The Province of Valladolid ( ; ) is a province of northwestern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 528,644 in an area of across its 225 municipalites.
The capital is the city of Valladolid. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, León, Palencia, Burgos, Segovia, Ávila, and Salamanca. It is the only Spanish province surrounded entirely by other provinces of the same autonomous community. It is the only peninsular province that has no mountains.Historia de la provincia de Valladolid
Lying on an extensive plain relevant to overland transport, the province is a major communications hub. Nationally, it connects Madrid with the north of Spain, from Vigo in Galicia to San Sebastián in the Basque Country; internationally, it is on the shortest land route connecting Porto in the north of Portugal with Hendaye in the south of France.
The cuisine of the province is similar to that of the rest of Castile, with meats and roasts occupying a central place. One of the most typical dishes is lechazo, a dish made from unweaned lambs (similar to veal). Suckling pig, black pudding, sausages, sheep's milk cheeses, and breads are also traditional. The province has five wines with a denomination of origin.
The province once served as the capital of the Castilian court and the former capital of the Spanish Empire during the reigns of Emperors Carlos I, Philip II and Philip III, with many castles and strongholds from that time remaining to this day. The capital has an important historical and artistic heritage and is home to one of the more important sculpture museums in Europe. The province of Valladolid is particularly noted for its Holy Week processions, both in the capital and in the localities of Medina de Rioseco and Medina del Campo. In addition, the province includes two sites listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme: the Treaty of Tordesillas and the Archivo General de Simancas.
History
The province of Valladolid was established by the Royal Decree of 29 September 1833, promoted by Minister Javier de Burgos; it was attached to the historic region of Old Castile.
The first stable population to settle in the present province were the pre-Roman Vaccaei people (Spanish: vacceos; the area they inhabited is called the "Vaccea Region"). They belonged to a very advanced culture when the other Celtic peoples arrived in the peninsula from northern Europe (there is evidence that they also occupied territories corresponding to other provinces). Chronicles defined the region as "free and open" and "an open country, fields of wheat, deforested land"; the Vacceos engaged in livestock farming and especially agriculture (cereals).
In 178 BC, the Romans conquered the territory. The lands that make up the current province came under their occupation until the barbarian invasions of the early fifth century AD, when the province came under the control of the Visigothic Kingdom.
Following the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711, Muslims arrived in the area in 712. Later, during the Reconquista, this area was the subject of battles between the Muslims and the Christian Kingdom of León in the first half of the eleventh century. In 939, the Battle of Simancas secured control of the Douro river basin for the Christian kingdoms. Valladolid was founded in 1072 by Count Pedro Ansúrez. From here its history was linked to that of the Crown of Castile. Cities such as Medina del Campo or Valladolid became important Castilian administrative centres and experienced an economic boom (including the mesta and fairs).
The province was of great importance in the Discovery of the Americas in 1492; Christopher Columbus spent the last years of his life in Valladolid until his death in 1506. It played a role in the subsequent colonization with explorers such as Juan Ponce de León, discoverer of Florida (United States). The Treaty of Tordesillas, which decided the partition of the New World between the Catholic Monarchs and the Kingdom of Portugal and shaped Latin America, was signed in Tordesillas.
The Revolt of the Comuneros occurred in 1520 and ended with the ringleaders publicly executed in Villalar de los Comuneros. Valladolid became the capital of the Spanish Empire between 1601 and 1606. When the Empire began to decline due to continued wars and the emergence of new powers, there was an economic decline in the area, as in the rest of the Spanish monarchy. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1700–1715), the province sided with the Bourbon pretender, who eventually secured the throne. In the Peninsular War against France (1808–1814), a succession of small battles occurred, led by guerrilla fighters such as "The Undaunted".
In the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), Valladolid was the "most significant regional nucleus" of Falangism in the Spanish Second Republic, garnering the second-highest provincial vote for the party in the otherwise dismal (for Falangists) elections of 1936, just behind Cádiz.Payne, S.G. The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1987. p 65. The province was controlled by Franco's Nationalists throughout the Civil War. During the Franco period there was an exodus from the rural countryside to the industrial cities. A further exodus occurred with the arrival of democracy in Spain (early 1980s), when the province was made part of the new autonomous community of Castile and León.
A process of economic growth began that peaked with the Spanish property bubble and then suffered from the economic crisis of 2008–2015, similar to the rest of southern Europe. Subsequently, there was some economic growth until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the declaration of a state of alarm throughout Spain, resulting in a strong economic standstill. After the lifting of lockdown measures, economic activity reactivated.
Geography
It is bordered by the provinces of Burgos, Palencia and León to the north; Zamora to the west; Salamanca and Ávila to the south; and Segovia to the east. It is the only Spanish province surrounded entirely by others in the same autonomous community (Castile and León).
The province of Valladolid covers an area of . It is located in the centre of the Meseta Central, a plateau in the middle of the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula, and is characterized by its uniform terrain (777 metres on average with a maximum difference in altitude of 300 metres),Rugosidad del terreno FBBV 2010 véase especialmente las páginas 17 y 18 del informe. (in Spanish) making it the most geographically homogeneous province in Spain. The Douro river, which crosses it from east to west, is the backbone of the territory.El Duero, pulmón y diafragma de Valladolid El Norte de Castilla (30/05/2014) (in Spanish)
It is dominated by an extensive plain in which several areas are distinguished: a moorland area defined by river valleys, some of which stand out in altitude causing a mountainous landscape of isolated hills, such as the Montes Torozos, San Cristobal hill (843 m) and the Sardanedo (854 m); a countryside of rolling hills; and separating them, slopes and deep gorges, such as the Cuesta del Prado, Santovenia, and Cabezón de Pisuerga.
It is the only peninsular province with absolutely no mountains (it has no coastline either), and—together with the Province of Almería—is the least forested (less than 16% of the territory).Valladolid es la provincia española menos arbolada, junto con Almería El Mundo (25/08/2010) (in Spanish) The highest point is in Castrillo de Duero at the Cuchillejos hill (933 m). The lowest point is the Douro passing by Villafranca de Duero (626 m). Therefore, it is also the only province of Castile and León that does not reach 1,000 m above sea level at any point in its territory.
The hydrographic network is dominated by the Douro and its tributaries (Pisuerga, Esgueva, Adaja, Eresma, Duratón, Zapardiel and Cega, among others) and completed by the Canal de Castilla and the Canal of Douro. There is only one relevant lake: Laguna de Duero. The province has four reservoirs: , San José, and , all built in the 20th century, except for the last one, which was built in the 2000s. Additionally, it features the , the highest-capacity artificial pond in Spain.
Climate
The Continental Mediterranean climate is typical of the Meseta Central where the province of Valladolid is located. It is similar to the typical Mediterranean climate but with characteristics of continental climates, including more extreme temperatures, although it is not different enough to be classified separately. In addition, this climate does not receive the influence of the sea; consequently, temperatures are among the most extreme in Spain, with very hot summers and quite cold winters, with a range of 18.5 °C. According to the Köppen climate classification, the main climate in the province in the 1981–2010 reference period is type Csa (Hot-summer Mediterranean climate) and type Csb (Warm-summer Mediterranean climate).
Summer is the driest season and can frequently exceed 30 °C, reaching sporadically over 35 °C. However, in winter it is frequent for temperatures to fall to 0 °C, producing ice on cloudless nights and snow sporadically. When frost combines with fog, it produces hard rime, a very characteristic phenomenon of the area. This northern region of Spain, along with the rest of the provinces of Castile and León, is the coldest region in Southern Europe.
Rainfall follows a very similar pattern to that of the typical Mediterranean climate, reaching between 400 and 600 mm, with a peak during spring and autumn. The declining influence of the sea, however, makes it a drier climate than typical. In the province of Valladolid, the continental Mediterranean climate has temperatures approximately two degrees higher than in other areas with this climate, mainly due to the scarcity of mountains in this province and the altitude, which is between 50 and 200 metres lower on average than in the whole of Castile and León.
Therefore, the province of Valladolid has the most moderate climate of the northern plateau, with an average annual temperature of 11.8 °C. Its average annual rainfall ranges between 400 and 600 millimetres per year, distributed throughout the year with a fairly strong minimum in summer and a very attenuated winter minimum. Rainfall in the province of Valladolid is generally gentle and spread over several days, which favors agriculture.
The extreme weather values recorded at either of the two State Meteorological Agency (AEMet) observatories in the province are 40.2 °C recorded on 19 July 1995, at the Valladolid observatory and -18.8 °C recorded at the Villanubla observatory on 3 January 1971. The strongest wind gust recorded was 133 km/h on 24 January 1971, while the maximum accumulated precipitation in a single day was 90.8 l/m2 on 5 December 1951.Valores climatológicos extremos en los observatorios de Villanubla y Valladolid. Datos de valores climatológicos procedentes de la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología. (in Spanish)
Nature
Nature Reserve Banks of Castronuño (Spanish: Reserva Natural de las Riberas de Castronuño-Vega del Duero): Located in the Montes Torozos shire, this is an area of moorland and sedimentary floodplains. It is a migratory and nesting area for waterbirds. The Duero is surrounded by riparian forests and constitutes a very interesting swamp ecosystem. It is an area of great plains and an absence of high elevations. Fauna is abundant, including herons, night herons, little egrets, snakes, northern shovelers, common pochards, tufted ducks, cormorants, hobbies, ospreys, grass snakes, ladder snakes, peregrine falcons, ocellated lizards, San Antonio frogs, midwife toads, polecats, and badgers. The nature reserve is considered a Special Protection Area for Birds.