Valencia in few words
Valencia offers a combination of avant-garde style, culture and Mediterranean spirit, bound to captivate its visitor. Spain’s third-largest city is a magnificent place, a wonderfully liveable city with thriving cultural, eating and historical scenes. Great 21st century buildings, such as the City of Arts and Sciences designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Conference Centre by Norman Foster and the Veles e Vents building by David Chipperfield, have all helped to make Valencia a landmark of architecture and a symbol of European avant-garde.
A city with 2000 years of history
Valencia contains influences from Roman, Visigoth, Moorish and Medieval cultures. This is evident in many of its iconic monuments and buildings, such as the Lonja de la Seda (Silk Exchange, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site), La Almoina, the Serranos and Quart Towers and the Cathedral.
300 days of sunshine – lifestyle
A mild climate with 300 days of sunshine per year and an average temperature of 19ºC make Valencia an ideal destination at any time of year. In Valencia, there are seven kilometres of beaches waiting to be explored. In Valencia, thousands of people soak up the sun all year round at an outdoor bar or café, while having a few tapas and a glass of wine or cold beer
Valencian
Valencian is a Catalan dialect and the traditional language in most parts of the Valencian Community. It was introduced by colonists from the Principality of Catalonia in the newly formed Kingdom of Valencia after the recapture of the Muslim territories by James I of Aragon during the first half of the 13th century.
Valencian authors gave its credentials to Literary Catalan and played a leading role during the Spanish Golden Age. In the 16th century the Iberian Union and the propagation of Castilian as sole language of the nobility and the institutions, pushed Catalan into the background, but it remained the main language of the people, also in the Valencian area. During Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975) the language was not used by the institutions and speaking it in public was prohibited and sometimes even repressed; publications in local languages were strictly controlled and the region experienced a massive immigration, mainly from Andalucía. Valencian suffered a real setback as far as the number of native speakers, but remained largely spoken in the provinces of Valéncia and Castellón, mainly outside the larger cities.
Today Valencian represents almost one third of all Catalan speakers; however, most Valencians consider it a separate language, partly due to politicised controversies about its name or its classification as a dialect during the Democratic Transition. The Valencian Academy of Language (AVL), the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, as well as the Spanish Constitutional Court produced various decisions and declarations which resolved the dispute from the legal, academical and institutional point of view. Since 2006 the term “Valencian” is officially recognised.
