Valladolid ( ; ), also popularly known as Pucela, is a city in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of Valladolid. With a population of 299,816 as of 2024, it is the most populated municipality in the region. The city is located roughly in the centre of the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula's Meseta Central, at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers before they join the Duero, surrounded by winegrowing areas.
The area was inhabited by the Vaccaei in ancient times. The current settlement was purportedly founded after 1072, growing in prominence within the context of the Crown of Castile, being endowed with fairs and different institutions such as a collegiate church, University (1241), Royal Court and Chancellery and a royal mint. It was partially destroyed by a . Valladolid briefly served as the capital of Hispanic Monarchy between 1601 and 1606. Local treasury cratered with the onset of the Castilian crisis of the 17th century. Commercial dynamism in the 19th century was boosted by the creation of the Canal of Castile positioning Valladolid as the largest wheat market in the region, and the overall improvement in communications. Industrialisation followed suit, coalescing with the consolidation of an automotive industry in the mid 20th century.
Among the events that are held each year in the city are the famous Holy Week, the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships, and the Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci). In 2019, Valladolid was recognised as a City of Film as part of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. Together with another 15 surrounding municipalities, it belongs to an urban community of around 0.4 million inhabitants.
Name There is no direct evidence for the origin of the modern name of Valladolid, which is subject to much folk etymology.
It is mentioned as Valledolit in the Primera Crónica General; earlier documented variants include Valledolidi, Valleolide (1092) and Valleolit, Valleoleti, Valleoliti (1095).
One widely held etymological theory suggests that the modern name Valladolid derives from the Celtiberian language expression , meaning "valley of waters", referring to the confluence of rivers in the area.
Another theory suggests that the name derives from the Arabic expression (, ), which is the Arabic exonym currently used and means 'city of al-Walid', referring to Al-Walid I.Marín, Manuela et al., eds. 1998. The Formation of Al-Andalus: History and Society. Ashgate. Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, v. 23 The Zenith of the Marwanid House, transl. Martin Hinds, Suny, Albany, 1990
Yet a third claims that it derives from , meaning 'valley of the olives'; however, no olive trees are found in that terrain. Instead, innumerable pine trees abound in the south part of the city. The gastronomy reflects the importance of the (pine nut) as a local product, rather than olives.
In texts from the Middle Ages the town is called Vallisoletum, meaning 'sunny valley', and inhabitants are still called today (male) and (female).
The city is also popularly called , a nickname whose origin is not clear, but may refer to knights in the service of Joan of Arc, known as . Another theory is that comes from the fact that Pozzolana cement was sold there, the only city in Spain that sold it.
History
Precedents
The Vaccaei were a Celtic tribe, the first people documented as a stable presence on the sector of the middle valley of the River Duero.
Remains of Celtiberian and of a Roman camp have been excavated near the city. The nucleus of the city was originally located in the area of the current San Miguel y el Rosarillo square and was surrounded by a palisade. Proof of the existence of three ancient lines of walls have been found.
After the Muslim invasion in Spain in 711, the Christian kings moved the population of the Douro basin into more easily defended areas and deliberately created a no man's land as a buffer zone against Muslim encroachment from the south. The area was reconquered by the Christian king Alfonso I of Asturias who reigned in 739–757, but because the area was close to the frontier, it had a small population until after the Christians had secured the entire Douro basin in the battle of Simancas, in 939.
Repopulation and growth
In 1072 Alfonso VI of León and Castile gave the Lordship of Valladolid to Count Pedro Ansúrez. Entrusted with the repopulation of the area, Ansúrez led the foundation of Valladolid along with his wife . By 1084 the project for the foundation of the settlement was already underway. Ansúrez built a palace (now lost) and La Antigua church. Eylo founded three hospitals and the Churches of San Sebastián and San Nicolás. Both co-founded the church of Santa María. Valladolid was repopulated by people from the lands of Carrión and Saldaña.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Valladolid grew rapidly, favoured by the commercial privileges granted by the kings Alfonso VIII and Alfonso X.
Early modern period In 1469, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon were married in the city; by the 15th century Valladolid was the residence of the kings of Castile. In 1506, Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid "still convinced that he had reached the Indies"Roger Crowley. Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire. NY: Random House, 2015, p. 161 in a house that is now a museum dedicated to him.
From 1554 to 1559, Joanna of Austria, sister of Philip II, served as regent, establishing herself in Valladolid, with the latter becoming the political center of the Hispanic Monarchy by that time. She favoured the Ebolist Party, one of the two leading factions of the Court of Philip II, in competition with the albistas. The Reformation took hold in some parts of the city where Protestant circles appeared presumably around the leading figure of Augustino de Cazalla, an adviser of Joanna. Ensuing autos de fe against the Protestant sects took place in 1559 in Valladolid. A catastrophic fire in 1561 destroyed a portion of the city.
During 1550–1551 the town held the first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of the indigenous people by conquerors.
Valladolid was granted the status of city in 1596, also becoming a bishopric.
In the midst of the reign of Philip III, Valladolid briefly served as the capital of the Hispanic Monarchy between 1601 and 1606 under the auspice of the Duke of Lerma, valido of Philip III. Lerma and his network had bought plots in Valladolid before in order to sell those to the Crown. Promoted by Lerma, the decision on moving the capital from Madrid to Valladolid has been portrayed as case of a (double) real estate speculative scheme, as Lerma had bought housing in Madrid as the prices plummeted when the capital was moved from the city. After a plague in Valladolid, Lerma suggested the King to go back to Madrid, earning a hefty profit when the royal court returned and prices went up again.
The city was again damaged by a flood of the rivers Pisuerga and Esgueva.
Contemporary history
From 1950 onwards Valladolid became an important industrial centre. This was the context in which companies such as ENDASA (1950), FASA (1954), TECNAUTO (1956) and SAVA (1957) were created. The city was declared as a Polo de Desarrollo Industrial ("Pole for Industrial Development") in 1964. During the 1960 and early 1970s the city attracted many immigrants, chiefly coming from the province of Valladolid and neighbouring provinces. The city started to expand across the western bank of the Pisuerga in the early 1960s.
In the context of the fraught process for the creation of the autonomous community of Castile and León (completed in 1983), Valladolid vied for the condition of regional capital, competing with other cities, most notably creating a sense of antagonism with Burgos. Although the capital was not explicitly enshrined in the from 1983, Valladolid was designated in 1987 as the de jure seat of the executive and legislative institutions (the Junta of Castile and León and the Cortes of Castile and León).
25 June 2024, the church de la Vera Cruz built in 1581 broke down, causing dust to encircle the whole city. This accident was supposedly due to renovation works.
Jewish history The earliest documented presence of a Jewish community in Valladoilid dates to 1221. In 1288, Sancho IV prohibited Jews from acquiring land in Valladolid and the surrounding area. In 1322, Christians were prohibited from being treated by Jewish doctors, and could not attend Jewish or Muslim weddings. Furthermore, Jews were barred from positions of public office. In the early 15th century, the Laws of Valladolid were passed with anti-Jewish legislation. These laws stripped the Jews of Valladolid of their autonomy, which included the right to have their own court system. Additionally, Jews and Moors were prohibited from leaving Castille. In 1432, however, officials in Valladolid met with Don Abraham Benveniste in the Jewish quarter of the city, and agreed to restore Jewish autonomy. Converso poet Juan de Valladolid wrote poems criticizing treatment of Jews in Valladolid. Jewish life in Valladolid was nonexistent in the 16th century, after the expulsion of the Jews.
Geography
Valladolid is located at roughly 735 metres above sea level, at the centre of the Meseta Norte, the plateau drained by the Duero river basin covering a major part of the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. The primitive urban core was built ex novo in the 11th century on a small elevation near the confluence of the Esgueva with the Pisuerga, on the left-bank of the latter river. The city of Valladolid currently lies on both banks of the Pisuerga, a major right-bank tributary of the Douro.
Besides the main territory on which the city lies, the municipality also includes two exclaves: Navabuena (5,129 hectares, hosting the ) and El Rebollar (400 hectares).
Climate
The city of Valladolid experiences a continentalized hot-summer Mediterranean (Köppen: Csa) or temperate oceanic (Trewartha: Doak) climate, with influences of a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk; Trewartha: BSak). Valladolid's climate features cool and windy winters due to altitude and the inland location of the city. Fog is very typical in the morning during winter. Winters experience occasional snow and low temperatures below freezing during cold fronts. Valladolid's climate is influenced by the distance from the sea and its higher altitude.
Valladolid is drier than Spain's northern coastal regions, although there is year-round precipitation. Average annual precipitation is and the average annual relative humidity is 64%.
Administration
Valladolid is a municipality, the basic local administrative division in Spain. The Ayuntamiento de Valladolid is the body charged with the municipal government and administration. The Plenary of the ayuntamiento is formed by 27 elected municipal councillors, who in turn invest the mayor. The last municipal election took place on 26 May 2019. Since 2015, Óscar Puente (PSOE) serves as Mayor. He renewed his spell for a second mandate following the 2019 election.
Demographics
As of 2024, the population of the city proper of Valladolid is 299,816, and the population of the entire urban area is estimated to be 406,923 as of 2015. The most important municipalities of the urban area are (after Valladolid itself) Laguna de Duero and Boecillo on the south, Arroyo de la Encomienda, Zaratán, Simancas and Villanubla on the west, Cigales and Santovenia de Pisuerga on the north, and Tudela de Duero and Cistérniga on the east.