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Valencia Holidays
Valencia, province of oranges and paella in the east of Spain! |
Valencia, province of oranges and paella in the east of Spain!
Tourist information about Valencia in Spain. Travel to Valencia and let Spain-Holiday.com guide and accommodate you |
Valencia is a province of Spain, in the central part of the Valencian Country.
It overlooks the spacious Gulf of Valencia and is skirted at the back by a group of medium-high mountains and rolling plains leading to the lands of Aragon and Castile-La Mancha.
It is opposite the Balearic Islands and equidistant from the country´s two major decision-taking centres: Madrid and Barcelona.
Valencia´s main tourist attractions are to be found in its cultural wealth, a sound infrastructure for business trips, a network of accommodation situated on clean beaches, its range of of nature reserves, its varied calendar of fiestas and rich gastronomy.
A supply of accommodationof 95 hotels, 49 hostels, 417 apartments, 35 campsites an two spas make it possible to receive a large number of visitors every season.
In the fifteenth century, Valencia witnessed a golden age, when the political autonomy granted by the Aragonese king, James I, the boom of the skills trade, the literary audacity of its writers and poets and the Mediterranean ambitions of its rulers and nobles made it into an unqustionable power of the period.
Nowadays, Valencia is working on major projects and infrastuctures so as to enter the twenty-first century renewed and firmily rooted in the modern era.
Food & Drink in Valencia
The Valencian paella, made with rice, chicken, rabbit and greens, is the typical dish in Valencian gastronomy. Each village has its own variations and preferences because rice mixes well with so many different ingredients. However, the most popular specialities are the meat paella (with chicken or rabbit), the seafood paella and the mixed one. Among fishermen, a dish known as arroz banda evolved, so called because the rice and the fish are cooked separately, for the flavour to be taken in, and it is served with garlic and oil (all I olí).Rice done in the oven in an earthenware dish is also extremely popular among Valencian families, together with rice and beet, cuttlefish, cauliflower and spinach, among other ingredients. In the region of La Safor, a dish known as flideau is made. This is similar to rice with seafood, but noodles are used instead of rice. In some inland regions, the main dish is gazpacho (a cold soup of bread, tomatoes, garlic, salt, vinager and oil), server in a form of a shepherd´s tart made of wheat flour and cooked over the fire. This dish is found in the regions of Requena-Utiel, Valle de Ayora, Canal de Navarrés, La Costera and Los Serranos. In Los Serranos, the visitor might also like to try what is known as the olla churra, made from pieces of pork and black pudding, and gachas (a form of porridge), so as to have a taste of the region´s plentiful meat. Speaking of meat, it is custom to cook lamb chops over the fire, together with varieties of sausage such as longaniza (long and thin), black pudding and chorizo (spiced pork sausage).It is from the world of traditional home cooking that the custom of frying chicken and rabbit garnished with tomato sauce comes, as does the popular hervido (a dish of green beans cooked with potatoes and served with an oil and vinegar dressing), eaten as the evening meal.
Valencia is a land of tasty sweetmeats and bakery products. There is bread of all sizes and flavours, panquemados (toasted bread), Valencian doughnuts, turnovers, coconut cakes, anisette rolls, almond rosegons, egg-rings for Easter, Epiphany rings, and so on, all available at the many bake houses and confectioners shops. As for drinks, a special mention must be made of orgeat (horchata), made from earth almonds, which is server as a cool refreshment, and natural orange juice mixed with cava (Catalonian wine similar to champagne) to make a drink known as agua de Valencia. Wine production is notable, as shown by the existence of 75,000 hectares of vineyards. The main cellars are to be found in Requena, Utiel, Llíria, Villar del Arzobispo and Tuéjar. Quality cava is also made in Requena.
Shopping in Valencia
In ceramics, the shopper will find a wide range of qualities and sizes, with Manises as the undisputed traditional centre of production. Tavernes Blanques is the home of porcelanas Lladró, a firma which exports all over the world. To earthenware and pottery must be added the craft of vegetable fibre applied to furniture and household equipment, as seen in the towns of Vallada, Montesa, Navarrés and L´Olleria. This last town, together with Llosa de Ranes, also supplies a full catalogue of handmade glassware. Craftwork in wood, which led to the thriving furniture industry, is to be found in Alboraya, Xirivella and Torrent, while Sagunto is the place for handicrafts in cork. Connected in a way to this raw material, the towns of Aldaida, Alacuas, Godella and Valencia show fine craftsmanship in fan making, going from the simplest to the mos sophisticated models, made with mother of pearl and patient by hand. If the shopper is on the lookout for foodstuffs, he will find a wide variety of sausages, confectionery a bakery product at the bake houses and cake shops, not to mention rice and citrus fruits and other fruits which are more usual in the inland area. The visitor should also taste the delicious red and white wines.
Fairs
Valencia is a popular place for business travelling. Its International Trade Fair (963861100), founded in 1917, is the oldest in Spain. In the course of the year, about 50 different shows take place in the spacious fair enclosure situated in Benimamet. The most important ones concern the promotion of innovations in furniture, market gardening, toys, ceramics, textiles, childrens fashion and jewellery. There are also regional and local fairs displaying farm produce and machinery, handicrafts, old and modern books, sausages, wine and antiques.
Nightlife in Valencia
The province of Valencia is famous for its discotheques, where the music plays until dawn. They are situated on the outskirts of the city and on the Valencia - Cullera road, crossing numerous residential estates and beaches.A lot of bars en discotecas are stuated in Calle Juan Llorens. Fridays and Saturdays are the crowdiest days, many people are around. The atmosphere is lively and rather hot. It is a must have been -site to go out after dining at El Carme and before visiting la Floridita at the beach.
If youre in Spain around March 12th and need some good reasons to travel to Valencia, Las Fallas are about the best one. Between the 12th and 19th of March, the people of Valencia block traffic with towering sculptured statues that artisans have spent the past year making. All day and night, crowds of locals and foreigners fill the streets and the sounds of exploding firecrackers and fireworks fill the air. If firecrackers scare you, its always wise to be careful, but within a few hours of the explosions, youll probably find that youre lighting some yourself. At the end of the week, the huge statues are awarded prizes and then all are set on fire, which marks the end of Las Fallas and the beginning of spring.
Other information (geography and history):
Of the provinces 2,267,503 people, one-third live in the capital, Valencia, which is also the capital of the autonomous community. There are 265 municipalities in the province.
Its origins comes back to the historical territory of the former Kingdom of Valencia which was created in the 13th century, as a result of Christian colonization by Catalans and Aragonese of the Islamic taifas Valencia and Dénia, commanded by James I "the Conqueror". It is situated in the East of the Iberian Peninsula, between the Sènia and Segura rivers, and it has 840 km of land border and 518 km of coast along the Mediterranean Sea, where are situated the island of Nova Tabarca and the Columbretes islands, which are under Valencian administration.
Traditionally the territory is divided into comarques, and in 1883 it was, along with the rest of Spain, divided into provinces. There are 32 comarques, and three provinces: Castelló/Castellón, València/Valencia, and Alacant/Alicante.
Major Valencian cities and important towns include:
València (Sp. Valencia) 780,653, capital of the province of the same name, in the river Turia. Famous festival of the Fallas on March 19.
Alacant (Sp. Alicante) 316,178, capital of the province of the same name, in the Mediterranean coast. Famous for its hard nougat or turrón duro (Valencian torró dur) and Postiguet, Albufereta and San Juan Beaches. The famous festival of the Bonfires of Saint John is in June. The city hall and the Santa Barbara Castle are historical monuments.
Castelló de la Plana (Sp. Castellón de la Plana) 160.714, capital of the province of the same name.
Elx (Sp. Elche) 207,163, famous for the wood of palm trees called Palmeral, and for the Mystery Play, which has been declared part of World Heritage by UNESCO.
Torrevieja (Vl. Torrevella) 77,943, in the south, very important tourist centre with a lot of hotels, apartments and tourist accommodation. With La Mata Beach.
Orihuela (Vl. Oriola) 67,731, on the Segura river, historical city with palaces, churches and the Cathedral, in the "Vega Baja" (Valencian Vega Baixa), a very rich kitchen garden with oranges, lemon and other products.
Benidorm 64,267, a major holiday resort, dubbed Beniyork because of its many skyscrapers — including Spains tallest, the 52-storey Gran Hotel Bali.
Elda,54.086 important producer of shoes and wine in the Vinalopo land.
Xixona (Sp. Jijona) 7,256, near Alicante, famous for its soft nougat or torró de Xixona (Sp. turrón de Jijona).
Vila-real (Sp. Villarreal) 32,598, important producer of ceramics and brick.
Buñol (Vl. Bunyol) 4,687 famous for the tomatina, on the last Wednesday of August.
Ibi 21,457, Spanish Toy Production Center.
Major rivers:
River Turia (Valencian: Túria)
River Júcar (Valencian: Xúquer)
River Segura
More information on Valencia
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