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27-636: Garraf ( Catalan pronunciation: [ɡəˈraf] ), is a comarca (county) in the Penedès region in Catalonia , Spain . It is named after the Garraf Massif . The capital is the city of Vilanova i la Geltrú . The GR 92 long-distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, has a staging point at Garraf. Stage 21 links northwards to Bruguers ,

54-614: A distance of 15.6 kilometres (9.7 mi), whilst stage 22 links southwards to Vilanova i la Geltrú , a distance of 22.0 kilometres (13.7 mi). This Province of Barcelona location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Comarques of Catalonia The comarques of Catalonia (singular comarca , Eastern Catalan: [kuˈmarkə] , Western Catalan: [koˈmaɾka] ), often referred to in English as counties , are an administrative division of Catalonia . Each comarca comprises

81-565: A formality. This trend resulted in the counts becoming de facto independent of the Carolingian crown under Borrell II in 987, starting since, to call themselves and to be known as dei gratia comes (counts by the grace of god) and dux catalanensis (Catalan dukes) or even Hispaniae subjogator (attorney of Hispania) and Propugnator et murus christiani populi (wall and defender of the Christian folk). The many counties (aside from

108-731: A majority of municipalities of the Lluçanès region of Osona voted to join a proposed new comarca of that name. It was finally added to the list of Comarques on the 3rd of May 2023. There are six comarques which are often referred to as the historical comarques of Catalonia , because their present-day territory was a part of the former Principality of Catalonia , but nowadays they lie in Northern Catalonia , administered by France . Catalan counties The Catalan counties ( Catalan : Comtats Catalans , IPA: [kumˈtats kətəˈlans] ) were those surviving counties of

135-548: A number of municipalities , roughly equivalent to a county in the United States. Currently, Catalonia is divided into 42 comarques and Aran , considered a "unique territorial entity" and not a comarca. Each comarca has a representative county council (Catalan: consell comarcal ), except for Barcelonès , which abolished it in 2019, and Aran, which instead has the Conselh Generau d'Aran . Comarques form

162-600: A small military elite. Counts were appointed directly by and owed allegiance to the Carolingian (Frankish) emperor. The appointment to heirs could not be taken for granted. However, with the rise of the importance of the Bellonids and strong figures among them such as, Sunifred ( fl. 844–848) and Wilfred the Hairy (c.870-897), and the weakening of Carolingian royal power, the appointment of heirs eventually become

189-694: Is included here, is officially not a comarca but a "unique territorial entity" with additional powers. Its current status was formalised in February 2015. Revisions to the comarques took place in 1988 (creation of Pla d'Estany, Pla d'Urgell, and Alta Ribagorça), 1990 (various adjustments), and May 2015 (creation of Moianès). The Catalan government 's "Report on the revision of Catalonia's territorial organisation model" (the Roca Report  [ ca ] ), published in 2000, recommends many more changes to comarques, which have not yet been adopted except for

216-914: The Compromise of Caspe of 1412 the County of Barcelona and the rest of the dominions of the Crown of Aragon passed to a branch of the House of Trastamara . In 1714, Catalonia, which had backed the Habsburg pretender to the Spanish crown Archduke Charles of Austria , was defeated in the War of the Spanish Succession by the Bourbon forces supporting Philip of Anjou's claim to the Spanish crown. Through

243-649: The Crown of Aragon . The reconquista from the Moors by the Franks began in 785. In 785, Rostany (or Rostaing ) was made Count of Girona , the first, of what would later become the Catalan counties, to be established. Besalú and Empúries were originally part of Girona. When Urgell and Cerdanya were conquered by Carolingian forces around 798, they were also made counties of the Hispanic March and Borrell

270-699: The Hispanic March and the southernmost part of the March of Gothia that were later united to form the Principality of Catalonia . In 778, Charlemagne led the first military Frankish expedition into Hispania to create the Hispanic March, a military buffer zone between the Emirate of Córdoba of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Empire . The territory that he subdued would in later centuries be

297-762: The Nueva Planta decrees , the new Bourbon king of Spain Philip V abolished the Catalan Constitutions and merged the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain . The Principality of Catalonia became another province and thus the title of the Count of Barcelona was emptied of real political power. Since then, the numbering of the Counts of Barcelona, which had followed that of

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324-544: The autonomous Catalan government under the Spanish Republic in 1936. It was superseded after the 1939 victory of Francisco Franco 's forces in the Spanish Civil War , but restored in 1987 by the re-established Generalitat of Catalonia . Since the definition of comarques is sometimes ambiguous, many new proposals have been made since the comarques were first officially designated as attempts to modify

351-465: The counties that were ruled by counts . Borders of comarques generally do not cross those of the state-level provinces ( Barcelona , Girona , Lleida , Tarragona ), since the provinces are defined by the Spanish government, while comarques are defined by the Catalan government - notably in the case of Cerdanya which is split into two between the provinces of Lleida and Girona (most other cases involve only one or two municipalities). Aran , which

378-484: The 2015 creation of Moianès. The other proposed new comarques are: Vall de Camprodon  [ ca ] (capital at Camprodon ), Selva Marítima  [ ca ] (capital at Blanes ), Alta Segarra  [ ca ] (capital at Calaf ), Segre Mitjà  [ ca ] (capital at Ponts ), and Baix Llobregat Nord  [ ca ] (capital at Martorell ). In a non-binding referendum in July 2015,

405-578: The Crown of Aragon, followed that of the former Crown of Castille. That is the reason why Philip of Anjou was called by the Catalan authorities 'Felip IV' in 1702 but called himself 'Felipe V' when he seized the title of the Count of Barcelona in 1714, after defeating the Habsburg pretender and his Catalan backers. In 1808 Charles IV and his son Ferdinand resign from their Crown of Spain titles and transfer them to Emperor Napoleon , who kept for himself

432-509: The counties of County of Pallars , County of Urgell and County of Empuries ) were to be soon absorbed into the County of Barcelona . The Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer IV , married the heiress to the Aragonese throne Petronilla of Aragon in 1150, uniting as equals the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona . Thus, their son, Alfonso II of Aragon , became the first king of

459-402: The countships of Barcelona and Girona, which also went to Rampon. Around 813, Empúries became a separate county under Ermenguer , and in 817, it was united to the County of Roussillon . From 835 to 844, Sunyer I was count of Empúries and Peralada while Alaric I was count of Roussillon and Vallespir . Besalú was made a separate county in 878 for Radulf on the condition that it pass to

486-562: The heiress of the Kingdom of Aragon , Petronella , uniting the County of Barcelona and its vassals with the Kingdom of Aragon to create the Crown of Aragon . Several of the later Aragonese kings re-created some of the counties as appanages for younger sons. (Note: According to some authors, the county of Pallars (and by extension Ribagorça) aren't exactly part of the Catalan group of counties ) Martin died without legitimate descendants ( interregnum 31 May 1410 – 24 June 1412). By

513-574: The heirs of Wilfred the Hairy on his death. It went to Miro I the Younger in 912. Barcelona soon overshadowed the other counties in importance, especially during the reign of Wilfred the Hairy in the late 9th century. At that time, the power of the Carolingian Empire was waning and the neglected Hispanic March counties were practically independent of its royal authority. In the early 11th century, Berenguer Ramon I, Count of Barcelona ,

540-541: The kernel of Catalonia (not yet known like that since the first written mention of Catalonia is in 1113). In 781, Charlemagne made his 3-year-old son Louis the Pious (778 – 840) king of Aquitaine , who was sent there with regents and a court in order to secure the southern border of his kingdom against the Arabs and Moors and to expand southwards into Muslim territory. These counties were originally feudal entities ruled by

567-428: The official distribution with what some regions consider to be a traditional comarca. As a result, some revisions to the official division have been made, such as the additions of Moianès and Lluçanès to the map, in 2015 and 2023 respectively. Comarques exist as a local government area, and have a representative county council . They are often known as counties in the English language, but this can be confused with

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594-654: The people of the region traditionally go to shop or to sell their goods. This is the case of comarques such as the Pla de l'Estany , centred on the town of Banyoles , or the Ripollès , centred on the town of Ripoll . In other cases, comarques are larger areas with many important population centres that have traditionally been considered part of the same region, as in the case of the Empordà or Vallès . The current official division of Catalonia into comarques originates in an order of

621-578: The second-level administrative division within Catalonia, being a subdivision of vegueries (or provinces at state level). Although today the comarques are officially defined under a Catalan parliamentary act, for centuries they had existed unofficially, with citizens identifying with a particular comarca in the same way that people in other parts of the world might identify with a particular region. In some cases, comarques consist of rural areas and many small villages centring on an important town, where

648-637: The title of Count of Barcelona. By 1812, once he had full military control over the Principality of Catalonia , he separated it from the Crown of Spain and annexed it to the French Empire . After the Napoleonic Wars , Barcelona returned to Spanish domain. During the 2nd Spanish Republic and Francoist Dictatorship the Bourbons remained in exile and retained their dynastic titles, including 'Count of Barcelona'. Although on 26 July 1947, Spain

675-449: Was able to submit to Sancho III of Navarre as his suzerain, even though he was still legally a vassal of Robert II of France . With the accession of Robert's father, Hugh Capet , the first non-Carolingian king, in 987, most of the counts refused to pay homage to the new dynasty. Over the next century, most of the counties were absorbed or became vassals of the County of Barcelona. In 1137, the Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer IV married

702-441: Was established and Bera was made its count. In 812, Count dilo of Girona (which included Besalú and Empúries) died and the county also passed to Bera. In 804 and 805, Borrell participated in the expeditions to Tortosa , but not in the subsequent campaigns of 808 and 809 . On Borrell's death in 820, Osona was given to Rampon and Urgell and Cerdanya went to Aznar Galíndez . Also in 820, Bera went into political disfavour and lost

729-434: Was made count. He took a very active part in the subsequent conquest of Osona in 799 and the successful siege of Barcelona in 801. He was made count of Osona in 799, perhaps as a reward for his services. In 801, in the greatest military triumph of his long career, Louis the Pious, son of Charlamagne, took Barcelona from its Muslim rulers, making it the greatest city of the Hispanic March's littoral. The county of Barcelona

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