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Gandia (, ) is a city and
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
in the
Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...
, eastern
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
on the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
. Gandia is located on the Costa de Valencia, south of
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
and north of
Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
. Vehicles can access the city through road N-332 and AP-7 highway. Gandia operated as an important cultural and commercial centre in the 15th and 16th centuries: in the 15th century it had a university. It was home to several important people, including the poet Ausiàs March (1400-1459) and the novelist
Joanot Martorell Joanot Martorell (; c. 1410 – 1465) was a Valencian knight and writer, best known for authoring the novel '' Tirant lo Blanch'', written in Catalan/Valencian and published at Valencia in 1490. This novel is often regarded as one of the peak ...
(1410-1465). It is perhaps best known for the Borja or
Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town of Borja, then in the Cro ...
, through their family
title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
, Duke of Gandia (originally created in 1399). Gandia is one of the largest coastal towns in Spain, with a population of over 200,000 during summer, and a centre of commerce and tourism in its region. There are two main zones, Gandia City, which has all the historical monuments, commercial activity, and shopping, and Gandia beach, which has apartments and summer residences used during the summer season. The bars and nightclubs are concentrated in the beach area. As is normal for Spain, nightlife does not begin until well after midnight. The beach and town are actually some apart, which succeeds in separating summer tourism from day-to-day living.


Culture

For culture, there are literary contests, the Summer University (Universitat d'Estiu), the International Festival of Classical Music and art exhibitions; sports include water, golf, tennis and hiking. Gandia hosts the annual Cortoons Gandia animation festival in April, which celebrates international animation and short films.


Tourism

With its long, wide, golden, sandy beaches Gandia is one of the major tourist destinations in Spain. Traditionally Gandia's tourism has a domestic base, with the majority coming from Madrid, although in recent years it has been an increasingly popular destination for international tourists, mainly French, German and British.Gandia.be
There are some popular Spanish restaurants around the beach. Gandia has a number of shopping facilities including shopping malls and chain supermarkets like
Carrefour Carrefour Group, S.A. (, ), is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, Essonne, Massy, France. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores. By 2024, the group had 14,000 ...
,
Carrefour Express Carrefour Express is a convenience store chain owned and operated by French retailer Carrefour with locations in three continents. Carrefour Express was created in 2007 to consolidate all convenience stores owned by Carrefour worldwide under one ...
,
Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...
, Mercadona and
Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...
.Gandia
/ref>


Main sights

* Collegiate Basilica of Gandia * Ducal Palace of Gandia * Convent of Santa Clara of Gandia * Archaeological Museum of Gandia * Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba * Route of the Borgias * Route of the Monasteries of Valencia * Route of the Valencian classics


Geography

Gandia has an important regional wetland with an extension above in the outskirts of the city, called Marjal de La Safor.https://www.gandia.org/web/guest/marjal-de-gandia This natural area is home to several water plants such as Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, and specially many species of water lily plants, such as
Nymphaea alba ''Nymphaea alba'', the white waterlily, European white water lily or white nenuphar , is an aquatic flowering plant in the family Nymphaeaceae. It is native to North Africa, temperate Asia, Europe and tropical Asia (Jammu and Kashmir). Since '' ...
, Utricularia australis and Potamogeton fluitans. Underwater plants also exist, such as Myriophyllum and
Ceratophyllum ''Ceratophyllum'' is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan genus of flowering plants commonly found in ponds, marshes, and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions. It is the only extant taxon, extant genus in the family Ceratophyll ...
. Native land plants are mostly formed of various
Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial plant, perennial reed (plant), reed Poaceae, grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Famili ...
species, Typha domingensis, various
Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush. They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Description ''Scirpus'' are rhizomatous perennial herbs ...
and
Cladium ''Cladium'' (fen-sedge, sawgrass or twig-sedge) is a genus of large sedges, with a nearly worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate regions. These are plants characterized by long, narrow (grass-like) leaves having sharp, often serrated ( ...
species. Various species of palm trees are naturalised in the area, and they are also found widely in the marjal due to seed dispersion, either wind or animal dispersion. The most common naturalised palm trees in the area are
Phoenix dactylifera ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...
(African date palm),
Washingtonia robusta ''Washingtonia robusta'', known by common name as the Mexican fan palm, Mexican washingtonia, or skyduster is a palm tree native to the Baja California peninsula and a small part of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. Despite its limited native distr ...
(Mexican fan palm) and
Phoenix canariensis ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Northwestern Africa. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true date pal ...
(Canary Island date palm). There are some specimens of the native palm tree
Chamaerops humilis ''Chamaerops'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. It contains only one species, ''Chamaerops humilis'', variously called European fan palm or the Mediterranean dwarf palm. It is one of the most cold-hardy palms and is use ...
(European palmetto), although very few compared to the naturalised species. This natural zone is also rich in fauna, with many species of birds, fish, amphibian and reptiles, with some mammal species. The most common species of birds are
Tachybaptus ruficollis The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Latin ...
,
Anas platyrhynchos The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...
, Falco tinnunculus, Fulica atra and Gallinula chloropus amongst many other species. The most common fish and amphibian species are Cobitis maroccana, Anguilla anguilla, Syngnathus abaster,
Bufo bufo The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a toad found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, parts of Scandinavia, and some Medi ...
, Bufo calamita and Rana perezi. The most common reptiles are turtles, with a native species ( Emys orbicularis) which is in critical condition due to the heavy expansion of the Trachemys scripta scripta and Trachemys scripta elegans, most known as
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
turtles, which are introduced species in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. Other species of reptiles are Tarentola mauritanica,
Podarcis hispanicus ''Podarcis hispanicus'', also known as Iberian wall lizard, is a small wall lizard species of the genus ''Podarcis''. It is found in the Iberian Peninsula, in northwestern Africa and in coastal districts in Languedoc-Roussillon in France. In Span ...
and Natrix maura amongst others. The most common and native mammals are the European rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus), the European hedgehog (
Erinaceus europaeus The European hedgehog (''Erinaceus europaeus''), also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog, is a hedgehog species native to Europe from Iberia and Italy northwards into Scandinavia and westwards into the British Isles.Harris, S. ...
), the greater white-toothed shrew Musaranya comuna ( Crocidura russula), the European bat ( Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and the wild hog (
Sus scrofa The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...
) amongst others.


Climate

The climate of Gandia is
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
: ''Csa'') with mild winters, and hot summers. The annual average temperature is between 18-19 °C. Gandia receives about 600mm of rain per year, the majority falling from September to November.
Autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...
is the wettest season.


Sports

The local football team is CF Gandía.


International relations


Twin towns – Sister cities

Gandia is twinned with: * Laval in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...


Public transport

Gandia has an extensive bus network and two
Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...
stations that connect the city with
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
(despite the fact that one of them only has three daily services). Buses in the Gandia area are operated by the company La Marina Gandiense and L'Urbanet. There are two La Marina Gandiense lines: line 1 that connects Gandia with the nearby municipality of Real de Gandia (and sometimes with the University) and line 2, which connects Gandia to the beach, which is 5 km (3,107 miles) away from the city. In L’Urbanet, there are three lines, although one of them is divided, which would be counted as four. The following lines are: Line 3: Circular. Starts and ends at the Renfe station in Gandia city Line 4: Gandia train station - San Francisco de Borja hospital Line 5: This line has the peculiarity that despite being the same line it makes two totally different routes, which are: * Gandia train station - Marenys de Rafalcaid * Gandia train station - Marchuquera There are also bus lines that connect Gandia with nearby villages such as Daimuz, Guardamar de la Safor,
Oliva Oliva (, ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Safor in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting t ...
, etc. There are also some buses which connect Gandia with cities such as
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
,
Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...
,
Medina del Campo Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area. It lies on the banks of the Zapardiel river, in the centre of t ...
,
Tordesillas Tordesillas () is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain. It is located southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of . The population was c. 8,760 . The town is located on ...
,
Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...
,
Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
,
Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...
, Galicia,
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...
,
Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
and
Andalucía Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
. Referring to train services, Gandia has two train stations which connect Gandia with Valencia. Both of them are terminal of line C-1 from Cercanías Valencia. The following stations are: * Gandia * Platja i Grau de Gandia (this one gives service to Gandia’s beach, causing only three daily trains to reach this station)


Notable people

* León de Arroyal (1755–1813), intellectual, poet, and writer * Elísabet Benavent (born 1984), romance writer * Pablo Pallares Marzo (born 1987), footballer * Diana Morant (born 1980), Spanish politician and Minister of Science and Innovation (2021-present)


See also

* Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba * Collegiate Basilica of Gandia * Ducal Palace of Gandia * Ferrocarril Alcoy Gandia * Route of the Borgias * Route of the Monasteries of Valencia * Route of the Valencian classics


References


External links


Town hall of Gandia

Official Tourism of GandiaGandia Information
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