Reinosa is a municipality in

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

, Spain. , it has 10,307 inhabitants. The municipality, one of the smallest by land area in Cantabria, is notable for being one of the nearest towns to the headwaters of the

Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

River. It is surrounded by the municipality of

Campoo de Enmedio Campoo de Enmedio is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2007 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given p ...

and was created a city by

King Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

in 1927, being one of only three urban centres in Cantabria with that honour, the others being

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

and

Torrelavega Torrelavega ( Cantabrian: ''Torlavega'') is a municipality and important industrial and commercial hub in the single province Autonomous Community of Cantabria, northern Spain. It is situated roughly 8 kilometres from the Cantabrian Coast and 27.5 ...

History

The first documents mentioning the town date back to the year 1000, when it was divided into four solars by Sancho García, the Count of Castile. By 1404, it was emerging as the main town of the region and was organised into seven Hermandades, military units aimed at retaining law and order. The procurators of these brotherhoods met once a month with the

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

to organise the town's affairs. In 1497, Prince John, son of

Queen 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 Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...

and King Ferdinand II of Aragon met his affianced wife Margaret of Austria here, the meeting or marriage ceremony probably taking place in La Casa de las Princesas. In 1517

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

was passing through the town when he was taken ill. He stayed for nine days at the Convento de San Francisco while he recovered. The convent was being built at the time, and a hundred years later had thirty friars while the town had five hundred inhabitants. In the eighteenth century, under the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...

, a new highway and a bridge over the

River Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

were built. These works contributed to an economic boom in the region and the town becomes a bustling and prosperous place, on one of the main routes to the port of Santander. In 1927 it received its charter as a city from

King Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885 ...

Geography

Reinosa is the largest town in this area of Cantabria and is on the main railway line and located close to the A67 motorway. The town contains a number of hotels and restaurants, and Montesclaros High School is located here. The source of the

River Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

is in the village of

Fontibre Fontibre is a locality of the municipality Hermandad de Campoo de Suso, in Cantabria. It is located 3 km from Reinosa. The source of the Ebro River is located in Fontibre. In fact, this name derives from the Latin Latin (, or , ) is a ...

where a stream emerges from the ground from the town; a large artificial lake Embalse del Ebro was created in the Franco era by damming the river just below Reinosa. This is one of the largest reservoirs in northern Spain and is mainly filled in spring as a result of the melting of the winter snow in the mountains. The lake is the uppermost of many reservoirs on the Ebro.

Twin towns

Deltebre Deltebre is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Baix Ebre in Catalonia, Spain. It was created in 1977 when the communities of Jesús i Maria and la Cava seceded from the municipality of Tortosa. The municipality occupies much of the northern ...

, Spain, located at the mouth of the Ebro River.

References

External links

Official website

- Cantabria 102 Municipios {{Authority control Municipalities in Cantabria