Breña Baja

Breña Baja
—  Municipality  —

Flag
Coat of arms
Coordinates:
Country  Spain
Autonomous community  Canary Islands
Province  Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Island  La Palma
Area[1]
 • Total 14.2 km2 (5.5 sq mi)
Elevation[1] 300 m (984 ft)
Population (2009)[2]
 • Total 5,115
 • Density 360.2/km2 (932.9/sq mi)

Breña Baja (Spanish for Lower Breña) is a municipality on the eastern side of the island of La Palma, in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. The ayuntamiento (municipal office) is in the town of San José with an elevation of 300 m. Villa de Mazo lies on the main highway encircling the island, south of the capital Santa Cruz de la Palma. Until the 17th century the area was known as Breña, but was then divided into Breña Alta and Breña Baja.

The coastline and the valley areas are made up of farmland, while the mountainous areas are forested or grassland in the central and northern parts but much of the area is deforested. Mountains dominate the coastline, giving panoramic views of La Gomera to the southeast. The main industries were agriculture, especially wine production, and fishing, but tourism has become the most important industry, with La Palma's second largest resort, Los Cancajos, on the coast.

La Palma Airport (formerly Mazo Airport) is located on the coast, in the south-east corner of Breña Baja, with a runway on partially reclaimed, land running parallel with the sea.

Contents

Subdivisions

The municipality has 8 subdivisions, or "parishes" (population figures from 2005):

Historical population

Year Population Change Density
1900 1,816 - -
1910 2,001 +185 -
1920 1,859 -142 -
1930 2,042 +183 -
1940 2,364 +322 -
1950 2,405 +41 -
1960 2,505 +100 -
1970 2,632 +127 -
1980 3,363 +731 -
1990 3,418 +55 -
1991 3,354 -64 -
1996 3,746 +392 -
2001 3,621 -125 258.64/km²
2002 4,113 +492 289.65/km²
2003 4,187 +74 294.85/km²
2004 4,186 -1 294.79/km²
2005 4,355 +169 306.69/km²
2006 4,470 +115 314.79/km²
2007 4,708 +238 331.55/km²

Other than a drop in 1920, the population has steadily increased.

The 1991 and 2001 figures, taken from the census, are lower than the surrounding figures, taken from municipal records.[3]

Other

Breña Baja has schools, a few lyceums, a gymnasium, churches, a small beach, a small port, a post office and a few squares plazas.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "SUPERFICIE, PERÍMETRO Y ALTITUD DE LOS MUNICIPIOS DE CANARIAS." (in Spanish). Instituto Canario de Estadística (ISTAC). http://www2.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac/estadisticas/territorio_ambiente/territorio/territorio_1_1_9.html. 
  2. ^ "Población en Canarias. La Palma. 1-1-2009" (in Spanish). Instituto Canario de Estadística (ISTAC). http://www2.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac/estadisticas/poblacion/datos_basicos/cop/2009/tabla_7.html. 
  3. ^ "ISTAC "Instituto Canario de Estadistica"" (in Spanish). http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac/estadisticas.html. Retrieved 7 October 2008.  (See explanation on discussion page)

External links

North: Breña Alta
West: El Paso Breña Baja East: Atlantic Ocean
South: Villa de Mazo
Municipalities of La Palma