Melide, Spain Explained

Melide
Settlement Type:Municipality
Pushpin Map:Spain
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Spain
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Spain
Subdivision Type1:Autonomous community
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:A Coruña
Subdivision Type3:Comarca
Subdivision Name3:Terra de Melide
Population Demonym:Melidense, melidao/melidá.
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:15800
Area Code Type:Dialing code
Leader Title:Alcalde
Leader Name:José Manuel Pérez Penas
Leader Party:Adiante Melide

Melide (Spanish; Castilian: Mellid) is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous region of Galicia in northwest Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Terra de Melide. It has an area of 101 km2 and a population of 9,000 inhabitants mostly spread among its 26 parishes. It has an elevation of 456 meters.

History

The history of this village, since its foundation in the 10th century, is deeply linked with the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela as it is where two separate paths French Way and Camino Primitivo of the Camino de Santiago link up.

In 1320 Melide obtained from the Archbishop of Santiago, Berenguel de Landoira, the privilege of building up a castle, fortressing the village, and charging taxes. In 1467 "os irmandiños" opposed the Archbishop Alonso II Fonseca and started a series of fights against its power. During this riot the walls of the village were destroyed as well as the castle. After this, the Catholic Monarchs banned the construction of any fortress in the village.

During the last few centuries, like many villages in inner Galicia, it has suffered from a vast emigration of its people to Cuba and Argentina up to 1950s, and then to Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and to other cities of Spain such as Barcelona, Bilbao and A Coruña.

Currently its economy is based on agriculture, meat processing, and, more recently, tourism.

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Gallery

42.9167°N -9°W