Parets del Vallès
Encyclopedia
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(23 km), in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
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...
. It is situated in the south-west of the comarca
Comarca
A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...
of Vallès Oriental
Vallès Oriental
Vallès Oriental is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Granollers. Along with Vallès Occidental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès.- Municipalities :*Aiguafreda - pop. 2,308*L'Ametlla del Vallès - pop. 7,319...
, at 7 km from its capital Granollers
Granollers
Granollers is a city near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and most densely populated city of the comarca of Vallès Oriental.Granollers is a bustling business centre, and many industries are located there...
. It covers an area of 8,98 km², and has about 16,000 inhabitants. From north to south, Parets is crossed by the Tenes river. The population is spread among 6 areas: Barri Antic (Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
for "old quarter"), on top of a hill around the church; Eixample ("extension"), the most dense, planned in the 1930s; Escorxador ("slaughterhouse"); Can Cerdanet; Can Volart; and Can Riera (these last three named after the farms in those areas).
History
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
origin found in the nearby ("Parets" means "walls" in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
).
Parets had direct jurisdiction by the King (Peter IV of Aragon
Peter IV of Aragon
Peter IV, , called el Cerimoniós or el del punyalet , was the King of Aragon, King of Sardinia and Corsica , King of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona Peter IV, (Balaguer, September 5, 1319 – Barcelona, January 6, 1387), called el Cerimoniós ("the Ceremonious") or el del punyalet ("the one...
), except from a brief period in 1383 when infant John (later John I of Aragon
John I of Aragon
John I , called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance , but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of...
) sold it to Marc de Planella. The jurisdiction was returned to the King in 1385 by the wife of Bernat Planella. To avoid this to happen again, Parets officially became a street of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
in 1386.
As of 1385, Parets, Mollet
Mollet del Vallès
Mollet del Vallès is a municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Besòs river, and is an important communications hub from Barcelona towards the north: the AP-7 Motorway passes through the municipality, as do the RENFE railway lines...
and Gallecs were all part of the same municipality. Parets became independent from the rest in the middle of the 19th century. The town has alternated splendorous and sad periods on its thousand-year-old history: the dark times of centuries 14th and 15th, the little population growth during the 17th century, or the thriving 18th century. Precisely on that century, in 1706, the troops of King Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
set fire to the parish church, the archive of Parets burning with it. This is the reason for the current ignorance of a big portion of Parets' history.
Industry
Parets del Vallès has a privileged location and an excellent communication network, directly connecting this municipality with the rest of SpainSpain
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...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. For this reason it is very attractive for companies and industry. Parets is one of the most important industry centers of the comarca
Comarca
A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...
(about 5,000 workers). Most of the people working in Parets are employees of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, but there is an important representation of big firms (for example Danone, Nutrexpa
Nutrexpa
Nutrexpa is a Spanish food business group. The company is headquartered in Barcelona, and was set up in the 1940s producing food items such as fish stock cubes, baker's yeast, caramel or honey.Some major brands of the company are:...
, Grupo Zeta, Fujifilm
Fujifilm
is a multinational photography and imaging company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.Fujifilm's principal activities are the development, production, sale and servicing of color photographic film, digital cameras, photofinishing equipment, color paper, photofinishing chemicals, medical imaging...
, Freudenberg
Freudenberg
-Places:*Municipalities in Germany:**Freudenberg, Westphalia, in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, North Rhine-Westphalia**Freudenberg, Bavaria, in the Amberg-Sulzbach district, Bavaria**Freudenberg am Main, in the Main-Tauber district, Baden-Württemberg...
, Grifols
Grifols
Grifols, S.A. is a Spanish-based multinational pharmaceutical and chemical company. Principally a producer of blood plasma-based products, a field in which it is the European leader, the company also supplies devices, instruments and reagents for clinical testing laboratories.-Main products:Grifols...
, Solvay
Solvay (company)
Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company with its head office in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. It was founded in 1863 by Ernest Solvay to produce sodium carbonate by the solvay process. Since then the company has diversified to two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics...
, and Novartis
Novartis
Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...
).
There are five industrial estates, mainly in the left side of the Tenes river: Llevant, Can Volart, Eixample Industrial, Sector Mollet and Sector Autopista. The total surface in these parks is 199 Ha.
Natural spaces
Parets has a very important forest and agricultural space shared among seven municipalities: Santa Maria de Gallecs. This space has been saved from the housing development due to, paradoxically, having being destined for housing many years ago and having this process stalled all that time. Now, Gallecs has been officially acknowledged as an important nature reserveNature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
and several activities are undertaken to preserve it from the constant threat of building development.
Gallecs, along with the forest of Torre d'en Malla, Can Serra, the Tenes river, the Seca stream, and the biological corridor between these two streams, constitute a network of natural spaces deserving special attention, as it is one of the few in the comarca
Comarca
A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...
big enough to support natural systems.
Connections
Parets is very well communicated. Two important traffic arteries pass through the municipality: the AP-7 MotorwayAutopista AP-7
The Autopista AP-7 is a Spanish autopista . It is a toll motorway that runs along the Mediterranean coast of Spain.AP-7 has two different sections :...
and the C-17 highway (formerly N-152
N-152
The N-152 is a Spanish national road in Catalonia, Spain, which originally linked Barcelona with the French border at Puigcerda/Bourg-Madame, in the eastern Pyrenees....
), besides some other local roads. The RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
railway lines from Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
to Vic
Vic
Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vic's location, only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia.-History:...
and Puigcerdà
Puigcerdà
Puigcerdà is the capital of the Catalan comarca of Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the river Segre and the border with France .- History :...
call at Parets, and there are also several bus services connecting Parets to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, and to other places. A local bus service interconnects the different areas of the town.
Weather
Parets has a coastal Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
. Temperature is moderate (average going from 7 °C to 9 °C in winter and from 22 °C to 25 °C in summer).
Torre de Cellers
It is believed that this fortress was built over an ancient Roman vila named Villa Abdela, located on the Via AugustaVia Augusta
Via Augusta was a Roman road crossing all the Hispania Province, from Cádiz in the southern tip of current Spain, to the Coll de Panissars, where it crossed the Pyrenees close to the Mediterranean Sea, and joined the Via Domitia...
. Nowadays, this medieval fortress is in the middle of an industrial estate. It is a fortified farmhouse in between the river Tenes and the river Besòs. It originated in the 13th century
13th century
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 through 1300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era...
and was rebuilt in the 14th
14th century
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1301 to December 31, 1400.-Events:* The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age....
and 15th
15th century
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was the century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, falls to emerging Ottoman Turks, forcing Western Europeans to find a new trade route....
centuries. It has a square base, a four-sided roof, and two round towers in the opposite angles of the building, with battlements and loopholes for weapons. In 1999 it was awarded as the best preserved castle in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
.
Torre d'en Malla
It is believed that Torre d'en Malla was a Roman villa called Villa Alzar, which defended the intersection of Via AugustaVia Augusta
Via Augusta was a Roman road crossing all the Hispania Province, from Cádiz in the southern tip of current Spain, to the Coll de Panissars, where it crossed the Pyrenees close to the Mediterranean Sea, and joined the Via Domitia...
, that led to Martorell
Martorell
Martorell is a town near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Devil's bridge.It has three railway stations - one on the RENFE line from Manresa to Sant Vicenç de Calders called "Martorell", and three on the FGC line from Barcelona to Manresa called "Martorell-Vila",...
, with the Roman road from Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
to Vic
Vic
Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vic's location, only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia.-History:...
, via Caldes de Montbui
Caldes de Montbui
Caldes de Montbui is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the upper valley of the Caldes river, and the highest point of the municipality is the peak of el Farell at 816 m....
. Its main function was to defend the road and pedestrians, and its secondary function was farming, assigned to a retired general of the Roman army. It was the residence of the owner of the Spanish brewery Damm
S.A. Damm
S.A. Damm is a Spanish brewery founded in 1876. Its best known beer products include the following four:*Estrella Damm, formerly "Estrella Dorada", a pale beer, one of the most popular beers in the Barcelona area. It has been brewed since 1876. Its bottles and caps used to display a characteristic...
.
Curious facts about Parets
- Joan Clos (former Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Spanish government (2006–2008), and current Spanish Ambassador in TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and AzerbaijanAzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
) was born in Parets in 1949. - Migel Angel Sanchez (current bass player of the musical band Strategia) was born in Parets in 1991.
- The Circuit de CatalunyaCircuit de CatalunyaThe Circuit de Catalunya is a racetrack in Montmeló, to the north of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit.-History:...
racetrack, home to the Formula One Spanish Grand PrixSpanish Grand PrixThe Spanish Grand Prix is a Formula One race currently held at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, as part of the annual Formula One championship season.-History:...
, is very near Parets (the north access to the town gets crowded if there is an important race). - The summer town fiestaFestivalA festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
is on the last weekend of July, and the winter one is at the end of January. - In September 2004, Parets had an entry in the The Guinness Book of World Records when they produced the largest candyCandyCandy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
in the world (1100 m long by 15 cm wide, with a weight of 900 kg). This was done to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the town. - Every year an indoor monumental nativity sceneNativity sceneA nativity scene, manger scene, krippe, crèche, or crib, is a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke...
is built in Parets, using more than 12,000 kg of sandSandSand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
, 3,000 kg of stonesRock (geology)In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
, 1,500 kg of corkCork (material)Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
, and more than 800 figures (shown in picture). In 1996 it obtained the record of biggest nativity scene in SpainSpainSpain , 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...
on a table (280 m2).
External links
- Parets.org
- http://www.idescat.net/territ/BasicTerr?TC=3&V0=1&PDF=FALSE&V1=08159&VOK=Confirmar Data and statistics about Parets del Vallès.
- http://www.pessebreparets.org Web site of the monumental nativity scene of Parets.