Gandia
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| Gandia | |||||
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| Location | |||||
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| Coordinates : Time zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer : CEST (GMT +2) |
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| General information | |||||
| Native name | Gandia (Valencian) | ||||
| Spanish name | Gandía | ||||
| Administration | |||||
| Country | Spain | ||||
| Autonomous Community | Valencian Community | ||||
| Province | Valencia | ||||
| Comarca | Safor | ||||
| Geography | |||||
| Land Area | 60.83 km² | ||||
| Altitude | 22 m AMSL | ||||
| Population | |||||
| Population | 74,827 (2006) | ||||
| Density | 1,230 hab./km² (2006) | ||||
Gandia (in Spanish: Gandía), with population over 77,000, is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar, 65 km south of Valencia and 96 km north of Alicante.
It was an important cultural and commercial centre during the 15th and 16th centuries: in the 15th it had a university. It has several important poets including Ausiàs March, and produced the novelist Joanot Martorell, but it is perhaps better known for the Borgias, through their family title, Duke of Gandia.
Today, Gandia is one of the largest coastal towns and a thriving center of commerce and tourism in the region. There are two main zones, Gandia City, which has all the historical monuments, commercial activity, and shopping, and Gandía beach, where all the apartments and summer residences used during the summer season are to be found. The bars and nightclubs are concentrated in the beach area. As is normal for Spain, nightlife does not take off until well after midnight. The beach and town are actually some 2 km apart which succeeds in separating summer tourism from day-to-day living.
[edit] Tourism
With its long wide golden sandy beaches, it is one of the major tourist destinations in Spain. Traditionally Gandia's tourism has a domestic base, with the majority coming from Madrid, although in recent years it has been an increasingly popular destination for international tourists, mainly French and British.
For culture, there are literary contests, the Summer University (Universitat d'Estiu), the International Festival of Classical Music, and art exhibitions, and sports include water, golf, tennis and hiking.
There are some popular Spanish restaurants around the beach, like the famous "La Gamba", which created Fideuà, (paella, with noodles instead of rice), the "Restaurante Emilio", "Cerveceria Grau" and "La Tarta Dorada".
For more tourist info: "Tourism in Gandia"
[edit] Sports
Gandia, and the whole Safor comarca, is said to be the center of the Raspall variant of the Valencian pilota autochthonous sport. Nonetheless, Gandia holds the Trinquet El Zurdo courtfield. One of the best and famous night club in gandia is Cocoloco.
[edit] Politics
As of 2006, the mayor of Gandia is Jose Manuel Orengo (PSOE).
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