The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the

Province of Cádiz Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of continental Europe. It is bordered by the Spanish provin ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

. Its surface area is 84 km² and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and

El Puerto de Santa María EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American ...

. It is located near the city of

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

and is 36 kilometers away from the provincial capital, Cadiz. It had in the year 2009 28,516 inhabitants, with a density of 339 inhabitants / km². It belongs to two associations, the Association of Municipalities of Cadiz Bay along with the municipalities of Cadiz, Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, San Fernando, Chiclana and Puerto Real; and the Association of Municipalities of the Lower Guadalquivir that comprises municipalities of Northwest Coast of

. Located along the Bay of Cádiz in the Atlantic Ocean, it is halfway between Portugal and Gibraltar, is predominantly a tourist town, a vacation/holiday destination for travelers from all over Europe. During the low season, its main business activity is the fishing industry. In the municipality is located the

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota ( es, Base Naval de Rota, links=no), is a Spanish-American naval base commanded by a Spanish Rear Admiral. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military com ...

, which is the largest source of employment to the municipality. It also served as a

transoceanic abort landing Space Shuttle abort modes were procedures by which the nominal launch of the NASA Space Shuttle could be terminated. A pad abort occurred after ignition of the shuttle's main engines but prior to liftoff. An abort during ascent that would result ...

site for the Space Shuttle program.

History

Archaeological evidence suggests that there was a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

settlement on the present site of Rota. The current town was founded by the

Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

at approximately the same time as Cádiz. Rota is assumed to be the same city known as ''Astaroth'' of the Tartesian empire. It later passed to the Romans, who knew the town as ''Speculum Rotae''. Following the arrival of the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

in Spain, the city became known as ''Rabita Rutta'' ("watchtower of Rota"), from which it derives its present name. In 1217 the city was raided by a group of Frisian Crusaders en route to the Holy Land. From 1248 onwards, the Moors were gradually expelled from Spain, and the city became Christian. In 1297, Sancho IV awarded the town to

Alonso Pérez de Guzmán Alonso Pérez de Guzmán (1256–1309), known as ''Guzmán el Bueno'' ("Guzmán the Good"), was a Spanish nobleman and hero of Spain during the medieval period, the founder of the line from which the dukes of Medina Sidonia descend. Biography ...

in honour of his defence of Tarifa. Later, Pérez de Guzmán gave it to his daughter, Isabel, as a wedding present when she married Fermin Ponce de León, Maestre of

Alcántara Alcántara is a municipality in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. The toponym is from the Arabic word ''al-Qanṭarah'' (القنطرة) meaning "the bridge". History Archaeological findings have atteste ...

and First Lord of

Marchena ''Marchena'' is a genus of jumping spiders only found in the United States. Its only described species, ''M. minuta'', dwells on the barks of conifers along the west coast, especially California, Washington and Nevada.Maddison, Wayne. 1995. ...

. Construction of the ''Castillo de la Luna'' (Castle of the Moon) had begun in 1295, two years prior to the bequest to Pérez de Guzmán, as part of Sancho IV's effort to develop strong coastal defenses, especially near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the town was an important port for trading with North Africa. In 1780 the 11th

Duke of Arcos Duke of Arcos ( es, Duque de Arcos) is an hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, granted by Isabella I in 1493 to Rodrigo Ponce de León, then 4th Count of Arcos. The dukedom is among the first 25 titles which reached the rank of Grandee o ...

died without issue, and the city was rendered to the

Duke of Osuna Duke of Osuna is a Spanish noble title that was first awarded in 1562 by King Philip II of Spain to Pedro Girón de la Cueva, ( Osuna, Seville, 29 July 1537 – 1590). Pedro was also Viceroy of Naples, (1582–1586), Ambassador in Portugal and ...

. File:Rota - torre del convento de la Merced.jpg, Tower of the Convent of La Merced File:Rota - Capilla de la Caridad.jpg, Capilla de la Caridad, Rota File:Rota - Portada de piedra ostionera.jpg, Piedra ostinera (shell limestone) cover File:Rota - Azulejo del Pozo de la Villa.jpg, Tile of Pozo (well water) de la Villa File:Rota - Castillo de Luna - exterior.jpg, Castillo de la Luna File:Rota - Castillo de Luna.jpg, Castillo de la Luna File:Rota parroquia de ntra sra de la o 2.jpg, Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la O File:Rota parroquia de ntra sra de la o.jpg, Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la O File:ROTA00945.jpg, Beach

Economy

Rota is primarily a

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

town, offering eight hotels and nearly two thousand beds. It is a summer destination for tourists from all over Europe. During the off-season, its main commercial activity centres on the fishing industry. Rota is also the location of the Rota naval base, a joint Spanish and U.S. naval base, opened in 1955 (which also hosts

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

and U.S. Air Force units). It is also the usual first and last port of call for U.S. naval vessels after leaving the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. Once contributing up to 80 percent of Rota's economy directly or indirectly, the significant decrease in the American presence since about 1995, and the city's modern infrastructures that enable those remaining to commute readily from surrounding towns and cities, the base has given way to tourism as the leading source of revenue. The surrounding area is used for agriculture; the predominant crops are

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

and

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), ...

s, as well as sweet green peppers,

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es, and

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

Climate

Rota has a hot-summer

mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

( Köppen ''Csa'') with mild winters and hot summers. Rota has significant maritime influences from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The average temperature during the coldest month (January) is around while the average temperature during the hottest month (August) is around . Rota is very sunny, as the annual sunshine hours are above 3,000h. The average sea temperature is around during the winter and around during the summer.

Demographics

Culinary

A traditional dish is the ''arranque'' made with chopped bread, tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, salt and olive oil. The local wine, known as '' tintilla'', is made with dark, ripe grapes. It can be found in the numerous ''bodegas'' spread over the old town, one of them being ''El Gato'' which produces its own wine. Spanish, Andalucian, Cádiz, and Rota gastronomic delights are many and varied. Most Spanish people enjoy dishes such as

caracoles Caracoles was a small, but important town dedicated to the mining of the silver resources located in Carmen Gloria Bravo Quezada, ''La flor del desierto. Caracoles y su impacto sobre la economía chilena'', Ediciones de la Dirección de Bibliotec ...

(snails), menudo (tripe soup), chicharrón (deep fried pork rinds), a variety of wines, and of course gazpacho (cold tomato soup taken as a drink).

Arts

The Foundation Ruiz Mateos delivers a biannual award called Villa de Rota in the field of the plastic arts, music and literature. This constitutes nowadays an extensive art collection which is being shown in the Museum Ruiz Mateos since opened its doors on 4 February 2005.Museum Ruiz Mateos
/ref> This museum gathers a total of 102 works composed of oil paintings, watercolors, engravings and sculptures, and includes all first prizes awarded in the course of the national contests “Villa de Rota” as well as individual donations received. Among other artists, Antonio Utrera, Francisco Luque and Dominika Grisgrabed have won the contest.

Politics

Traditionally the town has four predominant parties: People's Party,

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

, United Left, and the local Roteños Unidos (United Rotanians). While there are occasional independent parties, the only one to successfully enter the Town Council is Roteños Unidos.

Sports

Rota has two football (soccer) teams: CD Rota and UD Roteña, and also a basketball team: C.D. Don Bosco 88.

Notes

External links

Rota municipal government
official website
VillaDeRota.com (previously ROTAcom° Web Oficial - Rota, Andalusia (Spain)
On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... (https://villaderota.com)
Rota.City
Tourism website. Find out what's on in Rota City and explore the best routes, shows & events)
U.S. Naval Station Rota Spain website

U.S. Naval Hospital Rota Spain website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rota, Cadiz Costa de la Luz Municipalities of the Province of Cádiz Port cities and towns on the Spanish Atlantic coast