Flix () is a town in the ''
comarca'' of
Ribera d'Ebre
Ribera d'Ebre () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. in the Terres de l'Ebre, and that extends to both sides of the river Ebro between the reservoir of Riba-roja and Miravet
Miravet is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera d'Ebre in the ...
,
Catalonia, Spain. Situated on a promontory by the
Ebro river, the town occupied an important strategic position. Situated on the
Madrid–
Barcelona railway line, it expanded in the early twentieth century with the construction of a
hydroelectric power station in 1948 and a large
chemical plant
A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures (or otherwise processes) chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transform ...
, ''Electroquímica de Flix''.
One of the main tourist attractions is fishing in the horseshoe-shaped bend in the river (day ticket). Every year there is a large international fishing competition in Flix.
History
Flix was the site of a battle in the
Spanish Civil War in 1938. The
Battle of the Iron Bridge
The Battle of the Iron Bridge was fought between the Muslim Rashidun army and the Byzantine army in 637 AD. The battle took its name from a nearby nine-arch stone bridge (also known as Jisr al-Hadid) spanning the Orontes River which had gates ...
was fought between the
International Brigades
The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...
and the Fascists as part of the
Battle of the Ebro. The operation was initially a success for the republicans with the construction of the iron bridge nearly complete by the 3rd Division. However at the end they had lost 3,000 soldiers and the battle. Today there is a memorial to this battle at Flix.
In 2005, the existence of a vast
polluted
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
area on the shores of the Flix Reservoir was disclosed. The
environmental disaster involving large quantities of
toxic waste was caused by the
Ercros chemical factory, located by the shore of the artificial lake. Following this disclosure, an ambitious plan to clean up the area was drawn. This plan involves the building of containment barriers and the removal and treatment of the hazardous chemical waste.
Comencen les obres de col·locació de la barrera que aïllarà els llots tòxics del pantà de Flix durant la descontaminació
/ref>
Demography
The population of Flix has grown since 1900 and peaked in the 1980s.[Statistical information - Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya]
accessed August 2009
References
External links
Official website
Government data pages
{{Authority control
Municipalities in Ribera d'Ebre
Populated places in Ribera d'Ebre