Salamanca is a city situated in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. As of 2018, the municipality has a population of 143,978.
It is one of the most important university cities in Spain and supplies 16% of Spain’s market for the teaching of the Spanish language. Salamanca attracts thousands of international students.
The University of Salamanca, founded in 1218, is the oldest university in Spain and the third oldest western university. Pope Alexander IV gave universal validity to its degrees. With 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca. It is on the Via de la Plata path of the Camino de Santiago.
Festivals
Holy Week
The Holy Week in Salamanca (Semana Santa) is the most well-known feast in the city. Salamanca is renowned for the solemn and sober processions celebrated during Holy Week. 16 confraternities, 10,000 brothers or “cofrades”, 50 floats or “pasos” celebrate the Passion of Christ with 20 processions and thousands of followers, tourist and visitors.
Some of the celebrations have been performed for centuries. The confraternities carry artistic pasos created by important Spanish artists such as Luis Salvador Carmona, Alejandro Carnicero or Mariano Benlliure. in 2003 the Semana Santa of Salamanca obtained the official declaration of International Touristic Interest.
Other
Salamanca is also famous throughout Spain and the rest of Europe for its celebrations of “Nochevieja Universitaria,” loosely translated as “University New Year”. It is usually held on the Thursday of the last week of school in December and two weeks before the real New Year’s Eve. On this day, students congregate in the Plaza Mayor, Salamanca to watch free performances and take part in the countdown to midnight.
Sports
From 1923 onward, “Los Charros,” formally the Union Deportiva Salamanca, were the Salamanca football team. In 2013, the club went bankrupt and its activities were abandoned.[26] After its dissolution, some managers of the entity decided to refound the farm team to continue competing, maintaining the legacy of the historic club. Thus they created the Club de Fútbol Salmantino.
The first high jump over 8 feet (2.44 m) was made in Salamanca, by Javier Sotomayor in 1993. His jump, of 2.45 m (8 feet 0.46 inch), is still the world record in the event.
Local teams
- Salamanca CF, football team
- Unionistas de Salamanca CF, football team.
- CB Avenida, basketball team.
Cinema
The picturesque setting provided by the city has been featured in several films, including Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Miloš Forman’s Goya’s Ghosts. Alejandro Amenábar’s 2019 historical film While at War is set in Salamanca and features scenes shot there. Salamanca was also the setting for the 2008 political thriller Vantage Point, although the movie was almost exclusively filmed in Mexico.
Gastronomy
Among many local dishes, chanfaina [es] (steamed rice with pork) is very popular. Another distinctive dish is the cocido, a slow-cooked chickpea-based casserole. However, hornazo, a meat pie, is the most popular dish.
