Vilallonga del Camp is a municipality in the

Province of Tarragona Tarragona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Castellón, Teruel, Zaragoza, Lérida and Barcelona and by the Mediterranean Sea. The province's p ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain. According to 2009 its population was 1,889 inhabitants. Vilallonga del Camp is the only village within the municipality. It is located north of the provincial capital of

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

, roughly 12 miles from the coast. It lies along the A-27 road, north of

El Morell El Morell is a village in the province of Tarragona and autonomous community of Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' ...

and

La Pobla de Mafumet La Pobla de Mafumet is a small town in the ''comarca'' of the Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designa ...

, near

El Rourell El Rourell is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Camp, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The name is derived Rourell oak tree that is depicted in the arms of the people. The site originally and it seems that at least in part was integrated int ...

, just to the northeast. Heavily surrounded by fields full of crops, the municipality's main economic activity is agriculture; mainly

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

and

carob The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and landscap ...

trees.

History

The first manor in the area was first mentioned in documents in 1174. In 1213,

Pere I Pere may refer to: *Pere, Hungary, a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county * Rangimārie Te Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere (1937–2020), Māori New Zealand educationalist and spiritual leader * Wi Pere (1837–1915), a Māori Member of Parliament ...

made a pledge to limit the growth of the immediate area and so remained in the hands of the court until 1391, when the King Juan I of Aragon sold it to the archbishop of Tarragona. Later it was in hands of the Montoliu family, who retained in possession until the fourteenth century. A census of 1358 documents a Berenguer de Requesens being an owner of the manor, although in 1365-70 it was back with the Montoliu family with Berenguer de Montoliu. In the seventeenth century, Vilallonga was in the hands of the Dalmases family and in 1710 the lord of the town, Pau Ignasi de Dalmases i Roc, was appointed by the Archduke Carlos, 1st Marquis of Vilallonga. In 1838, a violent battle occurred between the militiamen and the " carlists". commanded by Llarg de Copons during which 138 men lost their lives. Vilallonga del Camp became a formal municipality on 19 February 1937.

Culture

The parish church is dedicated to Sant Martí and is built in the seventeenth century neoclassical style; its facade is unfinished. At the top of the door is a relief representing the saint sharing his cloak with a beggar. Over the cornice is a triangular pediment that is supported by four columns with Corinthian capitals. On the outskirts of the village is a shrine dedicated to the Mare de Déu del Roser whose construction date is unknown. It contains one of the entrances to the old city wall and is mentioned in Francesc Blasi Vallespinosa's, "Santuaris Marians…". The feast day of Vilallonga is the 30 July, the feast day of Sant Abdó and Sant Senen. On 11 November, another feast day is celebrated to honour to Sant Martí. The Feast of La Rosa occurs on the second Sunday of May, and the feast of Del Roser is on the second Sunday of October. There is also a fair, known to the locals as simply "Fira", which takes place on the first Sunday of October.

Notable people

* Josep Mestres i Miquel (1868-1949) doctor, politician, and agronomist * Pedro Virgili (1699-1776) -prominent royal surgeon

References

External links

Official site

Government data pages
{{Authority control Municipalities in Tarragonès Populated places in Tarragonès