Maresme () is a ''

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, ...

'' (county) located along the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, between the ''comarques'' of

Barcelonès Barcelonès () is the most economically important comarca (county) of Catalonia, Spain. It contains Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of ...

(at the Southwest) and

Selva Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...

(at the Northeast), and also bordering with

Vallès Oriental Vallès Oriental () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Granollers. Along with Vallès Occidental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès. In May 2015, Vallès Oriental lost four municipalities - Castellcir, Castellterçol, ...

(at the west). Its capital and largest city is

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sa ...

(pop. 119,035 in 2007).

Geography

Maresme occupies a long and narrow area between 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 ...

and the hills of Serralada Litoral (Catalonia's coastal mountains), and specifically Montnegre's and 's hills in the northern half and Sant Mateu's hills in the southern half. This particular shape has conditioned both the geography and the history of this ''comarca''. Probably the main distinct elements of its geography are the characteristic ''rieres'' (torrents). These short, intermittent streams, which cross the ''comarca'' transversally about every hundred meters, produce powerful and dangerous floods when it rains. Tarongers Canet

Maresme has been historically very well connected with the rest of the ''comarca'' as well as with

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 ...

by the old ''Camí Ral'' (Royal Way) (current

N-II N-II was the former name for the Route Nacional from Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million ...

main road) and railroad (The Barcelona–Mataró railroad route, finished in 1848, was the first ever in all the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

). Communications were enhanced in recent years with the construction of the C-32's Barcelona–Mataró section (1969), which was the first ''autopista'' (highway) ever in Spain, and its subsequent enlargement, the Mataró-Palafolls's section (1995).

Municipalities

References

External links

Official comarcal web siteAll the tourist information, shopping and services Maresme
{{Coord, 41, 31, N, 2, 18, E, region:ES_source:enwiki-uniquenames, display=title Comarques of the Province of Barcelona