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| Salou | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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 Salou
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| Coordinates: 41°04′40″N 1°07′44″E / 41.07778°N 1.12889°ECoordinates: 41°04′40″N 1°07′44″E / 41.07778°N 1.12889°E | |||
| Country |  Spain |
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| Community |  Catalonia |
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| Province | Tarragona | ||
| Comarca | Tarragonès | ||
| Municipality | 30 October 1989 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Mayor-council | ||
| • Body | Ajuntament de Salou | ||
| • Mayor | Pere Granados (FUPS) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 15.1 km2 (5.8 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation(AMSL) | 5 m (16 ft) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 27,016 | ||
| • Density | 1,789.1/km2 (4,633.8/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym | Salouean salouenc, salouenca salouense |
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| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 43840 | ||
| Area code | +34 (Spain) 977 (Province) | ||
| Website | www.salou.cat | ||
Salou (Catalan pronunciation: [səˈɫɔw]) is a municipality of the comarca of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112km from Barcelona. Aside from its string of beaches interrupted by rocky coves, and its landscaped promenade, one of its main attractions is the PortAventura resort, formerly owned by Universal Parks & Resorts, the theme park division of NBCUniversal. Salou was home to a permanent fairground at the end of the Passeig Jaume I promenade until its demise back in 2001; the ferris wheel was its major attraction. The Dutch movie Costa! and the television series with the same title were both filmed in Salou.
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[edit] History
Used as a port by Greeks (who named it Salauris) and Romans, it appeared again in an important historic event, when in 1229 the fleet of James I of Aragon departed from the port of Salou to conquer the Balearic islands, thus creating the Kingdom of Majorca and in 1286 Alfons III of Aragon also departed from this port to conquer Minorca, the last muslim territory of the Balearic Islands. Later, Salou became a nest of pirates. After that it was considered an unsafe place, so in 1530 Archbishop of Tarragona decided to erect a new defence tower, now called Torre Vella. In 1865 the railway station began to operate, opening a new development time, that led one hundred years later to a tourist boom that has brought prosperity to the town. Salou was segregated from Vila-seca on 30 October 1989 by a decision of the Supreme Court of Spain.
[edit] Main Sights
[edit] Historic Buildings and Monuments
- Santa Maria del Mar church
- Torre Vella
- Harbour Masters Office
- Catalan Farmhouse
- Monument Jaume I
- Font lluminosa
- Cybernetic Fountains
- Monument to the fisherman
- Old Carrilet "Railway Station"
[edit] PortAventura Resort
PortAventura is a growing theme park resort on the Costa Daurada. The resort includes luxury four star accommodation, a major theme park, PortAventura Aquatic Park and a convention centre. The theme park's main attractions are the Dragon Khan, a massive B&M mega-looper, Furius Baco, which is one of the fastest roller coasters in Europe and The Hurricane Condor a tall falling tower ride which is 100 meters tall. The park also has a grand multi-media show, called the FiestaAventura, every night between the end of June and the end of August in which fireworks, fountains and parade-esque floats feature.
[edit] Lumine Mediterranea Beach & Golf Community
Lumine Golf Club, Salou (formerly known as PortAventura golf). There are three courses, which are north, south and central. North and central were designed by Greg Norman and the south course was designed by green project. The facilities consist of two clubhouses, a beach club, Lumine restaurant, Hoyo 19 restaurant, a pro shop, rental services and a golf school. In the future the area surrounding the golf course will turn into a community with six residential areas and services that include two five star hotels, a sports area and the International School of Salou that will cater for up to 1200 students as part of the Lumine community.[1]
[edit] Teatre Auditori de Salou
The Auditorium Theatre of Salou (Teatre Auditori de Salou) is an important part of the local community in terms of cultural and leisure in the municipality. The theatre plays local events such as political, school and cultural events and has also welcomed famous musicians to the area such as Sergio Dalma.
[edit] Beaches
The Salou Promenade (Passeig Jaume I) is one of the most beautiful landmarks of Salou, and it runs right along the coast adjacent to the Llevant Beach, the biggest beach in the town, although other beaches include Platja de Ponent, Platja dels Capellans, Platja Llarga and Cala Crancs. Salou has 34 Blue Flag beachs. Watersports, rentals and trips can be arranged on the Llevant Beach.
[edit] Sport Tourism
Salou is used as the base for the Catalunyan round of the World Rally Championship. In 2011 the round was held on October 20-23. [2] Salou has also held vollyball championships, soccer tournaments, a triathlon [3] and many other competitive sports.
Saloufest is the University sports festival which takes place on two separate occasions in April on an annual basis. The festival is infamous for its wild nature as it was widely reported throughout the local and British media for the students drunken behaviour. [4] In 2011 the festival brought 5.5 million euros into the local economy. [5] The festival includes DJ's and party's at the neighbouring resort's nightclub called Pacha.
In the future the local government is expected to position Salou as a sport tourism destination and therefore will promote different projects that include first class facilities to provide the city with the necessary resources to become a tourist destination that attracts visitors of reference, especially in low season. They have announced a project that will feature swimming pools, football fields and tennis courts. [6]
Salou is the sub-site for the 2017 Mediterranean Games for sports such as sailing. [7]
[edit] Climate
| Climate data for Reus Airport (between Reus - 3 km (1.86 mi) and Salou - 8 km (4.97 mi)) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 13.8 (56.8) |
15.0 (59.0) |
16.7 (62.1) |
18.4 (65.1) |
21.5 (70.7) |
25.4 (77.7) |
28.7 (83.7) |
28.8 (83.8) |
25.9 (78.6) |
21.7 (71.1) |
17.2 (63.0) |
14.7 (58.5) |
20.7 (69.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.9 (48.0) |
10.1 (50.2) |
11.6 (52.9) |
13.4 (56.1) |
16.7 (62.1) |
20.6 (69.1) |
23.7 (74.7) |
24.0 (75.2) |
21.2 (70.2) |
17.0 (62.6) |
12.4 (54.3) |
10.0 (50.0) |
15.8 (60.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 4.0 (39.2) |
5.1 (41.2) |
6.6 (43.9) |
8.4 (47.1) |
11.9 (53.4) |
15.7 (60.3) |
18.6 (65.5) |
19.3 (66.7) |
16.5 (61.7) |
12.3 (54.1) |
7.6 (45.7) |
5.2 (41.4) |
10.9 (51.6) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 38 (1.5) |
23 (0.91) |
35 (1.38) |
40 (1.57) |
60 (2.36) |
38 (1.5) |
15 (0.59) |
51 (2.01) |
77 (3.03) |
65 (2.56) |
49 (1.93) |
40 (1.57) |
504 (19.84) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 51 |
| Sunshine hours | 160 | 164 | 199 | 223 | 243 | 264 | 308 | 264 | 201 | 184 | 160 | 138 | 2,509 |
| Source: Agencia Estatal de Meteorología[8] | |||||||||||||
[edit] Festivities
- Wise Man's Cavalcade (January)
- Cós Blanc (Winter festival, first weekend of February)
- Children's Festival (June)
- Festa de Sant Joan (Late June)
- Nits Daurades (Summer festival, week of 15 August) with beautiful fireworks
- Festa del Rei Jaume I (7 September)
- National Day of Catalonia(11 September)
- Festa de la Segregació (30 October)
[edit] Transport
[edit] Airport
Salou's closest airport is Reus (which it is connected to by a regular bus service) followed by Barcelona. Reus Airport is mainly served by the low cost airline Ryanair. The major charter airlines from the Britain use Reus throughout the summer as a gateway to the Costa Daurada. The airport mainly serves domestic, British and Irish destinations, but other European destinations are also served.
[edit] Railway
The Railway Station in Salou is served by the Spanish state network, RENFE. The destinations from Salou include major cities in Catalonia such as Tarragona and Barcelona as well as a train to the major city of Valencia.
[edit] Bus
There is a bus company that serves the area called Plana Bus to destinations such as Cambrils, La Pineda, PortAventura, Reus, Tarragona and Barcelona.
[edit] Taxi
There are plenty of taxi services throughout the area including taxi ranks in locations such as opposite the Font lluminosa, Cap Salou and Reus Airport.
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Sources
- The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon (available in PDF format)
- Ramon Muntaner, Chronicle, tr. Lady Goodenough (available in PDF format).
[edit] References
- ^ http://en.lumine.com/leisure-business/major-services
- ^ http://www.micoche.com/noticiasid.asp?Id=13047
- ^ http://www.extreme-man.com/emsalou/home_esp.html
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1375785/Saloufest-shows-worst-British-students-wreak-havoc.html
- ^ http://www.los-caminos.com/en/ne/ne.html
- ^ http://www.salou.org/noticia_detall/_WJSnMCmKj4GxRDIfHQqMddT38wXGFEaOYqHThH7Dz7w
- ^ http://www.salou.org/noticia_detall/_WJSnMCmKj4GxRDIfHQqMde1YWngLY5tv4oa1A47T8-U
- ^ "Valores Climatológicos Normales. Salou - Reús / Aeropuerto". http://www.aemet.es/es/elclima/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos?l=0016A&k=cat.
[edit] External links
- Salou Tourist Board
- Salou Portal - Local News, and Tourist Information
- The Weather in Salou - Spain
- Salou Tourism - Trip Advisor
- Salou - WikiTravel
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