Balaguer

Balaguer
Balaguer
Municipality
	Church of St. Mary.
	Flag Coat of arms
	Balaguer Location in Spain Balaguer Balaguer (Catalonia) Balaguer Balaguer (Spain)
	Coordinates: 41°47′24″N 0°48′18″E / 41.790°N 0.805°E
Country	Spain
Community	Catalonia
Province	Lleida
Comarca	La Noguera
Government
• Mayoress	Lorena González Dios (2023- )
Area
• Total	57.3 km2 (22.1 sq mi)
Elevation	233 m (764 ft)
Population (2018)
• Total	16,841
• Density	290/km2 (760/sq mi)
Demonyms	Balaguerí, balaguerina
Climate	Cfa
Website	www.balaguer.cat

Balaguer (Catalan pronunciation: [balaˈɣe]) is the capital of the comarca of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebro. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city in the western United States, Pacifica, California.

Balaguer was conquered from the Moors by Ermengol VI of Urgell in 1106; he made it his new capital, and it remained so for subsequent counts of Urgell.

A Jewish community existed in Balaguer from the 11th century to the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.^[3]

The town has a Gothic bridge, the "Pont de Sant Miquel", over the Segre river. This bridge was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War in the battle of "Cap de Pont" (bridgehead battle in 1938) and rebuilt after the war.

Another Gothic building is the Santa Maria Church, in the heights above the city, in line with a quite finely conserved wall dating to the 15th century AD.

The historic mansion Palauet de la muralla de Balaguer, converted to a hotel, is located in the city center and part of the old city wall forms the back of the building.

The historic town is on the right bank of the Segre but, following the Spanish Civil War, construction began on a modern bridge, which initiated development of a modern extension of the town on the left bank.

General Franco's forces first entered Catalonia from Aragon in 1938 through Balaguer's bridgehead.

Culture

Music

Hot Numbers (1996), a musical fusion band

Notable natives

Josep Ivan Argelaga, performance artists "dogman"^[4]
Gaspar de Portolà, founder of San Diego (United States) and Monterey (United States).
Peter IV of Aragon, King of the Crown of Aragon.
Antoni Torres García, footballer
Xavier Sánchez Bernat, basketball player
Roberto Martínez, former footballer and football manager of the Portuguese national football team
Teresa Pàmies, writer, political activist and mother of Sergi Pàmies.
Felipe Cardeña, artist
Josep Pàmies, pagès, entrepreneur and activist^[5]
James II, Count of Urgell, royal Count

References

^ "El municipi en xifres: Balaguer". Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
^ "Balaguer, Spain". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^ "There's A Naked Guy Crawling Around Barcelona Pretending To Be A Dog". HuffPost UK. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
^ "Josep Pàmies Story". Slow Food. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2024.

Palomero, Aaron Gutiérrez, "Planificación urbana y vivienda obrera en Balaguer (1939 – 1962). Ocupación del margen izquierdo" Scripta Nova: Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales, Vol. VII, núm. 146(025), 1 de agosto de 2003. (in Spanish)