelldefels School of Technology provides higher education in aeronautics and telecommunications technology.
The town is also the location of the Castelldefels and Nexus (
sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
) campuses of the
British School of Barcelona
The British School of Barcelona (BSB) is a private Mixed-sex education, coeducational Multilingualism, bilingual international school located in the Barcelona metropolitan area, Catalonia, Spain.[Castelldefels
Castelldefels () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, and a suburban town of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 65,954 ( IDESCAT, 2017).
Geography and location
It i ...]
and
Platja de Castelldefels) on
Renfe line R2 from
Sant Vicenç de Calders
Sant Vicenç de Calders is a village in the El Vendrell municipality, in the Baix Penedès comarca, Province of Tarragona, Spain. The village was an independent municipality until the 1940s, and is SE of El Vendrell. It has a population of just ...
to
Maçanet-Massanes via
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, bus routes to Barcelona (L94, L95, L97),
Barcelona Airport
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
(L99) and
Sant Boi de Llobregat (L96), as well as an urban bus route connecting the rest of the town (CF1), the C-32 motorway and the C-31 and C-245 dual carriageways. A second railway line is due to be constructed from
Cornellà de Llobregat
Cornellà de Llobregat (; es, Cornellá de Llobregat) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the left bank of the Llobregat River. It is in the south-western part of the Barcelona metr ...
to Castelldefels.
2010 accident
On 23 June 2010, 12 young people were killed, and 14 injured, when they were hit by an express train as they crossed the tracks in the railway station at
Platja de Castelldefels, while on their way to a summer solstice bonfire party on the beach.
"Twelve Spanish Teenagers Killed by Express Train"
''The Guardian'', 24 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010
References
* Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). ''Guia de Catalunya'', Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. (Spanish). (Catalan).
External links
Official site
(in Catalan and Spanish)
Artistic and historical buildings in Castelldefels
(in Catalan)
Government data pages
{{authority control