Tarragona (; ) is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of eastern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, in the southern part of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. It is bordered by the provinces of Castellón,

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and by 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

The province's population is 795,902 (2018), about one fifth of whom live in the capital,

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

. Some of the larger cities and towns in Tarragona province include

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

Salou Salou () is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Founded by the Gre ...

El Vendrell El Vendrell () is a town located in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, in the wine-growing region of Penedès. It is wedged between the Mediterranean and the coastal range. El Vendrell is the capital of the Baix Penedès ''comarca'' and a t ...

Tortosa Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hi ...

Valls Valls () is a city and municipality in the Camp de Tarragona region in Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital of the comarca of Alt Camp. In 2014, it had a population of 24,570. Valls is known for its calçots – a type of scallion or green onio ...

Amposta Amposta () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Montsià, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, 190 km south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean Coast. It is located at 8 metres above sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shorten ...

. This province has 183 municipalities. The province includes several

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s and is a popular tourist destination. There are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedrals in Tarragona and Tortosa.

History

After the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest re ...

in the late eighth century, this part of Spain came under the control of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

and most of the Iberian peninsula was known as

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

, and was dominated by Muslim rulers.

Abd al-Rahman I Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (; 7 March 731 – 30 September 788), commonly known as Abd al-Rahman I, was the founder and first emir of the Emirate of Córdoba, ruling from 756 to 788. He established the Umayyad dynasty in al-Andalus, ...

founded an independent dynasty that survived in the region until the 11th century. After the Muslim conquest, the bishopric of Tarragona came under the jurisdiction of the metropolitans of Narbonne or Auch in southern France. In 1089, this was reorganised, and it came under the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Vich, and in 1118, after Tarragona had been reconquered, the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tarragona The Archdiocese of Tarragona () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Tarragona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The archdiocese heads the ecclesiastical province of Tarragon ...

was established.

Geography

The province of Tarragona is in the northeast of Spain with a coast on the

. Much of the province is hilly or mountainous and the main feature is the broad valley of the

River Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an boxing the compass, east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean ...

and the coastal plain which is backed by the Catalan ranges. In general, industrial development is on the coast and inland is predominantly forest and agricultural land. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the southeast of the province, the

province of Barcelona Barcelona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

lies to the north,

to the northwest,

to the west and Castellón to the southwest. The climate is Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and warm, wet winters. The area of the province is . The main crops are cereals, grapes, fruit, olives, hemp, and silk. The province has some mineral resources; copper, lead and silver are found and limestone and marble are quarried. Quarrying for aggregate has caused groundwater levels to fall and the environment has been adversely affected by the arrival of

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

such as the

zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel, an Aquatic animal, aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Dreissenidae. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally Intro ...

in the

Riba-roja d'Ebre Riba-roja d'Ebre () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Ribera d'Ebre in southern Catalonia, Spain. It is the site of a large hydroelectric power station, on the Ebro river. The whole area i ...

reservoir on the Ebro, the invasive fish '' Gambusia'' in the Ebro delta and chemical contamination in the Flix reservoir beside which is a chemical works and a hydro-electric plant.

Population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:28 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:820 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1877 from:0 till:333 text:333,468 bar:1887 from:0 till:349 text:348,606 bar:1900 from:0 till:343 text:343,400 bar:1910 from:0 till:343 text:343,127 bar:1920 from:0 till:359 text:359,334 bar:1930 from:0 till:352 text:351,698 bar:1940 from:0 till:346 text:346,433 bar:1950 from:0 till:357 text:356,864 bar:1960 from:0 till:363 text:363,472 bar:1970 from:0 till:433 text:433,138 bar:1980 from:0 till:513 text:513,050 bar:1990 from:0 till:542 text:542,004 bar:2000 from:0 till:610 text:609,673 bar:2010 from:0 till:807 text:807,044 bar:2020 from:0 till:817 text:816,772 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Tourism

As well as the port city of Tarragona, the province has much to offer for the tourist. There are Catalan villages to visit, historic sites, sandy beaches, rocky shores, crags, rivers and woodlands and several wildlife reserves. The area has been publicised under the

Costa Daurada The Costa Daurada (; ; meaning in English language, English "Golden Coast") is an area on the coast of Catalonia, Spain, between Cunit and Alcanar on the Mediterranean Sea. Its traditional banks are the deltas of the Foix (river), Foix and Ebro ...

(golden coast) brand. Roman aqueduct Tarragona

The city of Tarragona may have been founded by the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

ns and was a major city in Roman times that they called

Tarraco Tarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). It was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula. It became the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis following the latter's creation during the Roman Empire ...

. There are many archaeological remains from that period but little remains of the second century

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

; after the collapse of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, the abandoned structure was quarried to provide stone for building. The Les Ferreres Aqueduct dates from the same period and has survived intact. It was built to supply water to the ancient city and is part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco which has been listed as a UNESCO

since 2000. The city also houses a

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which combines Romanesque and Gothic architectural features. There are also many historic churches and convents. The Catalan authorities have designated four villages as "family holiday destinations". These are Calafell, Cambrils, La Pineda and nearby Vila-seca, and

. Salou is the site of the

PortAventura World PortAventura World is an entertainment resort in Salou and Vila-seca, Tarragona, on the Costa Daurada in Catalonia, Spain. It was built around the PortAventura Park theme park, which attracts around 5.3 million visitors per year, making it ...

( PortAventura Park, the most visited theme park in Spain, Ferrari Land and also the PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park). The Costa Daurada is served by Reus Airport which receives tourist traffic from passengers journeying to the beach resorts of Salou and Cambrils as well as those travelling to Barcelona. It is a destination of low-cost flights provider

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

, and planes fly to Reus from many different European and North African locations. The province also has good road and rail links to Barcelona and southwards to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

and

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

along the coastal strip, and

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

services from Tarragona to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

started in 2008. There are several monasteries in the province that can be visited by following the "Cistercian Monastery Route". The best known is the Cistercian monastery of Poblet in the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

of Conca de Barberà, which is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage site. Other monasteries on the route include the Santes Creus, in the municipality of Aiguamúrcia, and Vallbona de les Monges. Other attractions of the province include the food and wine. The "Penedès Wine and Cava Route" is a tourist trail offering wine-related activities. There are also festivals celebrating local fare, where local gastronomic specialities are eaten, including calçots (grilled spring onions) in

, and Xató a sauce served with fish or an

endive Endive () is a leaf vegetable belonging to the genus ''Cichorium'', which includes several similar bitter-leafed vegetables. Species include ''Cichorium endivia'' (also called endive), ''Cichorium pumilum'' (also called wild endive), and ''Cicho ...

salad.

References

External links