Gijón

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Gijón / Xixón
—  Municipality  —
Top:Cimavilla Marina area, 2nd of left:Revillagigedo Palace, 2nd of right:View of Calle Palace and Bankunion area, Middle:view of Saint Lorenzo Beach and Cimavilla historian area, 4th of left:Gijon Laboral University, 4th of right: Night of San Pedro Church, Bottom of left:Gijon City Hall, Bottom of right:Playa de Poniente

Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Gijon
Gijón is located in Spain
Gijón / Xixón
Location in Spain
Coordinates: 43°32′N 5°42′W / 43.533°N 5.700°W / 43.533; -5.700Coordinates: 43°32′N 5°42′W / 43.533°N 5.700°W / 43.533; -5.700
Country  Spain
Autonomous community  Asturias
Province Asturias
Comarca Gijón
Judicial district Gijón
Founded 5th century BC (Noega, the first settlement on record)
Government
 • Mayor Carmen Moriyón Entrialgo (2011) (FAC)
Area
 • Total 181.6 km2 (70.1 sq mi)
Elevation 3 m (10 ft)
Highest elevation 737 m (2,418 ft)
Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Population (2012)
 • Total 281,649
 • Density Bad rounding here1,600/km2 (Bad rounding here4,000/sq mi)
Demonym Castillian: Gijonés/sa Asturian: Xixonés/sa
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 33201 -33212
Official language(s) Spanish Asturian
Website Official website

Gijón ([xiˈxon]; Asturian: Xixón, [ʃiˈʃoŋ]), officially Gijón / Xixón,[1] is the largest city and municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early medieval texts mention it as "Gigia".

Contents

Geography [edit]

The city is situated on the coast of central Asturias, from sea level to an altitude of 513 metres at Picu Samartín and 672 metres at Peña de los Cuatro Jueces, bordered on the West by Carreño, the East by Villaviciosa, and to the South by Siero and Llanera

The city is situated along the Asturian coast and is distinguished by the peninsula of Cimavilla (the original settlement) which separates the beach of San Lorenzo and adjacent neighborhoods to the east from the beaches of Poniente and Arbeyal, the shipyards, and the recreational port and the Port of El Musel to the west. It is close to the other main Asturian cities, Oviedo and Avilés.

Distances [edit]

These are straight line distances to cities, seas that wash the Spanish coast and the frontier with Portugal, France and Andorra:

Districts [edit]

Gijón / Xixón parishes

Gijón / Xixón city is divided in six districts:[2] Centre, East, South, West, El Llano and Rural. In this last one, all the peri-urban zone and the rural parishes are integrated.

Neighbourhoods [edit]

Centre district
Eastern district
  • L'Arena
  • El Bibio
  • Ceares/Ciares
  • El Coto
  • Las Mestas
  • Viesques
El Llano district
  • El Llano
South district
  • Contrueces
  • Montevil
  • Nuevo Gijón
  • Perchera-La Braña
  • Polígono de Pumarín
  • Pumarín
  • Roces
  • Santa Bárbara
Western district
Rural district

Demography [edit]

Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España - grafics for Wikipedia

Culture [edit]

The bronze copy of the statue "Augustus of Prima Porta" at San Lorenzo beach.
  • During the early years of the 19th century the, then very small, town of Gijón was best known for its college or high-school known as the "Real Instituto Asturiano" founded by Jovellanos.[3]
  • The City Hall's sports and culture programs for citizens is wide, including the innovative Abierto Hasta el Amanecer (literally Open Till Dawn) nocturnal program, which tries to involve teens in cultural and sporting activities as an alternative to weekend nightlife.
  • Gijon has 13 libraries in its Cultural City Centers, which feature a wide network of swimming pools and gyms.
Upper front view of the San Lorenzo Church
Revillagigedo Palace
University Laboral of Gijón, as seen from the tower of the same university.

Museums and art galleries [edit]

Universities [edit]

There are two universities located in Gijón, the University of Oviedo and the National University of Distance Education.

University of Oviedo [edit]

Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronical Engineering, Computers and Systems Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Telecommunication Engineering.

  • School of Civil Navy.
  • Faculty of Commerce, Tourism and Social Sciences "Jovellanos".

Public Administration and Management, Trade and Marketing, Tourism and Social work

National University of Distance Education (UNED) [edit]

Gijon also has a delegationof the UNED, where different disciplines can be studied by distance.

Sports [edit]

Gijón's professional football team, Sporting de Gijón, plays in the Spanish League and is presently in the Segunda División of Spanish fotball. American football and baseball are played in Gijón at top levels, with the Gijón Mariners and El Llano BC competing in the most important Spanish leagues of those sports. In women's sport, Gijón Hockey Club is one of the most important rink hockey teams in Europe.

There is also a sports club in Gijón with more than 33,000 members. It's Real Grupo de Cultura Covadonga and this is the biggest club in Asturias.

Not far from Gijón, there are several ski resorts in Asturias, the main being Valgrande-Pajares.

The biggest sport centers in Gijón are Estadio El Molinón, with 30,000 seats, Plaza de Toros de El Bibio with 12,000 seats and Palacio de Deportes with 5,000 seats.

The city has in total 13 public sport centers (in Spanish: Centros Municipales Integrados) with swimming pools, gyms and saunas. Swimming pools are free for children up to age 14.

The city's marina houses an important fleet of yachts and is the base for many water sports, being Royal Astur Yacht Club the most important yacht club in town.

List of sports centers in Gijón [edit]

Economy [edit]

For much of the twentieth century the town was heavily dependent on mature heavy industries, but at the end of the Franco era, tertiary sector employment began to expand rapidly along with the city's population which by 2007 stood officially at 277,897 for Gijón proper, and approximately 380,000 for the total Gijón agglomeration.

The port is at the centre of many of the local businesses. Apart from directly port related activities, the economy is based on tourism, steel (Arcelor), other metallurgy, livestock rearing and fisheries.

Climate [edit]

Gijón has an humid oceanic climate, with mild temperatures and high humidity throughout the year. The summers are warm, with both overcast and sunny days common, whilst winters are rainy but much milder than most places so far north; frosts are very rare and never severe.

Climate data for Gijón
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 13.1
(55.6)		 13.8
(56.8)		 14.9
(58.8)		 15.6
(60.1)		 17.8
(64)		 20.2
(68.4)		 22.4
(72.3)		 23.2
(73.8)		 21.8
(71.2)		 19.0
(66.2)		 15.6
(60.1)		 14.0
(57.2)		 17.6
(63.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 8.9
(48)		 9.6
(49.3)		 10.7
(51.3)		 11.8
(53.2)		 14.3
(57.7)		 16.9
(62.4)		 19.2
(66.6)		 19.7
(67.5)		 17.9
(64.2)		 15.0
(59)		 11.6
(52.9)		 9.9
(49.8)		 13.8
(56.8)
Average low °C (°F) 4.7
(40.5)		 5.4
(41.7)		 6.6
(43.9)		 8.1
(46.6)		 10.9
(51.6)		 13.6
(56.5)		 16.0
(60.8)		 16.2
(61.2)		 14.1
(57.4)		 11.0
(51.8)		 7.6
(45.7)		 5.8
(42.4)		 10.0
(50)
Precipitation mm (inches) 94
(3.7)		 85
(3.35)		 74
(2.91)		 93
(3.66)		 79
(3.11)		 47
(1.85)		 45
(1.77)		 54
(2.13)		 70
(2.76)		 104
(4.09)		 120
(4.72)		 104
(4.09)		 971
(38.23)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) 12 11 10 12 11 7 6 7 8 11 12 12 121
Mean monthly sunshine hours 103 109 137 151 167 180 194 190 158 132 106 92 1,721
Source: Agencia Estatal de Meteorología[4]

Transport [edit]

Airports [edit]

Gijón is served by Asturias Airport about 38 km (24 mi) from the centre of the city. It's located in the municipality of Castrillon. The airport is connected to the city the A-8 motorway, the N-632 national highway and scheduled bus service (Alsa). It has regular flights to the following destinations: Barcelona, Brussels, Fuerteventura, Geneva, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Lisbon, London - Stansted, Madrid, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris - Charles de Gaulle, Seville, Tenerife-South and Valencia. Operating companies are: Air Berlin, Air France, Air Europa, Iberia, Iberworld or Spanair.

Seaport [edit]

The Port of Gijon, El Musel has a regular ferry line to the port of Nantes (Saint Nazaire) with a frequency of 3 weekly departures. Since mid-2012 is expected to have two new regular lines, to Cork (Ireland) and a Southern port of England shuffled ports Portsmouth or Poole.

Public transport [edit]

Gijón currently has 21 bus lines, which are:

  • Line 1 BRT: Cerillero - Cabueñes Hospital
  • Line 2: El Corte Inglés - Cabueñes Hospital
  • Line 4: El Lauredal - Viesques - University campus
  • Line 6: Musel - Alcampo - Polígono de Porceyo - Polígono de Zarracina
  • Line 10: Pumarín - Candenal- Cabueñes Hospital
  • Line 12: Cerillero - Montevil - Contrueces
  • Line 14: Polígono de Somonte - Tremañes - Infanzón
  • Line 15: Nuevo Roces - Viesques - Cabueñes Hospital
  • Line 16: Estación Ferrocaril - Vega
  • Line 18: Nuevo Gijón - Cabueñes Hospital
  • Line 20: Montevil - Somió
  • Line 21: Jove Hospital - La Campa Torres
  • Line 24: Monteana - La Pedrera - Mareo
  • Line 25: Tremañes - Infanzón - La Olla
  • Line 26: Gijón - Deva
  • Line 28: Pza. del Humedal - El Molinón
  • Line 30: Pza. del Humedal - FIDMA (International trade fair of Asturias)
  • Line 34: Fomento - Musel
  • Line 54: Pza. del Humedal - Las Mestas (During the Davis Cup semi-final of Tennis)

Night bus service (Fridays and Saturdays only, everyday 1 July to 31 August)

  • Line 41: El Cerillero - Pza. del Carmen (BUHO 1)
  • Line 42: Nuevo Roces - Pumarin - Pza. del Carmen (BUHO 2)
  • Line 43: Contrueces - Llano - Coto - Pza. del Carmen (BUHO 3)
  • Line 44: Vega - Viesques - Arena - Pza. del Carmen (BUHO 4)

Railway [edit]

The city is served by the Gijón Railway Station.

Roads and highways [edit]

Motorways and Highways (State and Regional)

  • GJ-81: South access road (A-8/A-66) - Plaza del Humedal

State roads

Regional and local roads

International relations [edit]

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Spain

List of twin towns:

References [edit]

  1. ^ Decreto 105/2006, de 20 de septiembre, por el que se determinan los topónimos oficiales del concejo de Gijón/Xixón.
  2. ^ Consejos de Distrito Gijón City Hall website]
  3. ^ (English) Name of the "Instituto Asturiano" and other details taken from the Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer By Thomas Baldwin, Sixth Edition, (1847). [1]
  4. ^ "Valores Climatológicos Normales. Gijon". 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gijón
Flag of Asturias

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