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Valencia City Information - |
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| Valencia
General Information |
 The
province of Valencia in the largest of the three which go to
make up the Valencian Community. It is situated in the centre
of the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, latitude 40º 15´N
and 38º 73´S and longitude 0º 01´E and
1º 34´W.
It overlooks the spacious
Gulf of Valencia and is skirted at the back by a group of medium-high
mountains and rolling plains leading to the lands of Aragon
and Castile-La Mancha.
It is opposite the Balearic
Islands and equidistant from the country´s two major decision-taking
centres: Madrid and Barcelona.
Valencia´s main tourist
attractions are to be found in its cultural wealth, a sound
infrastructure for business trips, a network of accommodation
situated on clean beaches, its range of of nature reserves,
its varied calendar of fiestas and rich gastronomy.
A supply of accommodationof
95 hotels, 49 hostels, 417 apartments, 35 campsites an two spas
make it possible to receive a large number of visitors every
season.
In the fifteenth century,
Valencia witnessed a golden age, when the political autonomy
granted by the Aragonese king, James I, the boom of the skills
trade, the literary audacity of its writers and poets and the
Mediterranean ambitions of its rulers and nobles made it into
an unqustionable power of the period.
Nowadays, Valencia is working
on major projects and infrastuctures so as to enter the twenty-first
century renewed and firmily rooted in the modern era. |
 The
Valencian paella, made with rice, chicken, rabbit and greens,
is the typical dish in Valencian gastronomy. Each village has
its own variations and preferences because rice mixes well with
so many different ingredients. However, the most popular specialities
are the meat paella (with chicken or rabbit), the seafood paella
and the mixed one. Among fishermen, a dish known as arroz banda
evolved, so called because the rice and the fish are cooked
separately, for the flavour to be taken in, and it is served
with garlic and oil (all I olí).Rice done in the oven
in an earthenware dish is also extremely popular among Valencian
families, together with rice and beet, cuttlefish, cauliflower
and spinach, among other ingredients. In the region of La Safor,
a dish known as flideau is made. This is similar to rice with
seafood, but noodles are used instead of rice. In some inland
regions, the main dish is gazpacho (a cold soup of bread, tomatoes,
garlic, salt, vinager and oil), server in a form of a shepherd´s
tart made of wheat flour and cooked over the fire. This dish
is found in the regions of Requena-Utiel, Valle de Ayora, Canal
de Navarrés, La Costera and Los Serranos. In Los Serranos,
the visitor might also like to try what is known as the olla
churra, made from pieces of pork and black pudding, and gachas
(a form of porridge), so as to have a taste of the region´s
plentiful meat. Speaking of meat, it is custom to cook lamb
chops over the fire, together with varieties of sausage such
as longaniza (long and thin), black pudding and chorizo (spiced
pork sausage).It is from the world of traditional home cooking
that the custom of frying chicken and rabbit garnished with
tomato sauce comes, as does the popular hervido (a dish of green
beans cooked with potatoes and served with an oil and vinegar
dressing), eaten as the evening meal.
Valencia is a land of tasty
sweetmeats and bakery products. There is bread of all sizes
and flavours, panquemados (toasted bread), Valencian doughnuts,
turnovers, coconut cakes, anisette rolls, almond rosegons, egg-rings
for Easter, Epiphany rings, and so on, all available at the
many bake houses and confectioner's shops. As for drinks, a
special mention must be made of orgeat (horchata), made from
earth almonds, which is server as a cool refreshment, and natural
orange juice mixed with cava (Catalonian wine similar to champagne)
to make a drink known as agua de Valencia. Wine production is
notable, as shown by the existence of 75,000 hectares of vineyards.
The main cellars are to be found in Requena, Utiel, Llíria,
Villar del Arzobispo and Tuéjar. Quality cava is also
made in Requena. |
Shopping
and Handicrafts
In ceramics, the shopper will find a wide range of
qualities and sizes, with Manises as the undisputed traditional
centre of production. Tavernes Blanques is the home of porcelanas
Lladró, a firma which exports all over the world. To
earthenware and pottery must be added the craft of vegetable
fibre applied to furniture and household equipment, as seen
in the towns of Vallada, Montesa, Navarrés and L´Olleria.
This last town, together with Llosa de Ranes, also supplies
a full catalogue of handmade glassware. Craftwork in wood, which
led to the thriving furniture industry, is to be found in Alboraya,
Xirivella and Torrent, while Sagunto is the place for handicrafts
in cork. Connected in a way to this raw material, the towns
of Aldaida, Alacuas, Godella and Valencia show fine craftsmanship
in fan making, going from the simplest to the mos sophisticated
models, made with mother of pearl and patient by hand. If the
shopper is on the lookout for foodstuffs, he will find a wide
variety of sausages, confectionery a bakery product at the bake
houses and cake shops, not to mention rice and citrus fruits
and other fruits which are more usual in the inland area. The
visitor should also taste the delicious red and white wines.
Fairs
Valencia is a popular place for business travelling. Its International
Trade Fair (963861100), founded in 1917, is the oldest in Spain.
In the course of the year, about 50 different shows take place
in the spacious fair enclosure situated in Benimamet. The most
important ones concern the promotion of innovations in furniture,
market gardening, toys, ceramics, textiles, children's fashion
and jewellery. There are also regional and local fairs displaying
farm produce and machinery, handicrafts, old and modern books,
sausages, wine and antiques. |
Nightlife
The province of Valencia is famous
for its discotheques, where the music plays until dawn. They
are situated on the outskirts of the city and on the Valencia
- Cullera road, crossing numerous residential estates and beaches.A
lot of bars en discotecas are stuated in 'Calle Juan Llorens'.
Friday's and Saturday's are the crowdiest days, many people
are around. The atmosphere is lively and rather hot. It is a
'must have been' -site to go out after dining at El Carme and
before visiting la Floridita at the beach.
If you're in Spain around March
12th and need some good reasons to travel to Valencia, Las Fallas
are about the best one. Between the 12th and 19th of March,
the people of Valencia block traffic with towering sculptured
statues that artisans have spent the past year making. All day
and night, crowds of locals and foreigners fill the streets
and the sounds of exploding firecrackers and fireworks fill
the air. If firecrackers scare you, it's always wise to be careful,
but within a few hours of the explosions, you'll probably find
that you're lighting some yourself. At the end of the week,
the huge statues are awarded prizes and then all are set on
fire, which marks the end of Las Fallas and the beginning of
spring. |
The above material are taken from All Travel Spain
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