San Roque is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

belonging to 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 ...

, which in turn is part of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. It is also part of the of

Campo de Gibraltar Campo de Gibraltar () is one of the six ''comarcas'' (county) in the province of Cádiz, Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of mainland Europe. It comprises the municipalities of Algec ...

. Located in the southern end of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, San Roque is a short way inland of the north side of the

Bay of Gibraltar The Bay of Gibraltar (), 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 of Gibraltar and the Med ...

, to the north of the

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

peninsula. The municipality has a total surface of 145 km² with a population of approximately 25,500 people, as of 2005. The foundation of San Roque as a city owes to the creation of a sort of Gibraltar-in-exile by refugees fleeing from the Rock in the wake of its seizure by Anglo-Dutch forces in 1704. In addition of the main nucleus of San Roque, the municipality also includes settlements such as Puente Mayorga, ,

Sotogrande Sotogrande is the largest privately owned residential development in Andalusia, Spain. It is a gated community in the municipality of San Roque. Located 25 km northeast of Gibraltar, Sotogrande is composed of a 25-square-kilometre stretch fr ...

, Campamento, or Guadiaro.

Placename

San Roque is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

, a

Christian saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

who was revered in a shrine dating back to 1508 that predates the foundation of the town.

Geography

San Roque lies in the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

'' of

, the south-eastern division of Cadiz province. It is bordered to the northwest by the municipalities of

Jimena de la Frontera Jimena or is the Spanish female version of the given name Jimeno. The French rendering of the name is Chimène. It has come to be viewed as a form of the name Simone, though their origins are distinct. A variant is Ximena. People with the nam ...

, Castellar de la Frontera, and

Los Barrios Los Barrios is a small town and municipality in the south of Spain. It is part of the province of Cádiz, which in turn is part of the Andalusia region. It belongs to the Campo de Gibraltar comarca. The town's name means “the districts” or “ ...

, and to the south by

La Línea de la Concepción La Línea de la Concepción (), often referred to simply as La Línea, is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. The city lies on the sandy isthmus which is part of the eastern flank of ...

, beyond which is Gibraltar itself.

History

Precedents

The area around San Roque has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The oldest known settlement within the municipality is the ruined town of

Carteia Carteia () was a Phoenician and Ancient Rome, Roman town at the head of the Bay of Gibraltar in Spain. It was established at the most northerly point of the bay, next to the town of San Roque, Cádiz, San Roque, about halfway between the modern ...

, founded by the

Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...

. It became a

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

n tradepost and evolved into a

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( ) usually refers to the civilisation of ancient Carthage. It may also refer to: * Punic people, the Semitic-speaking people of Carthage * Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, i ...

town by 228 BCE. Its major trade was in local

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

and

garum Garum is a fermentation (food), fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, Ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Greece, Ancient Roman cuisine, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantine cuisine, Byzantium. Liquamen is a si ...

or ''salazón'', a fish-based sauce. Carteia was captured by

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 206 BCE. A few years later, in 171 BCE, Iberian-born children of Roman soldiers appeared before the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

to request a town to live in, and were given Carteia, named ''Colonia Libertinorum Carteia''. After the fall of Rome, the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

briefly established themselves in the area until 428 before they embarked on the conquest of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, via an invasion fleet across the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

. The

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

replaced them around the 6th century. The

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

made incursions into Andalusia between 554 and 626, occupying Carteia for a number of years, before finally being ejected by the Visigoths. In 711, Carteia and the surrounding area became the beachhead for the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula led by

Tariq ibn Ziyad Tariq ibn Ziyad ( ; ), also known simply as Tarik in English, was an Umayyad commander who initiated the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain and Portugal) against the Visigothic Kingdom in 711–718 AD. He led an army and ...

Alfonso XI of Castile Alfonso XI (11 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes ...

took control of the territory by defeating a Muslim

Merinid The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

army in the 14th century. Over the next few centuries, the population was gradually

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

ised and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

ised. In 1649 a quarter of the Gibraltar population perished from epidemic disease. A number of residents retreated to the area of San Roque, and survived the outbreak, believed to be

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

Foundation

The modern settlement of San Roque was established by the former Spanish inhabitants of

, after the majority fled following the takeover by Anglo-Dutch forces and their Spanish allies during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

in 1704. The establishment became a new town in 1706, addressed by King

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

as "My city of Gibraltar resident in its Campo" and "My well beloved", because it remained loyal to his cause during the War of Succession. Gibraltar's City Council, banner and records were moved there. San Roque official

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

is "Very Noble and Very Loyal city of San Roque, where Gibraltar lives on" (Spanish: ''Muy Noble y Muy Leal ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar''). In 1873, during the Spanish First Republic, the town declared its independence as the '' Canton'' of San Roque for a few months.

Main sights

The New Saint Roch's Chapel ( Sp.: ''Ermita de San Roque'') was erected in 1801. Its style is neoclassical. The shrine houses a statue of

. In the fourth week of April every year, a procession is held on the saint's honour, with people carrying his image on a float. The statue is then taken from the temple to the '' Pinar del Rey'' pinewoods nearby and back. During the

Spanish War of Independence The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, Saint Roch's Chapel was ransacked by the Napoleonic troops and the historic statue of the saint was destroyed. The image was replaced in 1833 by a new one donated by an army captain from San Roque called Juan Rojas, who was stationed in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. At the time this city was suffering from

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemics, so Captain Rojas vowed to make the effigy himself if he and his family recovered from the disease. This happened indeed and the new image of Saint Roch was donated to the church by Rojas. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, Santa María La Coronada Church, is consecrated to Saint Mary the Crowned and it was declared a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1974. The main building dates from the 18th century and features Spanish-Tuscan architecture and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

artwork. Work began in 1735 on the construction of a church over the foundations of the 1508 Chapel of Saint Roch. The Governor's Palace (), which houses the municipal

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

" Luis Ortega Bru", is also located in the same square. The oldest bar in the town is the Bar Torres, adjacent to the central square. Mathew Arnold's brother is buried in San Roque.

Economy and industry

The main economic activities are tourism and manufacturing.

CEPSA Moeve, formerly known as Cepsa, (, "Spanish petroleum company, S.A.") is a Spanish multinational integrated energy and petroleum company headquartered at Torre Cepsa in the Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid. As of 2024, Moeve produced ...

Gibraltar-San Roque Refinery The Gibraltar-San Roque Refinery () is an oil refinery owned by CEPSA located on the north shore of the Bay of Gibraltar, in Guadarranque Industrial Estate, between Puente Mayorga and the Guadarranque river, in the municipality of San Roque, Ca ...

, built in 1967, is situated in Guadarranque

Industrial Estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

. It is the largest in the Iberian Peninsula, with a crude oil daily processing capacity of 240,000 barrels per day. Local San Roque Club is an important source of tourism.

is an exclusive beach and golf resort located in the municipality. The beaches of Campamento and Puente Mayorga, although no longer so popular as in the sixties due to the nearby industrial activity, are close to San Roque town, facing the Bay of Gibraltar.

Fairs

The Feria Real de San Roque (Royal Fair of San Roque in English), is the city's main yearly

Street fair A street fair celebrates the character of a neighborhood. As its name suggests, it is typically held on the main street of a neighborhood. The principal component of street fairs are booths used to sell goods (particularly food) or convey informa ...

, held on the second Tuesday of August. The fair begins with the coronation ceremony of the juvenile and child queens and their respective courts, although the stands and attractions located in the Fairground El Ejido do not open until Wednesday, the day of the inaugural cavalcade. The Royal Fair closes on a Sunday night with a fireworks show and at 7am on the Monday with the

Running of the Bulls A running of the bulls (, from the verb ''encerrar'', 'to corral, to enclose'; , literally 'haste, momentum'; 'bulls in the street', or 'bull-runner') is an event that involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typically six Fiske ...

known locally as Toro del Aguardiente which has occurred yearly since 1649, named as terrified participants are given a shot of the strong alcoholic spirit ‘

Aguardiente ( Portuguese) or ( Spanish) (; ; ) is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from various foods. It originates from and is t ...

’ for courage, before running with the bulls to the San Roque bullring, marking the end of the fair.

Notable residents

Carlos Pacheco Carlos Pacheco Perujo (14 November 1961 – 9 November 2022) was a Spanish comics penciller. After breaking into the European market doing cover work for Planeta De Agostini, he gained recognition doing work for Marvel UK, the England-based bra ...

(comic book artist)

Sister cities

* Pylaia, Thessaloniki, Greece

References

External links

San Roque City Council

San Roque in Google Maps

The Resident – English-language newspaper serving San Roque and surrounding area

Pictures of the "Gibraltar-San Roque" Refinery.

Pics of San Roque
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Roque, Spain Populated places established in 1706 Municipalities of the Province of Cádiz 1706 establishments in Spain