Ferrol () is a city in the Province of A Coruña in Galicia, on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain, in the vicinity of Strabo's Cape Nerium (modern day Cape Prior). According to the 2021 census, the city has a population of 64,785, making it the seventh largest settlement in Galicia. With

Eume O Eume is a comarca in the province of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. Its capital is the municipality of Pontedeume. It contains five municipalities and 24,629 inhabitantsINE 2018 in an area of 538.7 km2. Municipalities The five municipalities ...

to the south and Ortegal the north, Ferrol forms the Ferrolterra comarca, and together with

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and ...

forms the second largest conurbation in Galicia, with a total population of 640,000 in 2016. The harbour, for depth, capacity and safety, is not equalled by many in Europe. The entrance is very narrow, commanded by forts, and may even be shut by a steccado. The city has been a major naval shipbuilding centre for most of its history, being the capital of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

's Maritime Department of the North since the time of the early

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...

. Before that, in the

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movemen ...

, Ferrol was the most important

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

in Europe. Today, the city contains some of the major shipbuilding yards of the Navantia Group. As the birthplace of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1892, the municipality was officially named after him as "El Ferrol del

Caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

" from September 1938 to December 1982. It was also the birthplace of the founder of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Pablo Iglesias, in 1850. The city is one of the starting points of the

English Way The English Way ( gl, Camiño Inglés and es, Camino Inglés) is one of the paths of the Camino de Santiago. It begins in the Galician port cities of Ferrol (118 km) or A Coruña (75 km) and runs south to Santiago de Compostela. Middl ...

path of the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

. Because of the modern requirement that pilgrims must travel 100 km by foot in order to be officially recognized, Ferrol is the preferred starting point for pilgrims traversing the English Way.

Toponym and etymology

The first historical mention of this settlement, then called ''Burum'' as well as ''Arotebrarum Portum'' in the history of

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...

, a Roman historian who wrote in the year AD 43 detailing a description of the ''Portus Magnus Artabrorum'', the "great port of the

Artabri According to Strabo, the Artabri (or Arrotrebae) were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe, living in the extreme north-west of modern Galicia, about Cape Nerium (Cabo Prior), outskirts of the city and port of Ferrol, where in Roman times, in the ...

". The current toponym Ferrol, though, can only be traced back to the Middle Ages; a document of 1087'' ''instances sancto Iuliano de Ferrol, nearby the monastery of San Martín de Jubia (12th century, in

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

), where Ferrol is probably the local evolution of the genitive form of the Latin name Ferreolus; Ferrol was probably, in origin, the estate of one Ferreolus. In 1982 the government of Spain adopted officially Ferrol in consonance with its long history and tradition. Another theory with regards to the etymology of the locative name Ferrol and potential origins is Ferro, Latin for Iron as these parts from Roman times and earlier have been places rich in metals specially Iron and Tin but also Gold and Silver. Possibly, as the bay of Ferrol was such a well guarded port that the old fishing village would have been named after the metal by traders ''reaching the enclave, in other words: Ferrol.'' Alternatively, the name comes from the legend of a Breton saint, Ferreol, who arrived here on a ship, amid a chorus of seven sirens. Another tradition says that Ferrol proceeds from farol, alluding to the heraldic figure that appears on the coat of arms of the city. However, according to experts, the origin of the arms of Ferrol goes back only to the eighteenth century, and there are also several variants used over time, without having been set in accordance with the applicable legislation since the 1990s. The combination of two words that can mean either 'port – close', 'landing on pillars' or a Ferreoli Domini, "the lord of Ferreol", a veiled allusion to the town, which could have had a church under the patronage of St. Ferreol.

History

The existence of prehistoric human settlements in this Galician city is backed up by the abundance of burial chambers,

megalithic monuments A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

as well as

Petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other description ...

s and other archaeological findings. The Phoenicians established in this area different dried and salted cod stations and their presence together with the presence of the

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

is well documented by historians like Herodotus, Strabo,

, just to mention a few classic ones including Ptolemy. In

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

times, in the 1st century BC, a fishing port existed which also trade in metals (like Silver, Gold, Tin and Iron ) as well as

wild horses Wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'' that includes domesticated and undomesticated subspecies. * Przewalski's wild horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), a rare and endangered subspecies of wild ...

in the bay of Ferrol in the neighbourhood of Nerium ''there is a place called Narahio'' ''famous for its medieval castle which

phonetically Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

resembles a bit Strabo's Nerium'' ''modern day Cape Prior'' in these parts of Iberia dominated in

ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

by the

(or Arrotrebae) giving name to the Portus Magnus Artabrorum (Form not just by the bay of Ferrol but the three rias of Ferrol,

Betanzos Betanzos () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña. It belongs to the comarca of Betanzos. In Roman times Betanzos was called Flauvium Brigantium or ''Brigantium''. During t ...

and Corunna). Ferrol, was then, just as it is today a first class natural harbour, in the treacherous waters of the Atlantic, very well guarded, not surprisingly, described often in history as the best natural port in Europe. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire the whole Iberian Peninsula, including Ferrol, was raided by the Vandals and incorporated in 411 to the

Suebic Kingdom of Galicia The Kingdom of the Suebi ( la, Regnum Suevorum), also called the Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Regnum Galicia) or Suebi Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Galicia suevorum regnum), was a Germanic post-Roman kingdom that was one of the first to separate from ...

; their kingdom was incorporated in 584 by Leovigild to the Visigothic Kingdom. After the collapse of the " Suebic-

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

state" these Christian parts of Iberia saw very little change, in comparison with other parts of the Iberian peninsula, becoming part of the Kingdom of Asturias as early as 750AD. A period marked at the beginning with the massive shock and shake, and destruction of one state, followed by the humble-at-first but firm-and-quick rebirth of the "Christian Visigothic State" in the mountains and green pastures of the Atlantic North of the Iberian Peninsula. Over time,

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive ...

would split into further Christian kingdoms making these parts to change hands from one monarch to the next: first Galicia, then Leon and finally Castile. Castelo de San Filipe, Brión, Ferrol, Galiza

Castelo de San Filipe, Brión, Ferrol, Galiza

Ferrol served as a strategic safe port during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Planta ...

, sided the

House of Trastamara A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

during the

Castilian Civil War The Castilian Civil War was a war of succession over the Crown of Castile that lasted from 1351 to 1369. The conflict started after the death of king Alfonso XI of Castile in March 1350. It became part of the larger conflict then raging between ...

and as a personal reward to Fernan Perez de Andrade, in 1371, Henry II gave the town to the powerful

Andrade Andrade is a surname of Galician origin, which emerged in the 12th century as the family name of the knights and lords of the small parish of ''San Martiño de Andrade'' ( St. Martin of Andrade), in the municipality of Pontedeume. The first men ...

family. In 1568 a fire reduced to rubble the old medieval town; in the same period some parts of the existing fortifications at the entrance of the estuary were built. As a naval base, at that time the town was considered more important as a

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the British ...

than as a safe harbour. With the arrival of the

in the 18th century, Ferrol became a leading naval centre. Ferrol was made Capital of the Maritime Department of the North, formed under

Ferdinand VI , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Savoy , birth_date = 23 September 1713 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Madrid, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Villavici ...

and

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

for the defence of the Spanish Colonial Empire in America. Rapid improvements followed, notably under the leadership of the Marquis of Ensenada, and the position of Ferrol was made almost unassailable from the sea, the difficulties of disembarking troops on its precipitous coast being strengthened by a renewed line of fortresses and newly built castles, including that of San Carlos. Ferrol-Iglesia de San Francisco 02

Ferrol - Concatedral de San Julián (San Xiao) 01

The

Royal Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...

s of A Graña and Ferrol (

Reales Astilleros de Esteiro The Real Astillero de Esteiro (''in English: Esteiro Royal Dockyards'') was a royal shipyard in Ferrol in Spain. Orders for its construction were issued by Ferdinand VI of Spain on 9 April 1749, following the decision by the naval minister Zenón ...

), built between 1726–1783, produced ships protected with copper sheets from the rolling mills of Xubia. In 1772, The Spanish Royal Academy of Naval Engineers of Ferrol, the first such academy in Spain, was created. For the most laborious works of the harbour six hundred forced-labour galley-convicts were employed in the harbour. Ferrol is famous in the history of the struggle between the Spanish Empire and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

for being one of the only enclaves in the world, together with

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a lin ...

, that always resisted occupation successfully: mostly, because Ferrol was virtually impossible to blockade in the age of sail, as strong westerly winds would take any blockading force away along the treacherous north coast of Spain where they had no safe haven. The geography of Ferrol meant that an entire 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. Despite these advantages, a decline set during the reign of Charles IV, and in 1800, during the

Ferrol Expedition (1800) The Ferrol Expedition (or Battle of Brión) took place on 25 and 26 August 1800, and was an unsuccessful British attempt to capture Ferrol from Spain. Ferrol was a major Spanish naval base with a shipyard for shipbuilding and dry dock for rep ...

, after the defences had been reduced, 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's small defence force under the command of Count Donadio together with a sizable number of volunteer citizens of Ferrol, successfully resisted the attack and the fleet withdrew. The alliance with the United Kingdom during the Peninsular War of 1808–1814 failed to prevent the deterioration in the town’s fortunes. The arsenals and fortresses were abandoned and they were easily occupied by the French in

1809 Events January–March * January 5 – The Treaty of the Dardanelles, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Ottoman Empire, is concluded. * January 10 – Peninsular War – French Marshal Jean ...

. When the war with Napoleonic France was over, many of the South American colonies chose to break apart from their mother country and the shipyards of Ferrol went into a serious decline losing most of its civilian, clergy and military population, and henceforth, by 1824, Ferrol had a population of just 10,000 civilian and about 6,000 military personnel (stationed locally if not permanently, at least during most of the year) with its mathematical school for marine artillerists, the pilot school, and Academy for the Guardas Marinas almost completely empty in contrast with the glorious years of abundance known before the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Ferrol City

Ferrol only built two ships of the line between 1794 and 1845, although nine frigates and a considerable number of smaller warships were also built between these dates. And silent for half a century, it lost its title of capital under Ferdinand VII. However, there was a massive renovation during Cardinal Alberoni's leadership and in just a few years fourteen great line-of -battle-ships were launched. New activities sprang up and Ferrol was employing 2,000 workmen constantly on its foundries, now in full operation. A School of Naval Engineers was established where 40 pupils were learning the scientific principles of their profession, under a competent staff of instructors bred in England and France. So successful in bringing the worlds most advanced technologies was the administration of the Marquis de Molina, Spanish Minister for Naval affairs, that by 1858 the

s of Ferrol was launching Spain's first steam propelled ship which was the first iron-hulled too. The second half of the 19th century brought to the Royal Dockyards of Ferrol not just plenty of work but social and political tensions which ended up in the failed republican uprising of 1872. Steamers between Ferrol and the port of Havana in Spanish Cuba were operating frequently, back then, so, shipyard workers who got themselves into trouble with the local authorities in Ferrol, for one reason or another always thought of the Spanish Main as a possibility. Casa Pereira II

During this period, same as it is nowadays, and just like it was in the days of the Armada, the Bay of Ferrol always attracted and still attracts numerous ships seeking repairs or refuge after meeting with disaster or rough waters trying to cross the Bay of Biscay on bad weather. Such was the case of ''Cleopatra,'' carrying one of the two Cleopatra Needles, the one standing today on the Thames Embankment in London, UK. It arrived in Ferrol on 19 October 1877 after tragedy and almost sinking off the west coast of France five days earlier. There is a plaque commemorating the event and those who died to be seen at the base of the Needle in London. Ten years after the Spanish–American War of 1898, in which Spain lost Cuba and the Philippines, the Antonio Maura Government, in an attempt to restore the Spanish Navy and Spanish shipbuilding industry, hired the Spanish Society for Naval Construction, whose major investors were a British-Spanish-Association taking contracts In the following proportions: 40% Vickers Sons and Maxim, 30% Marquis of Comillas of the Spanish Transatlantic Company, 30% Biscay Furnace Company, all the previously state owned shipbuilding yards, workshops,

foundries A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

and dry docks at Ferrol were handed over to the technical expertise of some of finest British shipbuilders: John Brown, Vickers and

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong, ...

now in charge of building the new Spanish Fleet. 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). The arrival of the

coincided with the construction of a local electric-powered trolley streetcar's line (1924–1961). In sight of the outbreak of the Spanish 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 22 July 1936 HMS ''Witch'') departed from Ferrol back to Britain. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) the shipbuilding yards, workshops, foundries and dry docks in Ferrol were taken over by the state and fully

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1945 under the name "Bazán", later renamed "IZAR", and, starting from January 2005, Navantia. The town was the birthplace of Francisco Franco, after whom the city was officially known as ''El Ferrol del Caudillo'' from 1938 to 1982. The end of the Spanish State and the arrival of democracy in 1978 did not help Ferrol, 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 have been built as well as numerous arcades and shopping centres mostly in the outskirts of the city between Ferrol and Naron which basically is the same metropolitan area and young shoppers with their families tend to make their big family shopping as well as weekend day out with the family attracted to all the amenities like bowling, cafeterias, fast food outlets, cinemas and sports facilities. The Spanish Squadron, as always have done from times immemorial, loves taking part in Naval demonstrations and at the beginning of the 21st century Ferrol hosted the large NATO Maritime Exercise Loyal Mariner ( RN) back in June 2008. The Ferrol Terminus railway station, connecting Lugo to Ferrol, branching off from the line from Madrid to nearby Corunna, was sanctioned by the Cortes in Madrid as early as 1865 but it took many decades till its final inauguration in 1904. A century later more of the same happened with the High Speed Railway AVE; so it took as late as 2013 till inauguration day. From September 2017, a new local railway branch serving the outer-port of Ferrol (known as Canelinas-Ferrol container-port) the inside of the bay docks and the Ferrol Terminus railway station has been given a green light to start constructing and very soon operating I’m sure moving loads of modern containers in and out of Ferrol and distributing goods throughout Galicia and the rest of Spain and Europe. There was a similar small railway local branch operating here from the early years of the 20th century with the difference that at that time, Ferrol itself and its ports were intended solely for the Royal Navy and its shipyards, and henceforth not open to the general commerce per se, even though, historically, there have been many local exceptions like; PEMSA (Timber), PYSBE (Dry-Cod) and HISPANIA (Pencils) all three very good examples without forgetting: manufactures of hats, paper, leather, naval stores and hardware as well as other local items for export like:

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, wine, brandy, vinegar,

pilchards "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the Ita ...

and

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, ...

s ''(and other produce of Ferrol's own fisheries)''

Climate

As in most of Galicia, Ferrol climate is a humid oceanic climate, characterised by year-long mild temperatures, rainy winters, and relatively dry summers, although slightly wetter than the typical Spanish mediterranean climate during the summer season.

Demography

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.9) ImageSize = width:700 height:425 PlotArea = left: 60 bottom: 30 top: 20 right: 20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:100000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:20000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:5000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar: 1857 text: 1857 bar: 1877 text: 1877 bar: 1887 text: 1887 bar: 1900 text: 1900 bar: 1910 text: 1910 bar: 1920 text: 1920 bar: 1930 text: 1930 bar: 1940 text: 1940 bar: 1950 text: 1950 bar: 1960 text: 1960 bar: 1970 text: 1970 bar: 1981 text: 1981 bar: 1996 text: 1996 bar: 2000 text: 2000 bar: 2005 text: 2005 bar: 2010 text: 2010 bar: 2015 text: 2015 bar: 2021 text: 2021 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:center bar: 1857 from:18669 till: 0 bar: 1877 from:23848 till: 0 bar: 1887 from:25701 till: 0 bar: 1900 from:25281 till: 0 bar: 1910 from:26331 till: 0 bar: 1920 from:30350 till: 0 bar: 1930 from:35563 till: 0 bar: 1940 from:59829 till: 0 bar: 1950 from:77030 till: 0 bar: 1960 from:74766 till: 0 bar: 1970 from:87736 till: 0 bar: 1981 from:87691 till: 0 bar: 1996 from:83048 till: 0 bar: 2000 from:81255 till: 0 bar: 2005 from:77155 till: 0 bar: 2010 from:73638 till: 0 bar: 2015 from:69452 till: 0 bar: 2021 from:64785 till: 0 PlotData= bar: 1857 at: 18669 fontsize:S text: 18.669 shift:(0,5) bar: 1877 at: 23848 fontsize:S text: 23.848 shift:(0,5) bar: 1887 at: 25701 fontsize:S text: 25.701 shift:(0,5) bar: 1900 at: 25281 fontsize:S text: 25.281 shift:(0,5) bar: 1910 at: 26331 fontsize:S text: 26.331 shift:(0,5) bar: 1920 at: 30350 fontsize:S text: 30.350 shift:(0,5) bar: 1930 at: 35563 fontsize:S text: 35.563 shift:(0,5) bar: 1940 at: 59829 fontsize:S text: 59.829 shift:(0,5) bar: 1950 at: 77030 fontsize:S text: 77.030 shift:(0,5) bar: 1960 at: 74766 fontsize:S text: 74.766 shift:(0,5) bar: 1970 at: 87736 fontsize:S text: 87.736 shift:(0,5) bar: 1981 at: 87691 fontsize:S text: 87.691 shift:(0,5) bar: 1996 at: 83048 fontsize:S text: 83.048 shift:(0,5) bar: 2000 at: 81255 fontsize:S text: 81.255 shift:(0,5) bar: 2005 at: 77155 fontsize:S text: 77.155 shift:(0,5) bar: 2010 at: 73638 fontsize:S text: 73.638 shift:(0,5) bar: 2015 at: 69452 fontsize:S text: 69.452 shift:(0,5) bar: 2021 at: 65560 fontsize:S text: 64.785 shift:(0,5) Histogram of population evolution of Ferrol from 1877. (From: ''Censos de población INE'

Economy

# Primary sector of industry, Primary Industries –

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

( Horse Breeding),

Aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

( Fish Farming), Fishing ( Specializing in the Atlantic Shoals), Important Mines (

ENDESA Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational electric utility company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, ...

NTFP Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are useful foods, substances, materials and/or commodities obtained from forests other than timber. Harvest ranges from wild collection to farming. They typically include game animals, fur-bearers, nuts, see ...

s ( Forestry),

Quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

and Timber. # Secondary Industries – Shipbuilding, Ship Engines,

Turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

(Wind Mills and Ships), Electrical Equipment,

Ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

, Fashion ( Textiles), Food ( Canned Fish) and Wood-Made Products. # Tertiary Industries – Mercantile, Fishing and Military Ports, Restaurants, News Media (Ferrol TV/ Diario de Ferrol), Hotels (Barceló Almirante/Pazo Libunca), Leisure and Tourism ( World Surf Competitions, Popular Transatlantic Steamships Stop),

Consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

, Health Care/

Hospitals A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

(Arquitecto Marcide Hospital Complex), Education ( Schools, Colleges/ESENGRA and Universities/Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED/School of Naval and Industrial Engineers, PERITOS) and Public Utilities, Chain store, Franchises (Brand, main brand names and Designer label, designer label's shops), Wholesale (Navy Suppliers/Shipping, Anton-Martin) and Retailing, Retail Industries (El Corte Inglés/Auchan, Alcampo). # Quaternary sector of industry, Quaternary Sector Industries – New Technologies Demonstrator Programme, Naval, Electrical and Mechanical Equipment together with Center of New Industries and Technologies, New Technologies.

Festivals

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Ferrol is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Lugo, Spain, since 2000 * Mondoñedo, Spain, since 2004 * Adelaide, Australia, since 2010

Notable people

* Alonso Pita da Veiga * Andrés Suárez, singer-songwriter * Ángeles Alvariño Gozález (1916–2005), biologist and oceanographer (1916–2005) * Benito Vicetto Pérez (1824–1878), writer * Carlos Jean (born 1973), electronic musician and music producer * Concepción Arenal (1820–1893), writer, feminist activist * Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor y Zaragoza (1875–1960), painter * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), dictator of Spain from the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) to his death. * Frederick H. Shaw (1864–1924) * Gonzalo Torrente Ballester (1910–1999), writer * Ignacio Fernández Toxo (born 1952), ex general secretary of the national union Workers' Commissions, CCOO and President of the European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC * Jenaro Pérez Villaamil (1807–1854), painter * Jesús Vázquez Martínez (born 1965), TV presenter * José Canalejas Méndez (1854–1912), former List of Presidents of the Government (Spain), Spanish Prime Minister died in office * María Isabel Rivera Torres (born 1952), actress * Marquis of Amboage (1823–1892), multimillionaire and politician * Nacho Novo (born 1979), professional footballer * Pablo Iglesias Posse (1850–1925), politician and founder of Spanish socialist party Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, PSOE * Paloma Pérez-Lago González (born 1967), fashion model and TV presenter * Patricio Montojo y Pasarón (1839–1917), Spanish admiral during the Spanish–American War who was defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay * Paula Vázquez Picallo (born 1973), TV presenter and model * Ramón Franco (1896–1938), aviator and brother of Francisco Franco * Ricardo Carvalho Calero, first ever professor of Galician language literature, Galician literature and Linguistics – University of Santiago de Compostela (1910–1990)

Notes

External links

*
Green Tourism in Northern Spain 2005

When I Was a Child in Ferrol, Spain (1953–65)
{{Authority control Ferrol, Spain, Municipalities in the Province of A Coruña Port cities and towns on the Spanish Atlantic coast Populated coastal places in Spain Spanish Navy