Lleida

Population: 125,677

Lleida is the capital city of Segrià region and of the province that takes its name. Located on the River Segre in one of the most fertile areas in Spain, it is the most important population and economic inland centre in Catalonia and its strategic position means that if you’re coming to Catalonia from Southern Spain by road or rail, you’re almost certainly going to pass through Lleida. The city is particularly proud of the fact that it is linked to Madrid and Seville by the high-speed AVE train, which has only recently reached Barcelona.

Despite being a modern city with a University and particularly good shopping facilities, it is its history that particularly draws me. A settlement on the site goes back at least to the 6th century BC, when the Iberian tribe, the Ilergetes, established a fortified town called Iltrida on top of Roca Sobirana. Don’t be misled into thinking that the Ilergetes were small cheese, because they managed to hold out against the Carthaginians and the Romans, who only finally sacked the town in 205 AD and changed its name to Ilerda. Roman chronicles describe a walled city with a stone bridge forming a municipality (founded in the time of Emperor Augustus) with fertile orchards, which, at the end of the 3rd century, were once again destroyed but this time by barbarian Germanic tribes.

In around 716, Lleida was occupied by the Saracens and the following four centuries of coexistence marked the character of the city. In October 1149, the Saracens surrendered to the troops of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, and Ermengol VI of Urgell and Lleida became part of Catalunya Nova. Its position was of incredible strategic importance to Christian Catalans, and the Knights Templar were called in by the Counts of Barcelona to keep the marauding Saracens out of Catalonia.
The impressive Castell de Gardeny is the Templar command at Lleida, but the warrior monks were active all along the Southern Catalan frontier which ended at the Ebro Delta. Lleida is a great base from which to find out about this fascinating of history when the Catalan Counts and the Knights Templar essentially fought a European Crusade. A lot more information about what to see and do along with a lot of historical background can be found at www.domustempli.com

Many of the city’s most emblematic buildings, for example the Palau de la Paeria and the Old Cathedral, date from these violent times, but architecturally Lleida has followed most of the trends typical of the rest of Catalonia since then. There are a number of 15th and 16th century churches and the New Cathedral is 18th century. If you’re just passing through, the best way to get a quick overview is by taking a tour on the Bus Turistic, which costs about a euro and leaves hourly from Paeria/Pont Vell.
If you want to relax, Lleida has the privilege of being provided with natural areas such as La Mitjana nature park -an ecosystem of great natural and ecological value- the River Segre park and Camps Elisis. You are also almost within walking distance of the so-called Horta, an irrigated green belt that surrounds the city. In Lleida, lush greenery is never far away.

Lleida’s two main festes take place in May and September and both last about a week. The Festa Major celebrates Sant Anastasi on 11th May, and is a typical Catalan street party with all its parades and celebrations. It’s really worth catching a glimpse of the dragon, Lo Marraco, one of the symbols of the city and the oldest gegants in Catalonia, Marc Antoni and Cleopatra, which have paraded through these streets since 1840. Part of the festa is also taken up by the Festa de Moros and Cristians, a theatrical re-enactment of Lleida’s Moorish past – not to be missed. The Festa de Tardor, the Autumn Festival, is in honour of Sant Miquel on 29th September and finally SENGLARock, on the last weekend in June, is establishing itself as one of Catalonia’s prime rock festivals and is a great way to check out local talent.

Given its geographical proximity to fresh vegetables and meat, Lleida is a pretty damn good place to eat Catalan food with a slightly more exotic flavour (Moorish influence again). It also regards itself as the world capital for snail gourmets – if you can get past you prejudices, cargols a la llauna in their rich spicy sauce are truly delicious – if you’re prepared to eat seafood, just think that a snail is just a mollusc on land –scrummy! Lleidatans refer to their own special style of cooking as ‘Fruinar’, good places to find out what this means are: Estel de la Mercè, Carrer Templers, 19 Tel. 973288008 or El Celler del Roser, Carrer dels Cavallers, 24 Tel. 973239070. But I suggest you just follow your nose!

Being such a large city there are plenty of places to stay in Lleida. A good option is the 3-star Catalonia Transit (Pl Ramon Berenguer IV s/n Tel. 973230008) in a magnificent building in the railway station or Hostal Mundial (Plaça de Sant Joan 4 Tel: 973242700) right in the heart of the city.

Although these days the Lleidatans allow their local government to be called the Ajuntament, in fact they still prefer the word Paeria. Furthermore, whereas in the rest of Catalonia, the traditional title for the Mayor is batlle, which due to Castilian influence in recent years has become alcalde, in Lleida they stubbornly stick with the word paer.

Ajuntament de Lleida, Plaça Paeria, 1 Tel. 807 117 118