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Sanlúcar de Barrameda is a Spanish city in the northwestern part of the Cádiz province. Sanlúcar is located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. Its population is 61,900.
History
After Sanlúcar de Barrameda was reconquered by King Alfonso X of Castile in 1264, it was again reconstituted in the 13th century, becoming in the 15th and 16th centuries one of the most important ports of the trade which connected the Atlantic with the Mediterranean. Sanlúcar also borders Doñana National Park and is known for its seafood and manzanilla as well as a popular tourist resort with various hotels.
Sanlúcar became a port of reference and departure for various Spanish conquistadors after the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, who on May 30, 1498 left for his third trip from Sanlúcar. Another historical departure was that of Ferdinand Magellan on August 10, 1519, with a fleet of five ships under his command that left Seville and traveled south from the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda at the mouth of the rivers, where they remained more than five weeks. Alonso Fernández de Lugo, conqueror of the Canary Islands of La Palma (1492) and Tenerife (1495) and subsequent governor of these islands, was born in Sanlúcar.
Tourism
Sanlúcar de Barrameda is One of Spain's three better known sherry-producing towns. Having a visit on its centenary cellars is a must for any wine lover.
The seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda is also home of the oldest horse races in Spain and some of the oldest in Europe. The races take place along the beach at the mouth of the river Guadalquivir every August with the sight of thousand of people and the presence of a beautiful sunset. These were the first-ever regulated horse races in Spain. Riders wear colours and caps and the distances covered are 1500 and 1800 metres.
Sanlúcar is a paradise for those who love to eat and drink snacks, one of the better opportunities is the Sanlúcar Tapas Fair, a competition of the local gastronomy where the winner is the visitor. Other events are : Feria de la Manzanilla in early June which leads up to the Noches de Bajo de Guía flamenco season, classical and jazz festivals and the occasional top rate concert and of course Rocio pilgrimage , one of the most popular pilgrimages that can be compared in importance with the Santiago pilgrimage or Lourdes pilgrimage.
This city has a lot of reminiscences of its relation with the history with numerous monuments, such as the castle of Santiago, from the 15th century; the palace of the Infantes of Orleans and Borbón, present site of the City Hall; the church of Nuestra Señora de la O; the palace of the dukes of Sidonia, which at present houses the municipal archives; and the convent of Santo Domingo, from the 16th century.
People
Inhabitants of Sanlucar, named "Sanluqueños", are calm people, who like to celebrate any event in company of friends. This may be an inheritance of Muslims, but the conjunction of a mild weather, a gastronomy based on local products and the way of living, explains why Sanlucar is one of the places with more festivities in Spain.
People in Sanlúcar use to work in primary activities related with the agriculture (mainly in grape fields) and fishing the local fauna (famous Sanlúcar prawn). New times arrives trying to move people to new activities. With some kind of resignation, this people has found themselves trying to adapt to the tourists, new ways of agriculture, like the flower’s greenhouses, and bit by bit become integrated in the world.
This two activities (agriculture and fishing) were located in different parts of the town and until the modernization in the last decades, makes a big distinction between the people living in each area.
People living near the sea, in the area known as Bajo de Guía, where exclusively dedicated to the fishing. Nowadays these people combine the effort of fishing with restaurants that makes the menu with fish and seafood fished just the day before.
People living in the high part of the town, called by the inhabitants "Barrio Alto", use to be dedicated to the labour camp activities, nowadays this activity requires less manpower during the year, and the people work temporary in the grape harvest in the fields between Sanlúcar, Jerez de la Frontera and Puerto de Santa María, the called Sherry’s Triangle.
Between this two ancient areas has grown a new area, the city center , full of commercial life, mixing the old monuments of the new world discovery ( monastery, churches, etc) with new structures and streets. This part of the city was created by the bourgeoisie and aristocracy in the beginning of the twenty century. Sanlúcar was then a popular destination due to the bathing resorts. The people living in this “middle-town” is dominated by the local bourgeoisie dedicated to the Wine and new people arrived to the town with the grown of the tourism.
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"Sanlúcar de Barrameda"