Salou and La Rioja, Spain

By | November 10, 2001

Salou in Spain

Salou is a coastal city in the Tarragona Province (Catalonia). thespanishCity is about 15 kilometers from the provincial capital Tarragona. 22,162 residents currently live here.

Salou is a busy and popular city. Every year many tourists visit the place to spend their holidays here or to go on excursions. The main economic activity in Salou is therefore also tourism. You will find numerous tourist facilities, many restaurants and entertainment options here.

In the immediate vicinity of Salou is the Port Aventura theme park, which is ideal for a day trip.

Landscapes and surroundings of Salou

Last but not least, Salou is such a popular holiday region because there are four beautiful and very large beaches. The Platia de Llevant is the east beach and is 1.2 kilometers long, making it the largest of the four beaches. On this beach you will always find small bays for bathing.
The Passeig de Jaume is the beach promenade with a small villa – Casa Bonet. It was designed by the famous architect Domènech Sugranyes i Gras. The villa is often used as a postcard motif.

You could say that Salou is a real tourist center. The tourist infrastructure is very well developed and offers variety to both short vacationers or day trippers as well as travelers with longer stays.
Because the place is only 120 kilometers from Barcelona away, it is ideal as a starting point for day trips to this city. Whether the holidaymakers want to sunbathe on the long, gently sloping sandy beach or stroll along the beach promenade, these are not the only options available here. In addition to the relaxed side, a whole range of active leisure activities are offered. Shopping on the promenade or enjoying a cocktail or coffee is actually a minimum when staying in Salou.
For night owls the city offers an almost 24-hour party mile. Here you can hang out in the various discos, make the bars and pubs unsafe or visit one or the other open-air party.

Although there are the obligatory beach vendors on the beach who offer tourists a lot of odds and ends, they are not as pushy as in other holiday regions. The promoters for the discos and evening events are also less aggressive than usual in Spain.
The Spaniards love to travel to Salou. In Germany, however, the place is largely unknown as a holiday destination.
Salou is particularly suitable for younger audiences who, in addition to partying and entertainment, are also looking for peace and relaxation and do not want to be entertained around the clock.

If you don’t want to live directly in the pulsating city or the town center, you have the opportunity to visit a little outside of the cityRent a room or an apartment. Accommodation is also available there, some of which are quite cheap. So you usually only have a short walk to the entertainment program, and you have peace and quiet at your place of residence.

However, the look of Salou suffers a little from the many hotel buildings. A large part of the city silhouette is characterized by apartment complexes and hotel resorts. The old town center is only very small, it has lost some of its original size due to the new buildings, but this does not make it any less attractive for excursions.

In Salou, especially in the service sector, people are very keen to offer tourists everything they want. For this reason, a few years ago some places and squares were completely renovated, playgrounds were built and the plantings were newly laid out. There is an exuberant but well-groomed atmosphere.

La Rioja in Spain

The province of La Rioja is one of the Spanish Autonomous Communities. It is located in the north of the country. The capital is Logrono. The total area of La Rioja is 5,028 square kilometers, on which around 301,000 people live.

Naming of the region

It is assumed that the name Rioja is a combination of the words Rio and Oja. So this means Oja river in German. Oja is the river that flows into the Ebro in La Rioja. However, there is also the theory that the name of the region is derived from the Basque dialect.

The landscapes of La Rioja

The autonomous communities of Castile and León, Basque Country, Navarre and Aragon are the direct neighbors of La Rioja. The course of the Ebro describes the northern border of La Rioja almost exactly.
Climatic you can find a continental influence here, but the weather is mostly dry. The summers are warm but not hot, whereas the winters are quite cool. There is fertile and productive land in the Ebro Basin. The mountain ranges are very popular with hiking enthusiasts and also attract many tourists to the region. The San Lorenzo is the highest mountain in the La Rioja region and measures 2,371 meters. The history of La Rioja During the Roman Empire, Celtic tribes lived as settlers in what is now La Rioja. The Visigoth Empire that followed

transferred most of Rioja to the Duchy of Cantabria. However, part of the border area was used for defense against the Cantabrians and Vaskons. In the 8th century, the Visigothic Empire fell and La Rioja was henceforth part of the Moorish territory.

Heavy fighting broke out from the 10th century for control of the area. Especially Navarre and Castile fought. Everyone wanted to register their ownership of the area, but the other did not want to abandon their position. In 1176 an agreement was reached, so Castile received a large part of the Rioja from Navarre. The territorial division of La Rioja persisted until the beginning of the 19th century. The Castillian provinces of Soria and Brugos divided the area. The province of Logrono was created in 1833
through the Spanish administrative reforms carried out by Rafale del Riego. This was renamed La Rioja after the end of the Franco era in 1980. Just eight years later, La Rioja became a Spanish Autonomous Community. Economy and life in La Rioja

The people in La Rioja are well aware of the location and the natural beauty of their region. Around 50 percent of the population work in the service sector for tourism and other service industries. The next largest branch of the economy is industry, followed by the food and beverage industry. In addition, both the metal industry and the textile industry are other important sectors in La Rioja.

The area is also known internationally for its excellent wines, the DOC Rioja is celebrating great success among wine connoisseurs. The wine-growing region of La Rioja is now one of the most important in Europe. In addition, the blooming vineyards look fantastic.
Apart from that, excellent wine grows here, and vegetables are grown on a large scale in the Ebro basin. Mushrooms, artichokes, asparagus and peppers thrive here very well. The soil is fertile and offers very good harvests.

La Rioja, Spain