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Puerto Real () is a seaport in
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
, in the
province of Cádiz Cádiz is a Provinces of Spain, province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of conti ...
. , it had a population of 40,667. The town is located on the northern shore of the inner lobe of the
Bay of Cádiz The Bay of Cádiz is a body of water in the province of Cádiz, Spain, adjacent to the southwestern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The Bay of Cádiz adjoins the Gulf of Cádiz, a larger body of water which is in the same area but further offsho ...
, on the site of the ancient Roman settlement of
Portus Gaditanus Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome. Sited on the north bank of the north mouth of the Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Cent ...
. An ancient trading post, it is probably the oldest settlement on the Bay of Cádiz. It owes its current name to the fact that it was rebuilt in 1488 by
Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...
and
Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...
. Puerto Real boasts public squares and broad streets; it also has a town-hall building and a 16th-century church, which was constructed in several styles (Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque).


Geography

The town of Puerto Real has two separate zones with two separate characters, a ''maritime'' zone and a ''
hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...
'' zone. Central Puerto Real lies entirely within the maritime zone, facing, as it does, the Bay of Cadiz and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. The inland zone, the so-called hinterland, is far larger in area but far less populated. Puerto Real borders the towns and cities of
San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
to the southwest,
Chiclana de la Frontera Chiclana de la Frontera () is a town and municipality in southwestern Spain, in the province of Cádiz, Andalucía, near the Gulf of Cádiz. It belongs to the association of municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz (Bahía de Cádiz), the provincial c ...
to the south,
Medina Sidonia Medina Sidonia is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, southern Spain. Considered by some to be the oldest city in Europe, it is used as a military defence location because of its elevation. ...
to the southeast,
Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...
to the north and northeast, and
El Puerto de Santa Maria 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 po ...
to the northwest. A good portion of the periphery of Puerto Real lies within the
Bay of Cádiz Natural Reserve A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...
, an area known for its salt marshes; the reeds of the marshes are the raw material for weaving mats that form the walls of cages in fish-farming enterprises ( pisciculture). These wetlands, composed of lagoons as well as salt marshes, welcome, in the spring and autumn, huge flocks of migratory birds en route to their new seasonal homes. Also, on the outskirts of Puerto Real, there are several notable pine forests, among them, Las Canteras (the Forest of Quarries) and La Algaida (Mare's Meadow Forest). Because of its forests and
estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
marshes, Puerto Real is sometimes called the "green lung" of the Bay of Cádiz. The San Pedro river, an arm of the
Guadalete The Guadalete River is located almost entirely in the Spanish Province of Cádiz, rising in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park at an elevation of about , and running for into the Bay of Cádiz at El Puerto de Santa Maria, north of the city of C ...
river, flows along the northwestern edge of the town, separating Puerto Real from neighboring
El Puerto de Santa Maria 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 po ...
. Puerto Real is united to Cádiz by the José León de Carranza Bridge, named for a former mayor of Cádiz. As of 2007, a second bridge was planned. Other aspects of Puerto Real's geography are the many kilometers of gorges, ravines, and artificially created footpaths that traverse the municipality. Among them is a long green corridor, constituting one end of the
Two Bays Trail 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
that unites the two large bays of the province of
Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
, the
Bay of Cádiz The Bay of Cádiz is a body of water in the province of Cádiz, Spain, adjacent to the southwestern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The Bay of Cádiz adjoins the Gulf of Cádiz, a larger body of water which is in the same area but further offsho ...
and the
Bay of Algeciras The Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeciras), is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay. It opens to the south into the Strait ...
. There are also two concentrations of population within the municipal limits of Puerto Real that are not contiguous with the central part of the city; they are called the District of Jarana and the District of the San Pedro (river).


History

Although the city was founded in 1483 by the
Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
, the actual history of Puerto Real begins in pre-Roman antiquity. There are vestiges of both prehistoric and Roman settlements in Puerto Real that bear witness to the fact that the land on which the modern city is sited has been inhabited for a very long time. Puerto Real is the site of the ancient Roman settlement of
Portus Gaditanus Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome. Sited on the north bank of the north mouth of the Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Cent ...
, meaning "The Port of Gades", the maritime appendage of the Roman '' colonia'', Gades (Cádiz), across the narrow end of the bay. The Spanish monarchs decided to build a new "royal" port city on this site because they wished to become personally involved in the lucrative trade that had developed with North Africa. Powerful nobles already dominated all of the other ports of western Andalusia (Cádiz, Huelva, and, to a lesser extent, Seville). From the time of its founding, Puerto Real's prosperity was closely tied to the fortunes of these other Spanish ports, especially Cádiz, which soon grew rich from its commerce with America. In 1820, there was a popular liberal revolt in Spain, led by the constitutionalist and patriot, Rafael del Riego y Nunez (1785–1823), that sought to reinstate the liberal constitution that had been proclaimed in 1812. This revolt led to the imprisonment of King
Ferdinand VII , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_plac ...
in Cádiz and the convening of the liberal
Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of N ...
in that city. An international conference of monarchist powers, the
Congress of Verona The Congress of Verona met at Verona on 20 October 1822 as part of the series of international conferences or congresses that opened with the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15, which had instituted the Concert of Europe at the close of the Napole ...
, in October 1822, deputized France to secure Ferdinand's release and restore absolutism in Spain. The invading French army, known as the Hundred Thousand Children of St. Louis (France's patron saint), took Madrid, and, on 7 April 1823, laid siege to Cádiz from positions in Puerto Real and nearby San Fernando. Initially, French artillery barrages failed to cause the fall of the city. Riego's forces held the strategic Fort San Luis on the island of Trocadero at the extreme south end of the Bay of Cádiz, between Cádiz and Puerto Real. When the fort's defenders succumbed to a French assault on 31 August 1823, Trocadero was lost, and so, in effect, was the liberal cause. The remaining defenders of Cádiz, smarting from their loss at the
Battle of Trocadero The Battle of Trocadero, fought on 31 August 1823, was the only significant battle in the French invasion of Spain in support of King Ferdinand VII. French forces defeated the Spanish liberal forces and restored the absolute rule of Ferdinand. ...
and despairing of the possibility of reinforcement, sued for peace. They made an agreement that resulted in the release and reinstatement of Ferdinand VII. In exchange, the liberals secured promises of an amnesty for their fighters and for the members of the dissident Cortes; the agents of the king also agreed to the establishment of a form of constitutional monarchy where the principles of the 1812 constitution were supposed to be respected. In the process of besieging Cádiz, the French succeeded in destroying a large part of Puerto Real, including its water delivery and sanitation systems. Perhaps it was because of these events that Puerto Real was regularly beset by epidemics throughout much of the 19th century. Another reminder in Puerto Real of the time of the French invasion is the Cortadura canal that allows passage across the base of the peninsula of Cádiz. The canal is not a natural waterway; it was constructed by the Spanish in an attempt to prevent the French artillery from drawing closer to the walls of the city. At the end of the 19th century, Puerto Real experienced an industrial boom, thanks to the creation of modern shipyards by Antonio López. New technological advances and the new industries drastically modified the appearance of Puerto Real. To make room for the new shipyards and warehouses, a working-class neighborhood, Matagorda, was leveled, but new neighborhoods, like the River San Pedro and Marquesado districts, sprang up.


Economy

Puerto Real is a city with an economy based almost exclusively on
industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...
.


Shipbuilding and marine repairs

The shipbuilding industry, for centuries the backbone of the local economy, has experienced serious economic setbacks during the recent 10–15 years, due to competition from other shipbuilders, mostly in South East Asia. Shipyard industry in Spain and most of Europe has been unable to compete with their Asian counterparts, due to a number of factors, among them economies of scale and more efficient production methods.


Aeronautical fabrication

Unlike the shipbuilding industry, which is in decline, the airplane-building industry is doing well.
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
operates a factory in Puerto Real responsible for the construction of the tail stabilizer assembly, the rudder, and the belly fairing of the Airbus A380 airplane. The Puerto Real facility is also involved in fabrication of the lateral drawer of the A320 airplane and rudder assemblies for the A330 and the A340.


Auto parts

Puerto Real was the home of a Delphi auto parts plant associated with General Motors. The plant was closed in 2007.


Large-scale construction

Local companies are involved in off-shore dredging. Also, a Puerto Real concern has built one of the largest off-shore natural-gas drilling platforms in the world.


Other industries

Many small and medium-sized companies supply services and manual labor for the other industrial enterprises in the area. The crisis in the shipbuilding industry has had a deleterious effect on these second-tier enterprises.


Economic transformation

Due to the decline in shipbuilding, Puerto Real has already lost an important part of its industrial base, and the economy of the entire Bay of Cádiz area has suffered. This has resulted in a dramatic shift in the regional economic model, away from a dependence on heavy industry, toward an emphasis on tourism. However, Puerto Real, an industrial community headed toward obsolescence, is not as well-positioned to trade on sunshine and beach sand as some of its neighbors. The transition to a tourism-based economy has proved to be slow and painful. Puerto Real persists in having a high birth-rate, and the age of its average citizen continues to decline. Young people lacking jobs are forced to seek work elsewhere in Spain or even leave the country altogether. Lacking fine beaches, Puerto Real has turned its attention inland. For that reason, the city's efforts at tourism-promotion mainly emphasize "rural tourism" activities, like golf, horseback-riding, walking, hiking, bicycling, and nature sightseeing. The local countryside has become a prime asset, and now Puerto Real builds hiking paths and golf courses rather than ocean-going tankers. The situation is much the same in other communities of the Bay of Cádiz area, like
San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
,
El Puerto de Santa Maria 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 po ...
, and
Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
itself.


Politics

Since the time of the transition from dictatorship under
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
to democracy and a constitutional monarchy form of government (1975–1980), Puerto Real has remained to the left of the political spectrum. Leftist parties, sometimes in coalition with centrists, have dominated the local and provincial organs of democracy. The
anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...
union C.N.T. has helped to create mass assemblies after a dispute between shipyard workers and their bosses. Since then, the assemblies have focused on the issues such as health, taxes, economic issues, the environment and cultural preservation. This method has been praised as a method of
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
community organising.


Main sights

* Campus of Puerto Real (
University of Cádiz The University of Cádiz (in Spanish: Universidad de Cádiz), commonly referred to as UCA, is a public university located in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain, noted for its medicine and marine sciences curricula. It was founded in 1979 ...
) * Parque natural of the Quarries: the only place in Europe where
chameleons Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...
may be found * Lugares and the legends of Puerto Real * Forest of the Quarries *
La Algaida LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
* The harborside walking tour with its "finishing nail of the wharf" * The Trocadero (an old military settlement from the 18th century that gives name to the Parisian square, after a battle won by the French during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain). * The river San Pedro's unique landscape surrounded by pine groves * Saint Sebastian Church (16th-18th century, gothic, renaissance, baroque). * Victory's Church (17th century, baroque). * Saint Joseph Church (18th century, neoclassic). * Municipal Market (18th century).


Culture

The social life of the city is based on neighborhood associations, religious organizations, and other social clubs. The yearly pre-Lenten carnival is a year-round preoccupation.


People

*
Juan Antonio Campuzano Hoyos ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
, writer, captain of artillery, Alcalde de la Real Villa y Vicepresidente de la Diputación de Cádiz. * Eduardo Alvarez Alfaro, musician, letrista, composer * Pedro Alvarez Hidalgo, composer and musician *
Francisco Corral Boat Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
, politician * Juan Jose Bottaro and Palmer, sculptor * Canalejas of Puerto Real, flamenco singer *
Daily Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
, comparsista performer * Francisco Fernández Rodríguez, "Gallego", soccer player * José Gámez Boundary, priest and writer * Juan García, "Mondeño", bullfighter * Ernesto Lopez, "Claudius Frollo", writer * Pedro de Matheu Montalvo, painter * Antonio Muro, historian ("father" of local history; adoptive son of the city) * José Belizón Tocino, painter. * Diego Vargas, "the Fillo", flamenco singer * José Antonio Chanivet, Artist Painter. * Pepin De La Fuente, Artist Painter.


See also

*
Costa de la Luz The Costa de la Luz (, "Coast of Light") is a section of the Andalusian coast in Spain facing the Atlantic. It extends from Tarifa in the south, along the coasts of the Province of Cádiz and the Province of Huelva, to the mouth of the Guadiana ...
* Puerto Real CF *
Pylons of Cádiz The Pylons of Cádiz, also known as the Towers of Cádiz, are two 158 m (518 ft)-tall Electricity pylon, pylons supporting a double-circuit 132 kV three-phase Alternating current, AC powerline over the bay of Cádiz, Spain, runnin ...


External links


Official website


- Multiterritorial Information system of Andalusia


References

* {{authority control Municipalities of the Province of Cádiz Port cities and towns on the Spanish Atlantic coast Populated places established in the 1480s