| Mataró | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Image Map1: | Localització de Mataró respecte del Maresme.svg |
| Map Caption1: | Location in Maresme county |
| Pushpin Map: | Spain Catalonia vegueries#Spain |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Subdivision Type: | Sovereign state |
| Subdivision Name: |  Spain |
| Subdivision Type1: | Community |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Barcelona |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Maresme |
| Subdivision Type4: | Province |
| Subdivision Name4: | Barcelona |
| Coordinates: | 41.5333°N 29°W |
| Leader Party: | PSC |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | David Boté Paz (2015)[1] [2] |
| Area Footnotes: | [3] |
| Area Total Km2: | 22.5 |
| Elevation M: | 28 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Demonym: | Mataroní |
| Postal Code: | 08301-08304 |
Mataró (in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /mətəˈɾo/) is the capital and largest town of the Maresme county in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Maresme coast, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, 30km (20miles) north-east of Barcelona., it had a population of 129,749.
Mataró dates back to Roman times when it was a village known as "Iluro" or "Illuro". The ruins of a first-century BC Roman bath house (known locally as the Torre Llauder) were recently discovered and can be visited. The coastal follows the same path as the original Roman road, Via Augusta.
Mataró was declared a city by royal decree, even though at the time (nineteenth century) the population fell short of the requirement for city status.
The first railway in peninsular Spain was the Mataró – Barcelona line which opened on 28 October 1848 by the Catalan businessman and Mataró native Miquel Biada. This line now forms part of the Renfe/Rodalies de Catalunya R1 suburban service between L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Maçanet-Massanes. Mataró is also connected with Barcelona and Girona by the (freeway) and with Granollers by the .
During the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Mataró was the starting point for the marathon events.[4]
Mataró is the birthplace of the noucentista architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, who designed the ajuntament (town hall) and several other notable buildings in the town:
Nearby the town are the archaeological remains of the Roman villa of Can Llauder.
The traditional vineyards were devastated by Phylloxera in the nineteenth century and only partially replanted, due to the growth of the tourist industry and the development of irrigation in the area. Potatoes were one of the first replacement crops to be introduced, especially the Royal Kidney variety, and Mataró obtained a Denominació d'Origen in 1932.[5] Trocadero lettuce and peas are also grown, mostly for export. The production of cut flowers is less important than in other towns of the Maresme. Irrigated land made up 9.13km² of the 10.57km² of agricultural land in the municipality in 1986 (47% of the municipal territory).
In modern viticulture, the red mourvèdre grape variety is a better-known synonym for the grape known in Spain, the U.S., and Australia as mataro. Mataró, the city, is thought to be the likely origin of mataro, the wine grape.
Mataró has a borderline humid subtropical climate (Cfa in Köppen climate classification) bordering with a Hot-summer mediterranean climate, (Köppen Csa).
Several major events are celebrated annually in Mataró. Some of them are also celebrated in the rest of Catalonia and others, which have a religious origin, are part of the folklore and traditions of Spain and some other countries. Among all of them the most popular ones are:
Cehegín, Spain
Créteil, France
Corsico, Italy
Fort Lauderdale, United States