Castelldefels () is a municipality in the

Baix Llobregat Baix Llobregat () is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Municipalities Proposed changes It has long been proposed to split the northern part of Baix Llobregat into a separate comarca. ...

comarca, in the

province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .

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 no ...

, Spain, and a suburban town of the

Metropolitan Area of Barcelona The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the Med ...

. Its population is 65,954 ( IDESCAT, 2017).

Geography and location

It is located about southwest of

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 c ...

, just to the north of the

massís del Garraf The Garraf Massif ( ca, Massís del Garraf, ) is a mountain range of the Catalan Coastal Range, Catalonia, Spain. Its cliffs reach the Mediterranean waters. Its highest point on the coastal side is La Morella, 593 metres above sea level and furt ...

and is the last town on the coast before the comarca of Garraf. The town is famous for its long beach (more than 5 km) and well known for being an affluent area, as the place of residence of many famous sportsmen, such as

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

, Luis Suárez,

Philippe Coutinho Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. He is known for his combination of vision, ...

, or formerly

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

; and for being the city which inspired the creation of the character "El Neng de Castefa" who used to appear on the late night show called "BFN" hosted by the showman and presenter Andreu Buenafuente. During the summer, many people from Barcelona and the countryside visit it. Nearby towns include Gavà, Viladecans,

Sant Boi de Llobregat Sant Boi de Llobregat () is a city in the Province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, located on the banks of the Llobregat river. In 2019 it had 83,605 inhabitants. The city is divided into six neighborhoods (named ''barris'' in Catalan): Ciuta ...

Sitges Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nights ...

and el Prat de Llobregat. Castelldefels borders the coast of 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 ...

between

and Gavà with a major beach. Castelldefels also enjoys close proximity to the major international airport of Barcelona, as

El Prat Airport 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 ...

is about 15 km of a drive. The Olympic canal, called Canal Olímpic de Catalunya, built for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games of Barcelona is in the town. The

main-belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

72037 Castelldefels, discovered in 2000, is named after the town.

Demography and governance

Between 1979 and 2011, the town was governed by the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC). The first democratic mayor after Constitution was . In 2011, the conservative People's Party (PP) won a plurality of seats for the first time, and Manuel Reyes of the PP was elected mayor of the town. In 2015, the eco-socialist Candela López of the ICV was elected mayor by a leftist government coalition.

Summary of council election results

^(a) results for the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia
^(b) results for the

Party of the Communists of Catalonia Party of the Communists of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels i les Comunistes de Catalunya) was a communist party in Catalonia that existed from 1982 to 2014. The main organ of PCC was ''Avant'' and the theoretical organ was ''Realitat''. Every year th ...

^(c) results for the People's Alliance

Education

Castelldefels School of Technology provides higher education in aeronautics and telecommunications technology. The town is also the location of the Castelldefels and Nexus (

sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate ...

) campuses of the

British School of Barcelona The British School of Barcelona (BSB) is a private coeducational bilingual international school located in the Barcelona metropolitan area, Catalonia, Spain.

(BSB). There are ten public primary schools and three public secondary schools.

Transport

Transport links include two stations ( Castelldefels and Platja de Castelldefels) on Renfe line R2 from Sant Vicenç de Calders to Maçanet-Massanes via

, bus routes to Barcelona (L94, L95, L97), Barcelona Airport (L99) and

(L96), as well as an urban bus route connecting the rest of the town (CF1), the C-32 motorway and the C-31 and C-245 dual carriageways. A second railway line is due to be constructed from

Cornellà de Llobregat Cornellà de Llobregat (; es, Cornellá de Llobregat) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the left bank of the Llobregat River. It is in the south-western part of the Barcelona me ...

to Castelldefels.

2010 accident

On 23 June 2010, 12 young people were killed, and 14 injured, when they were hit by an express train as they crossed the tracks in the railway station at Platja de Castelldefels, while on their way to a summer solstice bonfire party on the beach."Twelve Spanish Teenagers Killed by Express Train"
''The Guardian'', 24 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010

References

* Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). ''Guia de Catalunya'', Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. (Spanish). (Catalan).

External links

Official site
(in Catalan and Spanish)
Artistic and historical buildings in Castelldefels
(in Catalan)
Government data pages
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