Villarreal/Vila-real

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This article is about the town in eastern Spain. For other uses of the term, see Villarreal and Vila Real (disambiguation).

Villarreal/Vila-real

Location

Coordinates : 39°56′16″N, 0°6′5″W
Time Zone : CET (GMT +1)
- summer: CEST (GMT +2)

General information

Native name

Vila-real (Valencian)

Spanish name

Villarreal

Administration

Country

Spain

Autonomous Community

Valencian Community

Province

Castellón

Comarca

Plana Baixa

Geography

Land Area

55.12 km²

Altitude

42 m AMSL

Population

Population

48,055 (2006)

Density

872 hab./km² (2006)

Vila-real (also known as Villarreal) is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Castellón, in the Land of Valencia. Located 7 km to the south of the province's capital, at 42 m above sea level, it has 48,000 inhabitants (2005 data), most of them living in the urban area that covers about 10,72% of its county's 55,4 km² surface. Ranked by population, it is the second city in the province (following the capital), and tenth in the Valencian Community region.

[edit] Economy

Vila-real's economy has been evolving from the growth and trade of oranges last century to the ceramic tile, which today is its most important source of income.

[edit] History

Founded in 1274 by King James I of Aragon (hence its name: Vila-real, "King's Town") to reinforce the area once it had been reconquered from the Muslims, it was located strategically on the old Roman road Via Augusta, 65 km to the north of the city of Valencia, and close to the town of Burriana, at that time under Muslim rule. The original village, surrounded by defensive walls, was expanded to the outskirts in 14th century, under the protection of the King of Valencia. During the 16th century, the farming land began to be extended and enhanced by drilling wells to obtain water and convert dry land into irrigated fields, making it possible to begin commercial agriculture in the 17th century. After its disastrous participation in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the second half of the 18th century, the first industries were established, mainly for textiles. Also during that time, the city became involved in various revolts and wars that shook Spain. In the 19th century, the cultivation and trade of oranges was introduced, which gave the town great economic progress, led both by businessmen and by farmers' associations or "cooperativas". After the Spanish Civil War in the second half of the 20th century, the earnings obtained from the orange trade allowed several entrepreneurs to build ceramic tile factories, as a way to diversify their productive model. This type of industry has continued to expand up to the present day, and it has become Vila-Real's main economic activity.

Villarreal CF made their own piece of history in the UEFA Champions League of 2006 when they reached the semifinals of the competition. They were managed by Chilean Manuel Pellegrini and had a number of South American players in the team such as Riquelme, Forlan, [[Juan Pablo Sorín|Sorin] and [Diego [Brazo de Caoba] Marti Flores].