Talk:Balaguer

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[edit] Bridges and bridgeheads

The article currently says, "The town has a Gothic bridge over the Segre river".

An anon recently changed this (without citation) to:

"The town had a Gothic bridge over the Segre river, destroyed during the the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), when the fascists troops entered Catalonia during the last stages of the war through the Balaguer's Bridgehead."

I haven't been there, can't swear either way on the facts of it, but having checked a few sources I can't find any statement about a bridge being destroyed at Balaguer during the war. (I'll admit I also can't find any source for the town having a Gothic bridge in the first place, either.) I suspect possible confusion over the term cabeza de puente (bridgehead). If someone can sort this out with a citation either way, great. If the above is factually verified, it should be worded as:

"The town has a Gothic bridge over the Segre river; it was the point, destroyed during the the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), when Francisco Franco's nationalist troops entered Catalonia during the last stages of the war through the Balaguer Bridgehead."

In any case, if someone can work out more about "Balaguer Bridgehead" in the context of that war, it belongs here. I've made that a redirect. I'll get to this if no one else does. -- Jmabel | Talk 21:27, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)

It looks like all other online references to "Balaguer Bridgehead" in English are about a gaming simulation. However, "cabeza de puente de Balaguer" in Spanish has finds some good material; more by searching on "cabeza de puente" + "Balaguer" -- Jmabel | Talk 02:29, Dec 25, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Spanish Civil War

A quick survey of what Google finds in Spanish suggests that during the Spanish Civil War, the airport here was at least moderately important for the Republican side, and that for some time the town was at least a moderately important Republican bridgehead or salient. I don't feel like doing research on this one right now -- I was just trying to clarify whether or not the Gothic bridge still stands, and ended up bringing in a lot of links and an infobox in the process -- but someone might find this a rewarding research topic. -- Jmabel | Talk 00:31, Dec 28, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Population

[1] updated population plausibly, but with no citation. Does someone have a source? - Jmabel | Talk 23:09, 24 March 2006 (UTC)