Sanlúcar de Barrameda
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Sanlúcar de Barrameda (), or simply Sanlúcar, is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the
autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
of Andalucía in southern
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 ...
. Sanlúcar is located on the left bank at the mouth of the
Guadalquivir River The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from the Gul ...
opposite the
Doñana National Park Doñana National Park or Parque Nacional y Natural de Doñana is a natural reserve in Andalucía, southern Spain, in the provinces of Huelva (most of its territory), Cádiz and Seville. It covers , of which are a protected area. The park is an ...
, 52 km from the provincial capital Cádiz and 119 km from Sevilla capital of the autonomous region Andalucía. Its population is 68,656 inhabitants ( National Institute of Statistics 2019). Sanlúcar has been inhabited since ancient times, and is assumed to have belonged to the realm of the Tartessian civilization. The town of San Lucar was granted to the Spanish nobleman
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán Alonso Pérez de Guzmán (1256–1309), known as ''Guzmán el Bueno'' ("Guzmán the Good"), was a Spanish nobleman and hero of Spain during the medieval period, the founder of the line from which the dukes of Medina Sidonia descend. Biography ...
in 1297. Its strategic location made the city a starting point for the exploration, colonization and evangelization of America between the 15th and 17th centuries. Sanlúcar lost much of its strategic value after 1645 because of the disgrace of the
House of Medina Sidonia The House of Medina Sidonia (Spanish: ''Casa de Medina Sidonia'') is a Spanish noble house originating from the crown of Castile, whose name comes from the Duke of Medina Sidonia, a hereditary noble title that John II of Castile granted to ...
, the general decline of Spain under Charles II, the relocation of the ''
Casa de Contratación The ''Casa de Contratación'' (, House of Trade) or ''Casa de la Contratación de las Indias'' ("House of Trade of the Indies") was established by the Crown of Castile, in 1503 in the port of Seville (and transferred to Cádiz in 1717) as a cr ...
'' to the town of Cadiz in 1717, and the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. In the 19th century the economy of the city was converted to viticulture and summer tourism. The 20th century brought destruction and political upheaval as it did elsewhere in Spain during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. Sanlúcar was declared a Cultural Historical-artistic site in 1973. Since the restoration of democracy (1975–1982) its town council has borrowed heavily, making Sanlúcar the city with the lowest per capita income in Spain. Currently (2010) Sanlúcar is a summer tourist destination famous for its cuisine, especially manzanilla (a variety of fino sherry) and prawns. It is internationally renowned for beach horse racing and flamenco music. Less well known but equally important are the historical archives of the
House of Medina Sidonia The House of Medina Sidonia (Spanish: ''Casa de Medina Sidonia'') is a Spanish noble house originating from the crown of Castile, whose name comes from the Duke of Medina Sidonia, a hereditary noble title that John II of Castile granted to ...
''(Archivo de la Casa de Medina Sidonia)''; the major part of the patrimony of the House of Medina Sidonia is located in the palace of the same name. The patron saint of the city is ''Our Lady of Charity'', to whom it was dedicated in 1917.


Etymology

Concerning the etymology of both names, there is no consensus among scholars, but several hypotheses have been advanced: * Sanlúcar's name may have derived from the Arab shaluqa (شلوقة), the Arabic name for the
Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
wind called ''sirocco'' or ''jaloque''. * According to the National Statistics Institute of Spain, the Sanlúcar toponym does not exist. However, there is historical mention of Brother Alfonso Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a Franciscan who was bishop of the Canaries-Rubicon in the period 1404–1417, and Fray Juan de Sanlúcar, a Franciscan who served in the same office from 1470–1474. As for the name ''Barrameda'', it is unique to people born in the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, according to census data from 1 January 2006. The historical relations between the House of Medina Sidonia, Sanlúcar, and the Canaries may explain the presence of these surnames in the Canaries. ''Barrameda'' was derived from ''bar-am-ma'ida'', an Arabic phrase for "water well of the plateau".


Geography

Sanlúcar de Barrameda is located on the Atlantic coast of the autonomous community of Andalusia, in the province of Cadiz, specifically on the left side of the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, which separates the provinces of
Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The rias ...
and
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
. The municipality covers an area of 174.3 km2 with 6 km of beaches. The city is part of the tourist area known as the
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 ...
(Coast of the Light), about 44 km from the provincial capital of Cádiz. This includes the marshes of the Pinar de la Bonanza Algaida and the marshes of the Guadalquivir, part of the Doñana Natural Park. Sanlúcar de Barrameda borders the municipalities of
Trebujena Trebujena is a city and municipality located in the province of Cádiz, part of Andalusia in southern Spain. The area is known for its labor movement and its vineyards. Population and geography As at 1 January 2015 it had 7,072 inhabitants. Its ...
,
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 ...
, Rota,
Puerto de Santa María Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, Or ...
, and
Chipiona Chipiona is a town and municipality located on the Atlantic coast in the province of Cádiz, Spain. According to the 2012 census, the city has a population of 18,849 inhabitants, but this amount increases greatly during the summer holiday peri ...
. Its topography is shown in the MTN50 sheet (scale 1:50,000) No. 1047 of the National Topographic Map.


History

In 1264, after Sanlúcar de Barrameda was seized from the Moors by King Alfonso X of Castile, it was reconstituted as the capital of the
Señorío de Sanlúcar The Señorío de Sanlúcar or Lordship of Sanlúcar was an independent Christian lordship in the Kingdom of Castile located in and around the modern day city of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It was taken from the Kingdom of Granada in 1295. History ...
, and became during the 15th and 16th centuries one of the most important ports for trade connecting the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
coast with the
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 ...
. After the discovery of the
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
, Sanlúcar developed as a port for refitting ships, and was the point of departure for various Spanish
conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
. On 30 May 1498
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
left for his third voyage from Sanlúcar (See
Voyages of Christopher Columbus Between 1492 and 1504, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus led four Spanish transatlantic maritime expeditions of discovery to the Americas. These voyages led to the widespread knowledge of the New World. This breakthrough inaugurated the per ...
). Another historical departure was that of
Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
on 10 August 1519, who with a fleet of five ships under his command left Seville and traveled down the Guadalquivir to Sanlúcar de Barrameda at its mouth, where they remained more than five weeks. Sanlúcar also witnessed the arrival in 1522 of the last surviving ship of Magellan's expedition, the
Nao Victoria ''Victoria'' (or Nao ''Victoria'') was a carrack and the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the world. ''Victoria'' was part of the Spanish expedition to the Moluccas commanded by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan until his death in the Ph ...
commanded by
Juan Sebastián Elcano Juan Sebastián Elcano (Elkano in modern Basque; sometimes given as ''del Cano''; 1486/1487Some sources state that he was born in 1476. Most of this sources try to make a point about him participating on a military campaign at the Mediterranean w ...
, which was the first ship to circumnavigate the world.
Alonso Fernández de Lugo Alonso Fernández de Lugo (; died 1525) was a Spanish military man, conquistador, city founder, and administrator. He conquered the islands of La Palma (1492–1493) and Tenerife (1494–1496) for the Castilian Crown; they were the last of the C ...
, conqueror of the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, of
La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...
(1492) and
Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
(1495), and subsequently the governor of the islands, was born in Sanlúcar. The ill-fated expedition to Florida led by
Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; 147?–1528) was a Spanish '' conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first embarked to Jamaica in 1510 as a soldier. He came to participate in the conquest of Cuba and led an expedition to Camagü ...
left from Sanlúcar on 17 June 1527. Only four members survived including
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (; 1488/90/92"Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Núñez (1492?-1559?)." American Eras. Vol. 1: Early American Civilizations and Exploration to 1600. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 50-51. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Decembe ...
who described the expedition in his work Naufragios.


Main sights

Sights include: * The Castle of Santiago, from the 15th century * The palace of the
Infantes of Orleans and Borbón ''Infante'' (, ; grammatical gender, f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Crown of Aragon, Aragon, Crown of Cast ...
, which is now used as the City Hall *
Church of Nuestra Señora de la O Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
* The palace of the
dukes of Medina Sidonia Duke of Medina Sidonia ( es, Duque de Medina Sidonia) is a peerage grandee title of Spain in Medina-Sidonia, holding the oldest extant dukedom in the kingdom, first awarded by King John II of Castile in 1380.Convent of Santo Domingo, a 16th-century building * Las Covachas


Culture

Sanlúcar de Barrameda is one of Spain's three better-known
sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...
-producing towns. (The other two are
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 ...
, for which sherry is named, and
El Puerto de Santa María 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 ...
.) Although a seaside town, Sanlúcar de Barrameda is also home to the oldest horse races in Spain and some of the oldest in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. The races take place just before sunset along the beach at the mouth of the river
Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from the Gulf ...
every August before thousands of spectators. Contested at distances of 1500 m and 1800 m, these were the first regulated horse races in Spain; the riders wear distinctive colours and caps. Other annual events include the Sanlúcar
Tapas A tapa () is an appetizer or snack in Spanish cuisine. Tapas can be combined to make a full meal, and can be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as ''chopitos'', which are battered, fried baby squid, or patatas bravas). In so ...
Fair, a local gastronomy competition; the Feria de la Manzanilla in late May, which is held at the beginning of the Noches de Bajo de Guía flamenco season; classical and jazz festivals; and the occasional concert by a major act. The city is also known for the
Rocio ''Rocio'' is a small genus of cichlid freshwater fishes from southern Mexico and northern Central America. Species There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * '' Rocio gemmata'' Contreras-Balderas & Schmitter-Soto, 2007 ...
pilgrimage, one of the more popular expressions of the Roman Catholic faith; it can be compared to the pilgrimages to
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
or
Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château ...
. Sanlúcar has had since ancient times a popular taste for bullfighting and has given the world of bullfighting several well-known bullfighters including Manuel Hermosilla y Llanera, José Martínez Ahumada ("Limeño"), Francisco Ojeda González ("Paco" Ojeda), Julio Vega Rodríguez ("Marismeño"), José Luis Parada, and Manuel Rodríguez Blanco ("El Manguin").


People

People in Sanlúcar historically worked primarily in agriculture (mainly
viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
) and fishing (especially for the famous Sanlúcar prawn). These two occupations were naturally concentrated in different parts of the town, and until the modernizing trends of the last few decades, there were marked distinctions between the people living in each area. People living near the sea, in the area known as Bajo de Guía, were almost exclusively dedicated to fishing. Now these same people combine fishing with managing restaurants that rely on fresh fish and shellfish for their menus. People living in the higher elevations away from the sea, in a part of the town known as the ''Barrio Alto'', formerly dedicated themselves exclusively to agriculture. However, with the advent of mechanisation this sector requires less manpower throughout the year, and most farm workers now work only seasonally during the grape harvest, in the so-called "sherry triangle". The centre of Sanlúcar developed as a commercial hub, with a cityscape of intermixed historic buildings (monasteries, churches, etc.) and more modern ones. This part of the city developed at the beginning of the 20th century as the neighbourhood of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy. Sanlúcar was then a popular beach resort; presently the people living in this area are generally linked to local wine-making interests and the tourist industry.


Doñana National Park

Because of its position at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, Sanlúcar is a convenient home base for exploring the nearby
Doñana National Park Doñana National Park or Parque Nacional y Natural de Doñana is a natural reserve in Andalucía, southern Spain, in the provinces of Huelva (most of its territory), Cádiz and Seville. It covers , of which are a protected area. The park is an ...
''(Parque Nacional de Doñana)'' and its natural features. Within the park lies the Marisma de Hinojos (Salt Marsh of Fennel Plants); also within its precincts is the possible site of the legendary lost city of
Tartessos Tartessos ( es, Tarteso) is, as defined by archaeological discoveries, a historical civilization settled in the region of Southern Spain characterized by its mixture of local Paleohispanic and Phoenician traits. It had a proper writing system ...
, the capital of an ancient civilization that predated the
Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient thalassocracy, thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-st ...
in
Iberia 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 ...
.


Gallery

File:Vista barrio bajo sanlúcar barrameda.jpg, Barrio Bajo File:Plaza del Cabildo Sanlúcar Barrameda.JPG, Plaza del Cabildo File:Monumento Legua Cero Primera circunnavegacion mundial-Sanlucar de Barrameda.jpg, Monument "Legua Cero-Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, España". Commemorating first world circumnavigation File:Escudo sanlúcar de barrameda plaza abastos.jpg, Shield on the market square File:Playa sanlucar.jpg, Beach File:Sanlucar barrameda las covachas vista gral.jpg, Las Covachas File:Sanlúcar Bda. Iglesia de Santo Domingo. Portada compás.JPG, Santo Domingo church File:DO Manzanilla.jpeg, Official DO label Manzanilla as found on the back of Sanlúcar de Barrameda region wine bottle


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 ...
*
Atlético Sanluqueño CF Atlético Sanluqueño Club de Fútbol is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1948, although its registration in officia ...
* History of Sherry


References

* from Spanish page partially


External links


City's official home page

Curiosities and anecdotes

Sanlucar de Barrameda information and forum
in English
Central Bureau for Tourism Sanlúcar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanlucar De Barrameda Costa de la Luz Municipalities of the Province of Cádiz Port cities and towns on the Spanish Atlantic coast Sherry