Igualada

Igualada (Catalan pronunciation: [iɣwəˈlaðə]) is a municipality in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Anoia River and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona railway. Igualada is the capital and central market of the Anoia comarca, a rich agricultural and wine-producing district. The population, as of 2009, is 38,918.

Igualada
Municipality
Igualada town hall
Flag
Coat of arms
Igualada
Location in Catalonia
Igualada
Igualada (Catalonia)
Igualada
Igualada (Spain)
Coordinates: 41°35′N 1°37′E
Country Spain
Community Catalonia
ProvinceBarcelona
ComarcaAnoia
Government
 • MayorMarc Castells Berzosa (2015)[1] (Convergència i Unió)
Area
 • Total8.1 km2 (3.1 sq mi)
Elevation
313 m (1,027 ft)
Population
 (2018)[3]
 • Total39,540
 • Density4,900/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Postal code
08700
ClimateCfa
Websiteigualada.cat

The city consists of an old town, founded in the 11th century, with narrow and irregular streets, including the remains of a fortress and ramparts, plus a new surrounding town with regular and spacious streets and many fine houses.

The city is 65 kilometres (40 miles) west of Barcelona and 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of the famous mountain and monastery of Montserrat.

Igualada hosts the European Balloon Festival, the largest hot air balloon festival in Spain and one of the largest in Europe. It has taken place every year, since 1997, at the beginning of July. The city also hosts the Aerosport airshow, which takes place every year in April or May.

History

Igualada was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Its hospital was identified as it was a hotspot of the coronavirus. Police guard every entry and exit point, and allow only essential workers to enter or leave. Igualada has been cut off from the rest of the country, as a lockdown within a lockdown.[4]

Main sights
Barrel for leather tanning, Igualada Leather Museum

Igualada Leather Museum
Main article: Igualada Leather Museum

The Igualada Leather Museum (Museu de la Pell d'Igualada) opened in 1954. It was the first leather museum in Spain and the third in Europe. The collections are displayed in two nearby buildings in Igualada: the "Cal Boyer" building, a former cotton textile factory from the late 19th century, and the "Cal Granotes" building, an 18th-century tannery.

"Cal Granotes" displays two floors of a typical tannery: the ground floor, where the leather preparation and tanning was done, and the upper floor, where the leather was dried hanging from bars.

In the early 18th century, the tanning workers from Igualada decided to leave the enclosure of the medieval walls and established new industries along a water pipe or irrigation ditch named "El Rec", already mentioned in 12th-century documents and previously used by mills. The ditch has a length of 3,049 meters (3,334 yd) and collects the Anoia river water from a lock.

Muleteer's Museum (Museu del Traginer)
Main article: Igualada Muleteer's Museum

The "Igualada Muleteer's Museum - Antoni Ros Collection" explains the evolution of transport using animals such as mules, horses, oxen, and the different relationships that paved the way for the profession of muleteer. It is distributed into three main thematic areas: professions, saddles and bridles, and carriages.

Igualada Cemetery
Main article: Igualada Cemetery

The new Igualada Cemetery was designed by the architects Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós after winning an architectural competition in 1984. Constructed between 1985 and 1994 as a replacement for the old "Cemetery Vell", it has become widely regarded as one of the most poetic works of the 20th century Catalan architecture. Enric Miralles, who died in year 2000 is buried in one of the tombs.

Panoramic view of the new Igualada Cemetery

Church of Santa Maria
Main article: Basilica of Santa Maria, Igualada

The Basilica of Santa Maria is the most important historical building of Igualada. The first settlement of Igualada is dated around year 1000, in the location were the current church lies today, which was at that time a crossing of two routes which were linking Barcelona with Aragon, and north of Catalonia with its south. Santa Maria church origin is from the 11th century, but the current building is mainly from the 17th century. During the Spanish Civil War it was converted into a market, and was restored after the war, under the guidance of the architect Cèsar Martinell. In 1949 Santa Maria obtained the title of Minor Basilica granted by the pope Pius XII.

Nursing home "Asil del Sant Crist"

The asil del Sant Crist is one of the most special buildings in Igualada and serves as a nursing home of elder people. Construction started in year 1931 thanks to a donation from Magdalena, Dolors and Concepció Castells and finished in 1941 after the Spanish Civil War. It was designed by Joan Rubió i Bellver, pupil of Antoni Gaudí, in late modernisme style, mixed with influences from the traditional Catalan architecture.

Economy

The local industries, mainly developed since 1880, include the manufacture of cotton, linen, wool, ribbons, cloth, chocolate, soap, brandies, leather, cards and nails.

Igualada has a long tradition of tanning and textile industries. The competition from low-cost countries that produce inexpensive textile products and the stricter environmental laws applied on tanneries have had a serious impact on the local economy. Despite that, there are several well-known textile companies that keep their headquarters in Igualada, including Buff, Sita Murt and Punto Blanco.

Igualada is also home to Ultramagic, the only manufacturer of hot air balloons in Spain.

Transportation

Igualada's railway station is the terminus of a line connecting with Plaça d'Espanya in Barcelona. The A-2 motorway between Madrid and Barcelona bypasses the town.

Sports

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Spain

Twin towns – Sister cities

Igualada is twinned with:

References
  1. "Ajuntament d'Igualada". Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  2. "El municipi en xifres: Igualada". Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  3. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  4. Peltier, Elian (2020-03-31). "'We Are in a Cage:' Spanish Town Lives Under a Lockdown Within a Lockdown". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  • Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). Guia de Catalunya, Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3 (Spanish). ISBN 84-87135-02-1 (Catalan).
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Igualada". Encyclopædia Britannica. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 295.


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