Barrancos
Encyclopedia
Barrancos is a municipality in Portugal
with a total area of 168.3 km² and a total population of 1,825 inhabitants.
The municipality is composed of one parish, being one of the six Portuguese municipalities composed of only one parish, and is located in Beja District, close to the Spanish
border.
Among its economic activities are agriculture
and livestock
rising, being a production center for presunto
(dry-cured ham
), similar to the jamón ibérico
, made from Black Iberian Pig
(also known as Porco Alentejano).
The present Mayor is António Pica Tereno, elected by the Unitarian Democratic Coalition
.
The municipal holiday is August 28. Barrancos is famous in Portugal for its festival, which takes place each year during the last four days of August, and where traditional bullfighting
occurs in the town's main square.
from the Moors
in 1167, by Gonçalo Mendes da Maia
, and the area's population was ordered by D. Sancho I
in 1200. The original municipality was then located in the village of Noudar, which would only be definitively incorporated in the Kingdom of Portugal in the year 1295, when it was granted foral
by D. Dinis
. Noudar village was extinct in 1825, beginning a slow process of abandonment and migration to Barrancos.
Noudar, with its castle and old village ruins, is today one of the landmarks of the region. It is located 12 km to the northwest of Barrancos.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
with a total area of 168.3 km² and a total population of 1,825 inhabitants.
The municipality is composed of one parish, being one of the six Portuguese municipalities composed of only one parish, and is located in Beja District, close to the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
border.
Among its economic activities are agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
rising, being a production center for presunto
Presunto
Presunto is the name given to dry-cured ham from Portugal, similar to Spanish jamón or Italian prosciutto crudo.Among the wide variety of presuntos in Portugal, the most famous are presunto from Chaves, produced in the north of Portugal, and that from the Alentejo, in the south, made from local...
(dry-cured ham
Dry-cured ham
Dry-cured ham originated as a meat preservation process. Through dry-curing, the ham can be stored for several months. The processing technology is based on traditional knowledge passed from one generation to the other...
), similar to the jamón ibérico
Jamón ibérico
Jamón ibérico, Iberian ham, also called pata negra, is a type of cured ham produced mostly in Spain, but also in some Portuguese regions where it is called presunto ibérico...
, made from Black Iberian Pig
Black Iberian Pig
The Black Iberian pig, also known in Portugal as Alentejano, is a breed, Mediterraneus, of the domestic pig that is indigenous to the Mediterranean area...
(also known as Porco Alentejano).
The present Mayor is António Pica Tereno, elected by the Unitarian Democratic Coalition
Unitarian Democratic Coalition
The Democratic Unity Coalition is an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party and the Ecologist Party "The Greens"...
.
The municipal holiday is August 28. Barrancos is famous in Portugal for its festival, which takes place each year during the last four days of August, and where traditional bullfighting
Bullfighting
Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries , in which one or more bulls are baited in a bullring for sport and entertainment...
occurs in the town's main square.
History
The territory where the Barrancos municipality stands today was initially conqueredReconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
from the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
in 1167, by Gonçalo Mendes da Maia
Gonçalo Mendes da Maia
Gonçalo Mendes da Maia , also known as O Lidador , so named for his fearlessness in the struggle against the Saracens, was a Portuguese knight of the time of Afonso Henriques, about whom tradition relates important achievements in the events preceding the independence of Portugal...
, and the area's population was ordered by D. Sancho I
Sancho I of Portugal
Sancho I , nicknamed the Populator , second monarch of Portugal, was born on 11 November 1154 in Coimbra and died on 26 March 1212 in the same city. He was the second but only surviving legitimate son and fourth child of Afonso I of Portugal by his wife, Maud of Savoy. Sancho succeeded his father...
in 1200. The original municipality was then located in the village of Noudar, which would only be definitively incorporated in the Kingdom of Portugal in the year 1295, when it was granted foral
Foral
thumb|left|200px|Foral of Castro Verde - PortugalThe word foral derives from the Portuguese word foro, ultimately from Latin forum, equivalent to Spanish fuero, Galician foro, Catalan furs and Basque foru ....
by D. Dinis
Denis of Portugal
Dinis , called the Farmer King , was the sixth King of Portugal and the Algarve. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile and grandson of king Alfonso X of Castile , Dinis succeeded his father in 1279.-Biography:As heir to the throne, Infante Dinis was...
. Noudar village was extinct in 1825, beginning a slow process of abandonment and migration to Barrancos.
Noudar, with its castle and old village ruins, is today one of the landmarks of the region. It is located 12 km to the northwest of Barrancos.