Spain

At the crossroads of Spain's big names - Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao - sits Zaragoza, another vivacious Iberian city. Roman archaeology, fine art and architecture, and dozens of lively bars, clubs and stylish restaurants rub shoulders happily here.

Before the 20th century

For millennia, Zaragoza has been a coveted city. Its four lovers (Iberian, Roman, Arabic and Christian) have left indelible marks on the liberal city we see today. Zaragoza's name links it most strongly with the Roman civilisation which set up a city in that location some 2000 years ago. Having conquered in 24 BC the established Iberian settlement (Salduie), the Romans named it Caesaraugusta after the first Roman emperor. It was an important city for the flourishing empire: with all the trimmings of Roman wealth - amphitheatres, sewerage systems, baths - it was home to 30,000 people.

In the early 5th century, the Christian Visigoths arrived as the Romans tripped over their own decadence. Holding the city - and much of Spain - for three centuries, their rule was upset by the arrival of the Moors in 719. Renamed Saraqusta by the new Arab inhabitants, the city flourished. A cultural, trading and artistic centre, it was capital of an independent taifa kingdom, or Muslim state. Some of the city's most magnificent buildings were built to house and protect the Moorish rulers.

Four hundred years after the Moorish civilisation began, Christian armies, under King Alfonso I, defeated the Arabs and proclaimed the new kingdom of Aragón. Zaragoza became the heart of the kingdom, which comprised the surrounding territories of Catalonia, the Balearic islands, Valencia, Sicily, Naples, Neopatria and Athens. It was an open, creative and intellectual community, welcoming Jewish and Muslim citizens as well as Christians. It remained this way until the Spanish Inquisition arrived in 1484. Public repugnance at the autos-da-fé (trials by fire) was so fierce that the Inquisition was stalled in Aragón for nearly two years, until, in September 1485, chief inquisitor Arbués was assassinated. Ironically, this increased the public's taste for burning flesh. The flames rose, the Inquisition prospered - killing many Christian, Jews and Muslims as 'heretics' - and Arbués is now a much-revered saint.

In the following centuries, Zaraogza flourished, growing to become Spain's fourth largest city. It is from this period - the 16th and 17th centuries - that many of the region's grand homes date. The University of Zaragoza was officially established in 1583, bringing together a number of already existing schools of art and theology.

The city's triumphant moment came in the early 19th century. Lead by Palafox, the city heroically resisted the first siege of Napoleon's army in the Peninsula War, also known as the Spanish War of Independence. By the time of the second siege, Zaragoza had lost 50,000 defenders and was forced into militia warfare, harassing the French troops rather than battling them on the frontlines. Zaragoza was forced to capitulate in 1809.

Modern history

The Spanish Civil War is the event that had the deepest impact on local communities in the 20th century - by its end in 1939, towns were left poor, ruined and divided; estimates put the death toll between 500,000 and one million people. Zaragoza was bombed during this three-year war and was the site of important conflicts.

Groups fought with varying agendas but the conflict was largely between Nationalists, or Francoists, and Republican Loyalists. Nationalist groups - the eventual victors - were led by General Franco, a fascist who went on to collaborate with fellow iron-fisted rulers Hitler and Mussolini. The Republican groups were a conglomeration of left-leaning factions, ranging from anarchists to liberal capitalists. Aragón, with a militant trade-union membership throughout the region (in the prelude to the Civil War, Zaragoza workers had been on general strikes), should have been a natural stronghold of the Republicans. Poor organisation, however, meant the region's Republicans failed to capitalise on this and, but for a few pockets of ongoing rural resistance, eventually fell to the dominant Francoist groups. Franco knew the region, having set up Spain's primary military academy in Zaragoza in 1928, prior to the Civil War (it is still in use today).

The region is famous, however, as an important area in plans for the Durruti Column, perhaps the largest militia of anarchists in the war: 2000 militiamen marched toward Zaragoza from Barcelona, setting up communities outside the city because armament shortages made them unable to battle controlling Nationalists there. In Zaragoza, the remains of Italian soldiers killed in the civil war are located at the San Antonio de Padua church.

As Franco exercised his victory by executing many of his Republican enemies (up to 20,000 were killed), the first stirrings of WWII were underway. Officially neutral in the war, Spain's physical environment largely escaped unscathed - although many Spanish citizens volunteered to fight with Axis or Allied powers.

Despite a decline in the outlying rural economy, Zaragoza has continued to grow. During the second half of the 20th century, its population boomed as a number of factories opened in the region.

Recent history

The city has grown in recent times to cover both sides of the Ebro river, sprawling outwards from the old city (casco viejo) at its geographic and historical heart. The shuffling city centre is now ringed by suburbs serviced by their own shopping centres and schools - much of the industrial workforce lives and works in these areas. Despite economic changes (half the population now works in the service sector), Zaragoza has remained the vibrant and cosmopolitan city of times past. The university also has needed to push out beyond the inner-city; 50,000 university students comprise a significant percentage of the population.

Zaragoza's modernisation and development, as in much of Spain, has been swift and untramelled - it has, however, fared better than overdeveloped coastal regions. Direct Ryanair flights have had some impact on tourism but, as one of the lesser known Spanish destinations, Zaragoza is without the tawdry weekend boozefests now blowing through Barcelona.

Top Accommodation

Top Restaurants

In Aragón's central valley between mountains to the north (Pyrenees) and south (Iberian range), Zaragoza has a continental climate. It shifts from cold in winter to very hot in summer. From June until September, the heat can be unpleasant. The city receives little rainfall (only a touch above Alice Springs in remote Australia), but the nearby mountains are consistently coated in snow, the season peaking from December until February.

Average weather

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Transport

Getting there and away

The Zaragoza airport has a daily direct Ryanair flight to/from Stansted airport. Ryanair also flies direct to Zaragoza from Milan and there are Iberia flights to/from Madrid daily, to Barcelona daily except Sunday and to Paris and Frankfurt most days. Air Europa flies to/from Palma de Mallorca. Zaragoza's several bus lines are scattered all over the city. Currently, the most useful bus station is Agreda Automóvil (Paseo de María Agustín 7), where ALSA operates at least 15 buses a day to/from Madrid (3.75hr) and Barcelona (3.75hr), and Alosa runs at least eight buses to/from Huesca (1hr), half of which continue to Jaca (2.25hr). Other services operating from here include Linecar (Soria, León), Hife (Valencia, Tarragona) and Suroeste (Badajoz, Mérida). For train travellers, Zaragoza's futuristic and rather impersonal Estación Intermodal Delicias (Calle Rioja 33, 2km west of the old centre) was opened in 2003. There is a very helpful tourist office at the station. Services include Madrid (1.75hr, approx 10 daily), Barcelona (1hr-4.5hr, approx 12 daily), Valencia (5.5hr, two daily), Huesca (1hr, approx four daily), Jaca (3.5hr, three daily) and Teruel (3hr, three daily).

Getting around

Agreda Automóvil runs airport buses that link with flights to/from Paseo Pamplona, in the city centre, via Plaza San Francisco and Gran Via 4 (the stop for municipal bus 30). Most city bus routes go through Plaza de España on the southern edge of El Tubo, the labyrinth of lanes and alleys south of the Río Ebro. Bus 51 to/from Estación Intermodal Delicias begins/ends at Paseo de la Constitución, one block from Plaza de Aragón, also at the city's heart. Buses within the city are regular and come at five to 10 minute intervals. Zaragoza is well served by taxis and the scams of the bigger Spanish cities are less likely - after all, Zaragoza is known for its honest residents.