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This article refers to Ferrol, Galicia. For other uses, see Ferrol (disambiguation).

City & Naval Station of Ferrol
View of “Las Pias” bridge and El Ferrol at night
Location in Galicia, Spain and Europe

Coordinates : 43°28′N 8°15′W / 43.467°N 8.250°W / 43.467; -8.250	Time zone : UTC+1/SummerUTC+2
Flag	Coat of arms
Flag of Ferrol	Escudo_Ferrol.jpg Escudo_Ferrol.jpg
Basic information
Area	81.9 km² City
	19,214 km² Metrop. Area
Population	213,000 Ferrolterra (04/2005)
	77,859 City Centre
	135,141 Metropolitan Area
Density	942,06/km²
Ferrolterra	Ferrol, Eume & Ortegal
Government
NUTS-Code	ES4
Country	Spain
Region	Galicia
Subdivisions	21 Boroughs
Governing Mayor	Juan Juncal since 2004
Governing Parties	PP / PSOE / BNG
Website	http://www.ferrol-concello.es

Template:Ferrol Ferrol 43°28′N 8°15′W / 43.467°N 8.250°W / 43.467; -8.250 is an Atlantic-facing city in the province of A Coruña in Galicia in north-western Spain. Today, is best known for the Navantia shipbuilding yards and for having been the capital of the Spanish Navy's Maritime Department of the North since the time of the early Bourbons of Spain. Before that, in the 17th century, Ferrol was the most important arsenal in Europe. The city was the birthplace of the Spanish General Francisco Franco in 1892, and was officially known as El Ferrol del Caudillo from 1938 to 1982. Ferrol has a population of 77,859 and its metropolitan area (i.e., the urban area plus all the satellite towns known as Ferrolterra) has a population of over 213,000 (2006).

Ports of Ferrol

(Classification of the Outer and Inner Ports of Ferrol)

Military ports - Great expansion during the 18th Century and still is the most important Naval Station in North-western Spain.
Commercial ports - Due to the great expansions of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, soon to be one of the largest in Spain.
Sport ports - Still awaiting to be fully developed to its true potential during the 21st Century unlike most ports of Ferrolterra.
Fishing ports - Still awaiting to be fully developed to its true potential during the 21st Century unlike most ports of Ferrolterra.

Note: For those who want to read further about the, non-military, "Ferrol-San Cibrao Port Authority" which covers a substantial part of the Galician coast including all its ports and lighthouses from San Cibrao to Ferrol, it is advisable to visit the external official link which follows: Template:En icon [1]

History

After various local dominations [2], Henry II gave the town to the Andrade family. [3]. It was only considered a safe harbour under the House of Austria, [4]but became a leading naval centre under the Bourbons. For the first time, the immense strategic importance of the port of Ferrol came to be understood and it was made Capital of the Maritime Department of the North, formed under Ferdinand VI and Charles III for the defence of the Spanish Colonial Empire in America. Rapid and well-planned improvements followed, and the position of Ferrol was made almost unassailable from the sea, the difficulties of disembarking troops on its precipitous coast being heightened by its protecting line of fortresses, particularly San Carlos. [5] The Naval shipyards of A Graña and Ferrol, were built between 1726-1783 and produced ships protected with copper sheets from the rolling mills of Xubia. In 1772, The Spanish Royal Academy of Naval Engineers of Ferrol was created -- the first such academy in Spain.

A decline set during the reign of Charles IV, and in 1800, after the defences had been removed, a British fleet of 109 vessels landed troops on the beach of Doniños to take the Castle of San Felipe. Although only equipped with meagre artillery, the castle small defence force under the command of Count Donadio and helped by citizens of Ferrol, successfully resisted the attack and the fleet withdrew. [6]

The arsenals and fortress remained abandoned and they were easily occupied by the French in 1809.

The alliance with England during the War of Independence failed to prevent the deterioration in the town’s fortunes and, under Ferdinand VII, Ferrol became a “dead” town, losing its title of capital. New activities sprang up, however, during the administration of the Marquis de Molina, Minister for Naval affairs in the mid-19th century.

Ten years after the Spanish-American War of 1898 where the Spaniards lost Cuba and the Philippines, the Maura Government, in an attempt to restore the Spanish Navy and Spanish shipbuilding industry hired to the Spanish Society for Naval Construction (whose major investors were the British firms: John Brown, Vickers and Armstrong) the shipbuilding yards, workshops, foundries and dry docks in Ferrol.

For a period of sixteen years, all the technicians were exclusively British, and the situation was not altered till 1925 when the management was taken over by Spanish engineers, as one of the new policies introduced by the then newly created government, including ministers both civil and military, of the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1930).

In sight of the outbreak of a civil war, and because there was fear of social unrest in the naval station, the Foreign Office in London, organized a ship to repatriate all the remaining British citizens and on July 22, 1936. The HMS Witch (D89), captained by B.A. Warburton-Lee, departed from Ferrol back to Britain. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) meant that the shipbuilding yards, workshops, foundries and dry docks in Ferrol were taken over by the state and fully nationalized in 1945 under the name "Bazàn", later renamed "IZAR", and from January 2005, Navantia. The town has also been, for centuries, the birthplace of national and international personalities: men and women of letters, statesmen, politicians, and others, amongst them Francisco Franco, after whom the city was officially known as El Ferrol del Caudillo from 1938 to 1982 [7]. The end of the dictatorship and the arrival of democracy in 1978 did not help Ferrol, [8] and from 1982 to the early 1990s, the city confronted numerous problems due to a decline in the naval sector. The beginning of the new millennium however, has been a time of economic expansion and prosperity in general. A new motorway and an outer-port [9] have been recently built; making the communications by land and sea, with the rest of the world, much easier and faster.

Ferrol, the most important Naval Station in the north of Spain [10] , with its well sheltered harbour and busy port, together with the Navantia shipyards seems to be flourishing once again, and with it, the whole heavily populated district of As Mariñas and Ferrolterra. [11]

Quotations

It is said in Ferrol, that after the unsuccessful British attempt to capture Ferrol in the year 1800, the British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger said in one of his speeches at the House of Commons that "If Great Britain had a naval station so easy to defend as Ferrol, due to its location, it would have been surrounded by a thick silver wall" [12]. Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805).

Note: The attack on Ferrol happened in sight of the Napoleonic wars in Europe, where the Spaniards were expected to take side with the French, as they did in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Ferrol was virtually impossible to blockade in the age of sail, as any strong westerly winds would take the blockading force away along the treacherous north coast of Spain where they had no safe haven. By contrast, British forces blockading Cadiz could seek refuge at Gibraltar, and those blockading the French naval port of Brest could seek refuge in Torbay. The British could then quickly return when the weather changed before too many of the blockaded ships had had time to reach open water via the narrow channels. By contrast, the geography of Ferrol meant that a whole Spanish fleet could slip out on a single tide. By the time the British were able to resume the blockade, the Spanish would be safely away and out to sea.

British novel

The English writer C. S. Forester (1899-1966) immortalized Ferrol in his Horatio Hornblower novels when he decided that this was the Naval Station where his imaginary Royal Navy Naval Officer was taken as a prisoner of war when captured by the Spanish during the Napoleonic Wars.[13]

External links

Partial view of the Navantia Shipyards in Ferrol - *In the middle ground of the picture an oil tanker is being repaired* - Ferrolterra

@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 |'''[[Website]]'''  || http://www.ferrol-concello.es
 |}
+{{Ferrol}}
 '''Ferrol''' {{coor dm|43|28|N|8|15|W|}} is an Atlantic-facing city in the province of [[Galicia (Spain)|A Coruña]] in [[Kingdom of Galicia|Galicia]] in north-western [[Spain]]. Today, is best known for the [[Navantia]] shipbuilding yards and for having been the capital of the [[Spanish Navy]]'s [[Naval Structure of the Spanish Navy in the New Millennium|Maritime Department of the North]] since the time of the early [[Bourbon|Bourbons of Spain]]. Before that, in the [[17th century]], [[Ferrol]] was the [[Spanish Empire |  most important arsenal in Europe]].
 The city was the birthplace of the Spanish General [[Francisco Franco]] in [[1892]], and was officially known as ''El Ferrol del Caudillo'' from [[1938]] to [[1982]]. Ferrol has a population of 77,859 and its metropolitan area (i.e., the urban area plus all the satellite towns known as '''Ferrolterra''') has a population of over 213,000 (2006).

v t e City Councils of the three Regions of Ferrolterra
Ferrol	Ares Fene Ferrol Moeche Mugardos Narón Neda Cedeira San Sadurniño As Somozas Valdoviño
Eume	Cabanas A Capela Monfero Pontedeume As Pontes de García Rodríguez
Ortegal	Cariño Cerdido Mañón Ortigueira

Ferrol, Spain: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:16, 1 December 2006

Ports of Ferrol

History

Quotations

British novel

See also

Notable Galicians born in Ferrol

Life, culture and industry in Ferrol

History of Galicia and Ferrol

External links