Balaguer

Balaguer
Municipality
Church of St. Mary.
Flag Coat of arms
Balaguer Location in Catalonia
Coordinates: 41°47′24″N 0°48′18″E / 41.790°N 0.805°ECoordinates: 41°47′24″N 0°48′18″E / 41.790°N 0.805°E
Country	Spain
Community	Catalonia
Province	Lleida
Comarca	La Noguera
Government
• Mayor	Jordi Ignasi Vidal Giné (2015)[1]
Area[2]
• Total	57.3 km^2 (22.1 sq mi)
Elevation	233 m (764 ft)
Population (2014)[1]
• Total	16,485
• Density	290/km^2 (750/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Balaguerí, balaguerina
Website	www.balaguer.cat

Balaguer (Catalan pronunciation: [bəɫəˈɣe], locally: [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 Ebre. The municipality includes an exclave to the east.

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.

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 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.

Notable natives

• Josep Ivan Argelaga, performance artists "dogman"^[3]
• 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 Martinez, former footballer and football manager of the Belgium National Football Team
• Teresa Pàmies, writer, political activist and mother of Sergi Pàmies.

See also

• Lord of Balaguer
• Balaguer Offensive

References

1. "Ajuntament de Balaguer". Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
2. "El municipi en xifres: Balaguer". Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
3. "Naked Josep Ivan Argelaga Is Pretending To Be A Dog All In The Name Of Art".

External links

• Official municipal web site (Catalan)
• Information about Balaguer from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan)
• Statistical information - (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalan)
• 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. (Spanish)