Zaragoza

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Zaragoza is the capital of the Aragon administrative division and is, in terms of population, Spain’s fifth largest city with approximately 670,000 people. Taking account of the city’s wider area, the population increases by 115,000. Zaragoza is not often thought of as a particularly popular tourist destination; it is sometimes thought of as merely a train station on the route from two of Spain’s more sought after cities - Barcelona and Madrid. Indeed, Zaragoza marks an important motorway crossroad linking together Spain’s two largest cities, as well as Valencia, Bilbao and Toulouse. The city does, however, benefit from the fact it is relatively untouched by tourism and is in fact an excellent location to visit with an array of impressive buildings, a buzzing tapas zone and varied history.

Adding a sense of serenity to the area, the River Ebro runs directly through the city on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. The surrounding landscape is extremely varied with desert, mountains, fields and forest all set in the valley Zaragoza finds itself in. The area’s climate shows Zaragoza to be a particularly dry place in the summer with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees and with little precipitation. The city has seen a progressive downturn in the agrarian side of its economy in recent years, but this is perhaps as much due to upcoming economic sectors as to the climate it finds itself in.

As with much of the rest of the Iberian Peninsula’s largest country, Zaragoza has been subject to series of conquests and bitter fighting throughout its history. Zarazoza was formerly known as Salduba before the Romans took charge of it under Emperor Augustus. It underwent a name change years later when Arabs took the city in 714 and renamed it Saraqusta. It did in fact become the largest Arab city in the northern part of Spain in later years and impressively managed to fight off an onslaught from Charlamagne in 777. The region was fairly stable for a number of years and the city even became independent for 100 years from 1018 as a Muslim state. At the end of this 100 years the Almoravids made the city into the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon. It was not until the early 17th century the city endured and survived two sieges in two years by the Napoleonic Army and it is against this backdrop that Zaragoza now exists, steeped in history, battle and endurance.

Zaragoza boasts an array of impressive architecture and historic buildings. It is home to the imposing Catholic Basilica of our lady of the pillar, as well as a number of other delightfully designed churches and La Seo Cathedral. Other attractions are the Ruins of Forum, the city wall, the city hall, the former stock exchange building La Lonja, the Moorish Castle Aljaferia where the parliament sits and a number of museums and stately houses. Zaragoza is also home to one of Spain’s oldest universities which doubles up as a major research and development centre, as well as the small Zaragoza airport and top-flight football club Real Zaragoza. Spain is well accustomed to something of a party and festival atmosphere and Zaragoza doesn’t fall short here. Las Fiestas del Pilar is celebrated on October 12 which also falls on Hispanic Day - the day set aside to mark Columbus’ landing in the Americas.