| Lleida | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | Spain Catalonia vegueries#Spain |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Catalonia##Location within Spain |
| Map Caption1: | Location in Segrià county |
| Coordinates: | 41.6167°N 0.6333°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Sovereign state |
| Subdivision Name: |  Spain |
| Subdivision Type1: | Community |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Ponent |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Segrià |
| Subdivision Type4: | Province |
| Subdivision Name4: | Lleida |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 6th century BC |
| Government Type: | Mayor-Council |
| Leader Party: | PSC |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Fèlix Larrosa i Piqué (2023) |
| Area Total Km2: | 212.3 |
| Elevation M: | 155 |
| Population As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 140,797 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 25001-25007 |
| Area Code: | 34 (Spain) + 973 (Lleida) |
| Area Code Type: | Dialing code |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Official language(s) |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Catalan, Spanish |
| Blank Name Sec2: | Climate |
| Blank Info Sec2: | BSk |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
Lleida (pronounced as /ca/, pronounced as /ca/; Spanish; Castilian: Lérida pronounced as /es/;) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It had 140,797 inhabitants .
Lleida is one of the oldest towns in Catalonia, with recorded settlements dating back to the Bronze Age period. Until the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the area served as a settlement for an Iberian people, the Ilergetes. The town became a municipality, named Ilerda, under the reign of Augustus. It was ruled by the Moors from the 8th century, and reconquered in 1149. In 1297, the University of Lleida was founded, becoming the third oldest in the whole of Spain. During the following centuries, the town was damaged by several wars such as the Reapers' War in the 17th century and the Spanish Civil War in the 20th century. Since then, the city has been in constant urban, commercial and demographic growth.
Although the usual Spanish form of the town's name is Spanish; Castilian: Lérida, pronounced pronounced as /es/, the associations of that name with enforced Castilianization under the Francoist regime have led to the Catalan form Catalan; Valencian: Lleida being used for official purposes even in Spanish.[2] The local pronunciation of the name is pronounced as /ca/ while the standard pronunciation is pronounced as /ca/.
See also: Timeline of Lleida.
In ancient times the city, named Iltrida and Ilerda, was the chief city of the Ilergetes, an Iberian tribe. Indíbil, king of the Ilergetes, and Mandoni, king of the Ausetanes, defended it against the Carthaginian and Roman invasions.
Under the Romans the city was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis, and was a place of considerable importance, historically as well as geographically. It stood upon an eminence, on the right (west) bank of the river Sicoris (the modern Segre), the principal tributary of the Ebre, and some distance above its confluence with the Cinga (modern Cinca); thus commanding the country between those rivers, as well as the great road from Tarraco (modern Tarragona), the provincial capital, to the northwest of Spain, which here crossed the Sicoris.[3]
Its situation[4] induced the legates of Pompey in Spain to make it the key of their defense against Caesar, in the first year of the Civil War (49 BC). Afranius and Marcus Petreius threw themselves into the place with five legions; and their siege by Caesar himself (Battle of Ilerda), as narrated in his own words, forms one of the most interesting passages of military history. Caesar’s skill as a general, in a contest where the formation of the district and a series of natural events seemed very favorable to his enemies, ultimately gained him victory. It was ended by the capitulation of Afranius and Petreius.[5] In consequence of the battle, the Latin phrase Ilerdam videas is said to have been used by people who wanted to cast bad luck on someone else.
Under the Roman Empire Ilerda was a prosperous city and a municipium. It minted its own coins. It had a fine stone bridge over the Sicoris, which was so sturdy that its foundations support a bridge to this day. In the time of Ausonius the city had fallen into decay but it rose again into importance in the Middle Ages.[6]
It was part of Visigothic and Muslim Hispania until it was conquered from the Moors by Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1149.
It used to be the seat of a major university, the oldest in the Crown of Aragon, until 1717, when it was moved by Philip V to the nearby town of Cervera. The University of Lleida is nowadays active again since 1991.
During the Reapers' War Lleida was occupied by the French and rebel forces. In 1644 the city was conquered by the Spanish under Felipe da Silva.
Lleida served as a key defence point for Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War and fell to the Insurgents, whose air forces bombed it extensively in 1937 and 1938. The 2 November 1937 Legion Condor attacks against Lleida became especially infamous since they were aimed to the school known as Liceu Escolar de Lleida. 48 children and several teachers died in it that day, 300 people were killed in the 2 November bombings altogether and the town would be bombed and besieged again in 1938, when it was conquered by Franco's forces.[7]
After some decades without any kind of population growth it experienced a massive influx of Andalusians, who helped the town undergo a relative demographic growth. Nowadays it is home to immigrants of 146 different nationalities.[8]
Lleida was the Capital of Catalan Culture in 2007.[9]
The Judería, or Jewish quarter in Lleida dates back to the 11th century. The Jewish quarter in Lleida was also referred to as La Cuirassa. This name distinction is unique compared to other Jewish communities in Spain, and historians believe that the origin of the term is linked to the former Jewish quarter that existed in the times of the Moors, which was connected to the "coiraça", a protrusion of the city wall. The Jews established their quarter next to this wall, leading to the name "La Cuirassa."[10] A street named "Judería", which still exists in today's Lleida dates back to the time where the Jewish quarter was still active. The Jewish quarter was located in the fortified area of Lleida; in this area, a ring with the name "Goig" carved in Hebrew was found in 1870.[11] A Jewish ritual bath, or mikveh dating to the 9th century, one of the oldest in Europe, was found in Lleida.[12]
Lleida has a temperate semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk).[13] Winters are mild and foggy though cooler than places on the coast while summers are hot and dry. Frosts are common during winter although snowfall can occasionally fall, averaging 1 or 2 days. Precipitation is low, with an annual average of 369mm with a peak in April and May and another peak in September and October.
Lleida is divided in the following districts by the Socioeconomic Observatory of Lleida:
Lleida is served by Renfe's Madrid-Barcelona high-speed rail line, serving Barcelona, Zaragoza, Calatayud, Guadalajara, and Madrid. Lleida has a new airport opened in January 2010, and a minor airfield located in Alfès. Also, the town is the western terminus of the Eix Transversal Lleida-Girona, and a railway covering the same distance (Eix Transversal Ferroviari) is currently under planning.
Lleida's only passenger railway station is Lleida Pirineus. It is served by both Renfe and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya train lines. In the future a Rodalies Lleida commuter network will connect the town with its adjacent area and the main towns of its province, improving the existing network with more train frequency and newly built infrastructure. A second railway station is Pla de la Vilanoveta in an industrial area, and only used by freight trains. A future railway museum will be located in its facilities.[14] Since 2008 the bulk of public transport of Lleida's surrounding area, mainly buses operated by several companies, is managed by Autoritat Territorial de la Mobilitat de l'Àrea de Lleida.
The urban buses, coloured yellow with blue stripes and owned by Autobusos de Lleida, include the following lines:
In addition to these, there's a tourist bus and a regular night service to nearby clubs.
Lleida has depended long time on nearby airports and had no local air transit. The Lleida-Alguaire airport opened in 2010.
A tram-train system is pending approval. Using an existing but outdated passenger line, it would link Balaguer and Lleida, crossing both towns in a much needed move towards better public transportation, both inner-city and between localities.[15] [16] [17]
Lleida is a traditionally Catalan-speaking city, with a characteristic dialect (known as Western or, more specifically, Northwestern Catalan, or colloquially lleidatà). Most of the population is actively bilingual in Spanish.
| Largest groups of foreign residents | |
| Nationality | Population (2022) |
|---|---|
| 6,249 | |
| 5,014 | |
| 1,578 | |
| 1,489 | |
| 1,444 | |
Lleida was the Capital of Catalan Culture in 2007.
Enric Granados Auditorium is the city's concert hall and main music institution and conservatory. It is named after the composer Enric Granados, who was born in the city. CaixaForum Lleida (formerly known as Centre Cultural de la Fundació La Caixa) includes a concert hall. Teatre Municipal de l'Escorxador is the town's main theatre; it includes a concert venue, Cafè del Teatre. A theatre and congress centre, La Llotja de Lleida, opened in 2010.
There are two important music festivals in Lleida; MÚSIQUES DISPERSES Folk Festival in March,[18] and the jazz festival JAZZ TARDOR in November. Concerts are also a regular fixture of the two local feasts, Sant Anastasi in May, and Sant Miquel in September.
CaixaForum Lleida is the usual venue for film-related events and screenings. A Latin-American film festival is held yearly in the town (Mostra de Cinema Llatinoamericà de Lleida), and an animation film festival called Animac is held every May.
The Lleida Museum opened in 2008 and displays historical artefacts and works of art from various periods. The Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs, a historically relevant building, exhibits both ancient and contemporary art. The Centre d'Art La Panera is a contemporary art institution. The Museu d'Art Jaume Morera displays art from the 20th and 21st centuries (as well as artwork by its namesake).
The city has a number of small municipal galleries, such as the Sala Municipal d'Exposicions de Sant Joan and the Sala Manel Garcia Sarramona. There are also several institutions dedicated to local artists, such as the Sala Leandre Cristòfol, containing artwork by the sculptor and painter Leandre Cristòfol (1908–1998); and the Sala Coma Estadella, dedicated to the sculptor and painter Albert Coma Estadella (1933–1991).
Private art galleries include the Espai Cavallers. The private foundation CaixaForum Lleida and the Public Library of Lleida also offer regular exhibits. The now defunct Petite Galerie was an innovative and influential gallery in the 1970s.
The Escola Municipal de Belles Arts provides higher education in the arts.
Traditional celebrations include the main annual town festivity: Festa Major; Fira de Sant Miquel and L’Aplec del Caragol (escargot-eating festival, the biggest in the world of this sort, held at the Camps Elisis since 1980).
The latter is a gastronomical festivity focused on escargot cooking and is celebrated yearly at the end of May. "L'Aplec" gathers thousands of people around the table to taste the most traditional dishes from Lleida.
Due to its strong popularity, it was declared a traditional festivity of national interest in 2002 by the Generalitat of Catalonia and two years later it was also declared as such by the Spanish Government.
The main traditional celebrations in Lleida are chaired by the twelve emblematic "Gegants de la Paeria" (Giants of the Town Hall), the two oldest made in 1840.
Lleida has a bar and clubbing area, informally known as Els Vins. The oldest part of the quarter, known as Els Vins Vells, has been largely replaced by Els Vins Nous, an architecturally newer and more upscale area. Most big clubs in Lleida are located outside the town and are not easily accessible without a car, though on Saturday nights there is a bus.[19]
Lleida has sister relationships with many places worldwide:[20] [21]
Ferrara, Italy
Foix, France
Hefei, China
Lérida, Colombia Perpignan, France
Monterey, California, United States[22]The city is the subject of the Catalan folk song La Presó de Lleida, "The prison of Lleida", which was already attested in the 17th century and may be even older. It is a very popular tune, covered by many artists such as Joan Manuel Serrat.[23]