The comarques of the Valencian Community form an intermediate level of administrative subdivision between municipalities and provinces . They are used as a basis for the provision of local services by the Generalitat Valenciana , but do not have any representative or executive bodies of their own.
15-579: Santa Pola ( Valencian: [ˈsanta ˈpola] ; Spanish: [ˈsanta ˈpola] ) is a coastal town located in the comarca of Baix Vinalopó in the Valencian Community , Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea . It has an area of 58.6 km (23 sq mi) and has a population of 36,174 inhabitants of whom 6,000 are residents of the nearby town of Gran Alacant. The town has an important salt evaporation pond known as
30-563: A coastal fishing and tourist town. Population more than doubles during the summer, with people coming mostly from the rest of the Alicante province , and also from the Basque autonomous community , Madrid , France and the UK , just to mention some. The nearby island of Tabarca (part of Alicante) can be visited by ship. The new town of Gran Alacant, 5 km (3 mi) north of Santa Pola along
45-407: Is Valencian, together with Spanish (Spanish Constitution, article n°3, 1978). INE's latest census shows that 90% of the population speaks Valencian. There has been an increased positive trend in the influx of new language influences, in part due to immigration patterns in the region. This has caused suburbs such as Gran Alacant to have a significant population of English speakers. Comarques of
60-466: Is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country and, usually, over any other form of legislation. This legislative corpus concedes autonomy ( self-government ) to a subnational unit , and the articles usually mimic the form of a constitution, establishing the organization of the autonomous government, the electoral rules, the distribution of competences between different levels of governance and other regional-specific provisions, like
75-559: Is derived from Saint Paula, itself derived from Saint Paul the apostle, who arrived at Tabarca island, as tradition holds. However, it is likely that the name comes from Latin "palus", thence "pauls", finally "pol". The first settlements in the area remount to the third millennium BC, proof of which have been tools and paintings from the Neolithic found in the Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassí, as well as remains found from hunter-gatherers of
90-553: The salines which remains in business, additionally, most of it is recognized as the Natural Park of Salines de Santa Pola , an important Ramsar site . The town was settled over the ruins of a Roman village called Portus Ilicitanus (literally, Harbour of Elche ); after being abandoned for decades, then a castle was constructed in the 16th century which marked the repopulation of Santa Pola. The town has an archeological museum covering these phases. Santa Pola is, at present,
105-500: The 2006 Statute of Autonomy provides the first legislative foundation for the comarques . As of 2021, there are thirty-three comarques (including the city of Valencia ). Some comarques are made up of two or more subcomarques . Most of them correspond with local geographical features. For instance, Alcoià is made up of two subcomarques: Foia de Castalla and Valls d'Alcoi. Historical comarques refer to former comarques that are no longer extant. Some historical comarques of
120-516: The 20th century. Economical activity in this region is based on agriculture, craft-making and fishing. 1.3% of the population was dedicated to agriculture in 2003, and that's only successful when coupled with artificial watering systems, needed for the 200 hectares of orange trees (102ha), mandarin trees (74ha), and pomegranate trees (18ha), together with 230ha used for vegetables such as melons, shallots, broccoli, etc. According to article 35 of law n° 4/1983 (23 November), Santa Pola's official language
135-985: The Alicante bay, accounts for about one third of the population of the district. Next to it is the Carabasi area, a nature reserve. Gran Alacant lies only a few kilometres from Alicante Airport and a few hundred metres from the town of Los Arenales which is located in the Elche district. In June 2009, the Valencian Government announced that the Alicante Tram system will be extended southwards via Alicante Airport and El Altet, to stations in Gran Alacant and Santa Pola and then onwards to Guardamar and Torrevieja before terminating in Murcia . The name
150-536: The Palaeolithic in the Cueva de las Teresitas. During the fourth century BCE, a small walled settlement was built near Vanalopó river. It served mainly as a Greek-Iberia economical hub. During the first century CE, near the former site a port was built, serving the city of Illici, named Portus Illicitanus ( Greek : Ἰλλικιτάνος Λιμήν ) (cited by Claudius Ptolemy in Geography ). This port proved paramount for
165-553: The Valencian Community In 1987, the Generalitat Valenciana published an official proposal for Homologated Territorial Demarcations, Demarcacions Territorials Homologades (DTH), of three degrees, where the first degree largely coincides with the territorial concept of comarca . Until now, the practice of these demarcations has been limited as a reference to the administrative decentralisation of
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#1732772258216180-623: The Valencian Community are now part of other comarques in the new territorial demarcation, such as Tinença de Benifassà and Ports de Morella . Before 2021, Horta Oest was a formerly a comarca, when it was mostly annexed by Horta Sud with the municipality of Paterna joining Horta Nord . Statute of Autonomy Nominally, a statute of autonomy ( Spanish : estatuto de autonomía , Catalan : estatut d'autonomia , Galician : estatuto de autonomía , Asturian : estatutu d'autonomía , Basque : autonomia estatutua )
195-526: The development of the region's maritime commerce, together with Cartagena's. In 460 AC, emperor Majorians flotilla set sail to attack north African vandals, but was burnt at that same port. From the Roman settlement a necropolis is still in place, as well as a fish-salting factory and the Roman House of Palmeral. Their remains are described as back as 1621 by Cristòfol Sanz, although they were excavated during
210-462: The different services offered by the Generalitat, such as education, health, or agriculture. In fact, there is no legal provision for these DTHs to ultimately have the intended “territorial impact”, that is, comarca-level political or administrative bodies. Instead, the powers shared between several municipalities are being articulated through mancomunitats , or commonwealths. Article 65 of
225-444: The protection of cultural or lingual realities. In Spain , the process of devolution after the transition to democracy (1979) created 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities , each having its own Statute of Autonomy. The two autonomous cities are Ceuta and Melilla , both on the north coast of Africa. On 18 June 2006, Catalonia approved by referendum a new but controversial Catalan Statute of Autonomy , enhancing
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