Valencia

València (País Valencià) is a medium-sized port city and industrial area on the east coast of Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous region Comunitat Valenciana, and with over 800,000 people in the city and more than a million in the metropolitan area it is the third largest city in Spain.

Founded by the Romans the city has been occupied by the Visigoths, Moors and the Aragonese. In 1094, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar conquered Valencia, but the city returned to the Almoravids in 1102. It was not until 1238 that James I of Aragon reconquered the city. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Valencia was one of the major cities in the Mediterranean. During the War of Spanish Succession, Valencia sided with Charles of Austria, and after the victory of the Bourbons at the Battle of Almansa in 1707, the city suffered for this.

Valencia was granted Autonomous Statutes in 1982. Famous for the fallas festival in late March and Paella Valenciana.