Torrelavega

Torrelavega
Torrelavega
Municipality
	Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto(s): Ave Maria; (Hail Mary)
	Location of the Municipality of Torrelavega in Cantabria.
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Cantabria
Province	Cantabria
Comarca	Valle del Besaya
Founded	14th century as Torre de la Vega
Government
• Alcalde	José Manuel Cruz Viadero (2015) (PSC-PSOE)
Area
• Total	35.54 km2 (13.72 sq mi)
Elevation	25 m (82 ft)
Highest elevation	606 m (1,988 ft)
Lowest elevation	12 m (39 ft)
Population (2009)
• Total	55,947
• Density	1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi)
Demonym	Torrelaveguenses
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	39300
Official language(s)	Spanish
Website	Official website

Torrelavega is a municipality and important industrial and commercial hub in the single province Autonomous Community of Cantabria in northern Spain.

It is situated roughly 8 kilometres from the Cantabrian Coast and 27.5 kilometres from the capital of the Autonomous Community, Santander, half way between the Principality of Asturias and the Basque Country. The rivers Saja and Besaya flow through the city.

It is the capital of the comarca (county, but with no administrative role) of Valle del Besaya which includes also composed of the municipalities of Cartes, Los Corrales de Buelna, Cieza, Arenas de Iguña, Bárcena de Pie de Concha, Molledo, Anievas and San Felices de Buelna.

Its highest point is 606 metres and its lowest point is 12 metres.

Torrelavega is a regional center for industry and transport, and its weekly livestock fair is famous in Spain. Its stadium is known as El Malecon. The Cave of Altamira, famed for the prehistoric paintings found inside, is about 10 kilometers northwest of the city.

History

Torrelavega was founded at the end of the thirteenth century by Garci Lasso de la Vega I (the elder), Adelantado Mayor of the Kingdom of Castile in the name of King Alfonso XI of Castile.

Its current name is due to the contraction of the original eponym of "Torre de la Vega". The Castle or Tower of the Vega's was built by Leonor de la Vega, daughter of Garci Lasso II de la Vega, the younger, and mother of the Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana in order to administer the tax and privilege due in the family's territory.

The name of the comarca, Valle del Besaya is derived from the Astur-Leonese Bisalia, which in turn derives from the Celtic, Bis-salia (the second Salia or Saja) from the two rivers that flow through the city.

Torrelavega was an important agricultural hub in the Kingdom of Castile since medieval times. Continuous population growth and industrial development enabled Torrelavega to attain city status in 1895 from the Queen Regent Maria Christina of Bourbon, Princess of the Two Sicilies.

The city is home to the main seat of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist labor union the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo.