Contenido

Sobre el origen del nombre hay varias teorías pero poca evidencia. Una teoría afirma que en la época andalusí se llamó Balad al-Walīd بلد الوليد, exónimo árabe usado actualmente") y que significa «puebla de Walid» o «villa de Ulit»[9]​[10]​ en alusión quizá al califa omeya Walid I, que gobernaba el Imperio islámico en el momento de la conquista árabe, pero más probablemente a algún posible gobernante o propietario árabe local llamado Walid o cristiano con dicho nombre (sea cual sea el caso, este común nombre árabe Ulit se castellanizaría en Olit u Olid).[10]​ En muy estrecha relación con esta hipótesis, existe también la posible etimología mixta romance-árabe (caso no infrecuente en la península) de «Vallis Oleti» o «Valle de Olit».[11]​[12]​ que habría evolucionado hasta la forma, esta ya sí documentada, de «Valledolit».[13]​ Otro posible origen pudiera ser «Vallis olivetum», es decir, «Valle de los Olivos», aunque dado el clima con fríos inviernos y con frecuentes heladas entrada ya la primavera que tiene la ciudad no es muy probable que hubiera gran cantidad de olivos en la zona. Otra teoría afirma que el origen de la palabra proviene de la expresión romana «Vallis tolitum» («Valle de Aguas»), ya que por la ciudad pasan el río Pisuerga y el río Esgueva "Esgueva (río)"), que antes de su canalización, en el siglo , se extendía por varios ramales. Otra teoría parte del gentilicio «vallisoletano», que se cree que provendría de «valle del sol» o «valle soleado». Pero es improbable, porque este gentilicio deriva del nombre latino de la ciudad empleado desde la baja Edad Media, «Vallisoletum»,[14]​ que es de creación artificial, para su uso en documentos oficiales o eclesiales en topónimos sin precedente en era romana, como es también el caso de «Matritus» o «Albasitum».

También existe la teoría de Valladolid como contracción de «valle de lid», lugar, por su llanura, donde se reunían los clanes y tribus prerromanos para sus enfrentamientos armados.

El historiador Ángel Montenegro Duque sostiene que bien podría ser la «Tola» del itinerario de Antonino de Ptolomeo, y apunta al origen céltico del topónimo, por la raíz «tollo» («lugar de aguas»).[15]​ Pero, siendo un poblado de los vacceos, «Vaccea Tollit» («Solevantado de los Vacceos», o «lugar elevado de los vacceos») parece un nombre más probable que «valle tollitum», dado que «Tolitum» evoluciona a «Toledo». El origen latino de Valladolid sería así un caso de falso amigo entre «Tollo» y «Tollere». «Vaccea Tollit» parece el origen etimológico de «Vallatolit» (siglo ), que fonéticamente evolucionó de forma natural a «Valladolid».

Pucela

The term "Pucela" is also popularly used to name the city. There are several theories about the origin of this word, which place its appearance in the 16th century.[16]​.

• - It is said that in the 19th century, a few Valladolid knights went with their hosts to France, to fight on the side of Joan of Arc against the English. Joan of Arc was known as the "Maid of Orleans." In French, maiden is said "pucelle", and in the Spanish that was spoken at that time, the word was very similar: "pucela". According to Luis Calabia"),[17]​ journalist and official chronicler of Valladolid, at the end of the war, the knights returned to Valladolid and began to tell of their exploits and courtships, and everything that happened with the pucela of Orleans. From then on they began to be called "pucelanos", and from there came the eponym "Pucela". But there is no document that supports the existence of these knights and their participation in the Hundred Years' War.

• - The professor at the University of Valladolid Celso Almuiña has a second theory: Valladolid is located in a valley and is watered by the Pisuerga River, the Esgueva River "Esgueva (river)") and the Castilla Canal.[18]​ Therefore, it is a pond in the middle of a dry environment. That pond could well be called poza, or its diminutive pozuela, from which "Pucela" would be derived.

• - The folklorist Joaquín Díaz maintains that the term Pucela comes from the exclusivity that the city had with the distribution of pozzolana (Roman cement), for which the people of Valladolid were known as "pucelanos".[19]​[20]​.

Pintia

Finally, there is the term "Pintia", which seems to have a much more cultured origin. Near Peñafiel, in the town of Padilla de Duero, there are the ruins of an important city, presumably Celtic: Pintia, belonging to the pre-Roman town of the Vacceos. Identifying Valladolid with this city comes from the Renaissance and the custom that prevailed at that time of relating everything to ancient civilizations. Subsequently, the non-existence of said relationship was demonstrated.

La ciudad de Valladolid se encuentra en la mitad norte de la península ibérica. Está situada en el centro de la Meseta Norte, división de la Meseta Central, por lo que presenta un paisaje típico, llano y con escasa vegetación. El relieve vallisoletano lo conforma una llanura interrumpida por pequeñas series de colinas que originan un paisaje montañoso de cerros testigos como el de San Cristóbal (), a pocos kilómetros de la capital. Las coordenadas de la ciudad son 41°38′ N 4.º 43' O. La altitud del centro de la ciudad es de ,[21]​ mientras que la altitud máxima del municipio es de , la cual se da al noreste, entre Páramo de Cabezón y Barco de San Pedro; y la altitud mínima es de , la cual se da en el último tramo del río Duero dentro del municipio, a unos metros de su confluencia con el río Pisuerga.[2]​.

El término municipal cuenta con dos exclaves, uno al norte de Villanubla (Navabuena) y otro al oeste de Ciguñuela (El Rebollar).

Su céntrica situación en la Meseta Norte le hace estar casi equidistante del resto de las capitales de Castilla y León. Palencia está a 50 kilómetros, Zamora a 104 kilómetros, Segovia a 117 kilómetros, Salamanca a 121 kilómetros, Burgos a 127 kilómetros, Ávila a 138 kilómetros, León a 139 kilómetros y Soria a 208 kilómetros.

Climate

The climate of Valladolid is continentalized Mediterranean. According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of Valladolid in the reference period 1981-2010 is, in general, type Csa (Mediterranean). However, the average temperature in July and August only slightly exceeds 22 °C in the urban area (specifically in the Valladolid observatory), but this value drops below 22 °C in some areas of the highest altitude municipality, on the outskirts, thus giving these places a Csb type climate (Mediterranean with mild summers).[22]​ The climate of Valladolid is largely determined by the location of the city in the center of the city. Duero sedimentary basin, which, being almost completely surrounded by mountains that isolate it from the sea, has an extremely dry climate for what would be expected at almost 700 m altitude and only 190 kilometers from the Cantabrian Sea in a straight line. The mountains that delimit the plateau retain the winds and rain, except in the west, where the absence of large mountains allows an open corridor to the Atlantic Ocean and it is here, through Portugal, where most of the rainfall that reaches Valladolid penetrates. The winds from the north arrive dry and cold, while those from the south tend to be warm and humid, but it is from the west and southwest where the rain usually arrives in Valladolid. The predominant winds are from the southwest, and this is reflected, for example, in the orientation of the Villanubla airport runway.

Precipitation is distributed quite irregularly throughout the year, although there is a marked minimum in summer and a maximum in autumn and spring. The annual precipitation is 433 mm and the average relative humidity throughout the year is 64%. Every year there are 2,624 hours of sunshine and 67 days of rain.[23]​.

Regarding temperatures, perhaps the most notable thing is the important daily thermal oscillation. The temperature differences between day and night often exceed 20 degrees. The average annual temperature is 12.7 °C. Winters are cold with frequent fog and frost (56 days of frost on average). The city has 9 days of snow a year; although heavy snowfalls are rare due to the particular geographical location of the city. In the anticyclonic calms of winter, mainly on the long nights of December and January, the thermal inversion produces fog, which may not lift all day. It is in December and January when the cencellada can appear. Spring in its beginnings still has the cold of winter, but becomes quite mild and pleasant as we approach summer. Summers are generally hot and dry, with maximums between 30°C and 35°C, but mild minimums, slightly exceeding 14°C. In the city it is possible to record some nights with a tropical minimum above 20 °C. Autumns are generally rainy. Its days alternate between mild afternoons with temperatures around 20-23 °C at the beginning of autumn, with cooler and even cold days as winter approaches. The temperature records are 41.1 °C, on July 15, 2022, and –11.5 °C on February 14, 1983, measured at the observatory of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) located in the Parquesol neighborhood, the highest in the city.

Although this data is official, in the cold wave of January 1971, specifically on the 3rd of that month, –16.4 °C was reached at the Valladolid airport, located on the outskirts of the city. Yes, this is the case in the case of Villanubla, whose absolute minimum occurs in this cold wave, reaching –18.8 °C on January 3, 1971. At the Villanubla observatory the temperatures are lower, because it is located at 849 m altitude, about 150 m higher than the city.[24]​.

Hydrography

As indicated above, the most probable origin of the name of the city comes from the Celtic expression Vallis tolitum (Valley of Waters), and that Valladolid is located at the confluence of the Pisuerga river with the Esgueva river "Esgueva (river)"). The latter crossed the city in two branches, until at the end of the century it was canalized.

Valladolid's relationship with the Esgueva River was ambivalent. It served as a wastewater collector, making it impossible to drink its water, making it extremely unhealthy and having foul odors, but at the same time it was used for washing and was the driving force for factories and workshops.

From 1840 to 1864 Valladolid experienced important economic development: the Canal de Castilla was put into service and the Madrid-Irún railway line was completed, so the balance was broken. In this way, the Esgueva was decided to cover the central areas of Valladolid, and channel it in the peripheral areas.[27] In addition, the Duero River also crosses the municipality through the center of Puente Duero, south of Valladolid.

The Pisuerga, the city's main river, currently offers various leisure and cultural options. The Leyenda del Pisuerga boat "Leyenda del Pisuerga (boat)") allows you to take a trip along the river, from the Boarding Station, located at the height of Paseo de las Moreras, downstream, to the neighboring town of Arroyo de la Encomienda. It is a boat 25 m long and 6 m deep. During the journey you can closely observe the flora and fauna of Pisuerga. In addition, Valladolid has an artificial beach, Las Moreras Beach, which allows Valladolid residents to sunbathe right in the center and even take a dip in Pisuerga itself.

Valladolid also has two artificial canals "Canal (artificial waterway)"): the Canal de Castilla, built between the middle of the century and the first third of the century to facilitate the transportation of wheat from Castilla to the northern ports; and the Duero Canal, built in the century to ensure the water supply to the capital and allow the creation of irrigated areas to the south of the city.

Foundation

There are datable traces in the Lower Paleolithic, essentially Acheulean, collected on the surface in the Quaternary terraces of the Pisuerga River, in Canterac (which is currently a large park located on the outskirts);[28]​ but it cannot be said that the city had a stable occupation until the Middle Ages, which is possibly when the toponym that gives it its name arose.

The later settlements in the current province of Valladolid date back to pre-Roman times, with sites of Vaccean peoples existing in the area, who, like the rest of the Celtic peoples, arrived to the peninsula from northern Europe. The greatest exponent of this culture in the vicinity, which was devastated by the Romans, is Pincia (Pintia), in the current town of Padilla de Duero.

For years, it was believed that Valladolid was ancient Pincia, until archaeological excavations demonstrated the true location of the Vaccean city. In several areas of the old town of the city, remains from the Roman period have appeared: next to the Antigua church, construction evidence of a town of a certain size appeared (- centuries),[29]​ as well as in Angustias, Arribas, Juan Mambrilla and Empecinado and Padilla streets, where there is evidence of the appearance of several Roman mosaics. There have also been finds in peripheral points of the city; In the surroundings of the Monastery of Our Lady of Prado, another villa was discovered in the 1950s: the Roman Villa of Prado, which houses a large residential architectural complex, accompanied by mosaics. In fact, a large marble and limestone mosaic, the Mosaico de los cantharus (dated to the 17th century), presides over the chamber of the Cortes of Castilla y León (deposited by the Museum of Valladolid).[30]​.

Repopulation and expansion

In the century Alfonso III of Asturias consolidated the border of the Kingdom of Asturias to the Duero. In the 19th century, during the repopulation of the Meseta, King Alfonso VI of León commissioned the Count of Saldaña y Carrión, Pedro Ansúrez, and his wife, Doña Eylo Alfonso, to settle and expand the primitive agrarian nucleus, which already existed and was organized through an open Council. Alfonso VI granted the lordship of it to the count in 1072, date from which the growth of the city took place. He had a palace built for him and his wife, Doña Eylo, which is not preserved, as well as the Collegiate Church of Santa María "Colegiata de Santa María (Valladolid)") (which gave it the rank of town) and the church of La Antigua "Iglesia de Santa María La Antigua (Valladolid)"). In 1208, King Alfonso VIII of Castile named it a courtly city and in 1255 Alfonso X granted it the Royal Charter.

After the early death of Henry I of Castile, born in Valladolid, and the abdication of his mother, Ferdinand III the Saint was proclaimed king of Castile in 1217, in an event held in the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid. Over the centuries, Valladolid experienced rapid growth, favored by the fairs and commercial privileges granted by the monarchs Alfonso VIII and Alfonso During these centuries, the city occasionally served as a royal residence and seat of the Cortes. The first Alcazarejo was transformed into the Royal Alcázar, and Queen María de Molina, queen and regent of Castile, had a palace built and established her residence there around 1300. In 1346, Pope Clement VI granted the bull that allowed the transition from the Valladolid Private Study, existing since the second half of the century, to a General Study or University.

John II of Castile grew up and died in Valladolid having reigned from this city which he would say is "the most notable town of these my kingdoms and even outside of them." This king was buried in the church of San Pablo "Iglesia conventual de San Pablo (Valladolid)"), until the final transfer of his remains to the Cartuja de Miraflores. In 1425, Henry IV of Castile was born in the missing Casa de las Aldabas on Teresa Gil Street. In 1453 Álvaro de Luna, all-powerful servant of John II, was tried, condemned and finally beheaded on a public scaffold in the Plaza Mayor. On December 7, 1453, the Concordia de Valladolid was signed in the city, establishing peace between Juan de Navarra (future king of Aragon) and his son Carlos de Viana.

On October 19, 1469, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon (who would become Ferdinand II of Aragon) celebrated their secret marriage in the Vivero palace (later the site of the Royal Court and Chancery), and spent their honeymoon in the Fuensaldaña castle. Already in 1481 Valladolid had a printing press, located in the Prado monastery, of the Order of San Jerónimo, and under the Catholic Monarchs the city experienced a period of great university dynamism, which culminated in the creation of the Colegios Mayores de Santa Cruz (by Cardinal Mendoza "Pedro González de Mendoza (cardinal)") and San Gregorio (by Fray Alonso de Burgos), which made Valladolid one from the hotbeds of modern bureaucracy.

In conclusion to this period, it can be said that Valladolid experienced a clear process of both demographic and influence growth, going from being a place dependent on the municipality of Cabezón de Pisuerga to encompassing a large territory under its jurisdiction. An example of this are the multiple privileges granted to the city, such as the one granted by Alfonso VIII to Valladolid, confirming the purchase of the Santovenia de Pisuerga area; plus several of Alfonso To this we should add another from Sancho IV, granting Cigales to the council of Valladolid.[31]​.

16th-18th centuries

In 1489 the Court of Chancery was definitively established, and in 1500 that of the Inquisition, to judge acts of heresy, giving rise to the celebration of the Autos de Fe. In 1506 Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, and was buried in the city, in the disappeared convent of San Francisco "Convento de San Francisco (Valladolid)"). Another navigator, Magellan, signed the capitulations with King Charles I of Spain in Valladolid, before beginning his western route to the Indies, on March 22, 1518. In 1509, Juan de Aragón y Foix was born in Valladolid, the only son of Ferdinand the Catholic and his second wife Germana de Foix, who died a few hours after birth.

In 1518 the Cortes of Castile, meeting in Valladolid, swore Charles I as king. During the War of the Communities of Castile, the fire of Medina del Campo caused the Valladolid uprising and, after the communal defeat in Tordesillas, the rebels began to regroup in the city, where the Junta was established. After the victory of the emperor, and the forgiveness of the rebels except for their leaders, Valladolid became one of the capitals of the Spanish Empire of Charles I of Spain and V of Germany, gaining great political, judicial and financial importance.

On May 21, 1527, the future King Philip II was born in the Pimentel Palace "Palacio de Pimentel (Valladolid)").

The famous Valladolid controversy took place in 1550 and 1551 at the Colegio de San Gregorio and pitted two antagonistic ways of conceiving the conquest of America, represented by Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. That debate is considered pioneering today and a vital contribution in history to the construction of human rights. Its result was new ordinances that regulated conquests, the creation of the figure of the defender of Indians and a notable promotion of the "right of nations."

In 1559, the May and October autos-da-fe were held, famous for their severity. In 1561 the city was devastated by a huge fire, after which Philip II undertook to rebuild the city, providing it with the first regular Plaza Mayor in Spain. This king also granted his native town the title of city on January 9, 1596 by virtue of a Royal Provision,[33] and obtained from Pope Clement VIII the creation of a diocese in 1595 (elevated to archdiocese in 1857).

Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Jesus coincided in Valladolid when the nun founded the first convent of the reform of the Order of Carmel in 1568, which she inhabited for a time. Fray Luis de León, who had already spent years of childhood in Valladolid with his family, was also imprisoned in 1572 in the prisons of the city's Holy Office, to face an inquisitorial process for questioning the traditional way of understanding Theology.

The most famous image makers of the Spanish Renaissance, Alonso Berruguete, Juan de Juni and Gaspar Becerra, established their workshops in Valladolid upon their arrival from Italy.

19th century

Valladolid was the city chosen to house the French troops upon their arrival in Spain, mainly due to its location on the Paris-Madrid-Lisbon axis. During the stay of the French troops, altercations occurred in the city, between the residents and the soldiers, despite continuous calls for calm by the authorities of both.

Following the news of the Aranjuez mutiny, the city also rioted from March 24, for several days; The figure of Manuel Godoy was humiliated (his portrait ended up torn to pieces and thrown into the Pisuerga), and it culminated with the settlement of the Marquis of Revilla in the Fernandista regiduría. On May 31, 1808, Two of May in Valladolid occurred: the people gathered in squares and streets shouting "Long live Fernando VII!", demanding, in front of the town halls, the general enlistment, the delivery of weapons, the designation of a chief, and the proclamation of Ferdinand VII. The Cabildo condescended to this, and the protesters went to the Chancery. The insurrection aroused the concern of Marshal de Bessières. As a consequence, the Battle of Cabezón was prepared, which took place on July 12, with an absolute defeat and disbanded retreat of the army led by García de la Cuesta, gathered in very precarious conditions.

Joaquín Blake participated in numerous war actions. On July 14 he was defeated along with Cuesta in the battle of Medina de Rioseco. Blake, of Irish origin and president of the Regency Council of Spain and the Indies (1810-1811) and chief of the General Staff, died in Valladolid in 1827.

The city was finally liberated by the army commanded by Wellington, in July 1812. Evaristo Pérez de Castro, from Valladolid, was a deputy and first secretary in the Cortes of Cádiz, playing an active role in claiming national sovereignty for them after the Napoleonic invasion. A plaque in the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri "Oratorio de San Felipe Neri (Cádiz)") in Cádiz remembers him.

Starting in 1830, with the confiscation of Mendizábal and the reorganization of Spanish territory into provinces, trade and administration were timidly reactivated. When Mendizábal transfers the immense orchards and gardens of the convents and their buildings, the opportunity is taken to open new streets or create public services in the new buildings.

With the development of the financial system, the first credit societies appeared, and in 1855 the Bank of Valladolid was created. In 1856, the dean of the Spanish daily press, El Norte de Castilla, was founded in Valladolid, the result of the merger of two other newspapers: El Avisador and El Correo de Castilla.[35]​.

The arrival of the railway – Compañía del Norte from 1860 and Compañía de Ferrocarriles Secundarios de Castilla in 1884 – to Valladolid was a great boost and marked the direction of growth of the city. During this century the city did not grow noticeably, but its internal structure changed, new streets were opened, new squares and gardens were opened, such as the Poniente one, the Campo Grande was reformed, and the Esgueva River "Esgueva (river)") was channeled and diverted, which marked the end of flooding in the city. All this is possible thanks to the management of great mayors, like Miguel Íscar.

20th century

The city expands, growing on the other side of the railway in the neighborhood that will be called Las Delicias "Las Delicias (Valladolid)"). In 1915, a project began, promoted by the Barcelona Development Society,[36]​ for a "garden city" in the La Rubia neighborhood.[37]​ However, only one residential block was built.[36]​.

The Valladolid lawyer and politician Santiago Alba would hold several ministerial portfolios in different governments between 1906 and 1923, and would be president of the Congress of Deputies during the Second Republic. The city experienced the instability typical of Spanish politics in the first decades of the century and welcomed the establishment of the Republic in 1931. On March 4, 1934, the Spanish Falange (Primo de Rivera's party) and the JONS "National-Syndicalist Offensive Boards (JONS)") (a movement founded by Valladolid native Onísimo Redondo) merged in an event held at the Calderón Theater "Calderón Theater (Valladolid)").

The coup d'état with which the Civil War began triumphed in Valladolid, remaining in the national zone, being one of the 12 centers of the military uprising.[38]​ The assault guard revolted at 5 in the afternoon on July 18[39]​ and the military rebels on the night of July 18 to 19, 1936 took control of the military forces after violently arresting their legitimate leader, the general Molero.

Valladolid became the first large peninsular city in which the uprising triumphed.[40] With the important support of the Falangists and the Alfonsine monarchists, they controlled the entire province in a short time, proceeding to organize a column that marched on Madrid through the ports of Guadarrama (Alto del León) and Navacerrada. Thus, the city remained from the beginning of the war inside the rebel zone, not belonging to the front at any time during the war.

During the war and also once it ended, Franco's repression shot around 40 people every day in Valladolid.[41]​ There, as in other cities in the rebel zone, prisoners were taken out at night in trucks to be shot on the outskirts of the city without even a mock trial.[42]​ General Mola would send a statement asking that these executions be carried out in more discreet places and that they be carried out. The dead were buried, something that until then had not been done.[43]​ It is estimated that there were at least 2,500 fatalities, and more than 7,000 reprisals throughout the province.[44]​[45]​ In the capital, the Campo de San Isidro stands out as a place of executions. The Carmen cemetery is, for its part, one of the places where one of the largest mass graves of the civil war at the national level is located.[46] Among the victims, the case of the mayor of Valladolid himself during the Second Republic between 1932 and 1934, who had been re-elected again in the 1936 elections, Antonio García Quintana, stands out. After the uprising, he remained hidden until he was betrayed and shot in the Campo de San Isidro in Valladolid on October 8, 1937.

21st century

As a significant city in the evolution of the Spanish language, the II International Congress of the Spanish Language was held between October 16 and 19, 2001, at the Teatro Calderón "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)"), a forum for reflection on the Spanish language, chaired by the kings of Spain.

Valladolid was awarded by the international association LUCI in 2011 with the Award for the Best City People Light Urban Lighting Project for the Ríos de Luz Route and in 2012 with the Popular Jury Award for the Best Urban Lighting Project of the City People Light Awards.[49]​ In 2012, Unicef declared Valladolid a Child-Friendly City.[50]​ In April In 2013, Valladolid was awarded the Reina Sofía Accessibility Award from Spanish Municipalities for its efforts in the integration, normalization and active participation of all citizens regardless of their functional capacity.[51]​.

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic caused the declaration of a state of alarm throughout Spain and the confinement of the population to their homes.[52]​.

The oldest known representation of the shield of Valladolid dates from the year 1454, although at that time only the wavy "Jirón (heraldry)") appeared on it. The shield may have been granted by the Valladolid king Enrique IV of Castile.

The gules border with the eight golden castles in the city's coat of arms appears for the first time on the cover of one of the more than ten copies of the History of Valladolid by Juan Antolínez de Burgos dating from 1722 (although the original work was completed in 1641). Until then, the municipal shield had never appeared with such an armory increase. The border becomes a historicist transcript, also with an ornamental desire, of the old medieval seal of the city where eight notches or towers also appeared as part of the fence or wall that symbolically surrounded the town, identifying these castles with the eight gates of the two fences or walls that the population came to have represented by the border. This composition was successful and was gradually adopted by the different guilds of the city and finally by the council.[53]​.

The royal crown is open, of medieval origin, older than the closed royal crown. It would have been granted by the Catholic Monarchs, as a symbol of a royal town, with its own jurisdictions.

Finally, the Laureate Cross of San Fernando, the highest Spanish military decoration, created in the 20th century, was awarded by the new Franco authorities by decree of July 17, 1939 to the municipality of Valladolid for war actions carried out by the rebel side to control the city and its surroundings in the Spanish civil war.[54]​.

The flag of Valladolid is crimson with the shield of Valladolid located in the center.

Valladolid acquired the category of town in the middle of the century to continue adding titles: buenos y leales (Muy leal) in the year 1329; Very Noble in 1422; City in 1596; Heroic in 1854 and Laureate in 1939.

Valladolid cuenta con una población de (INE "Instituto Nacional de Estadística (España)") 2025).

Valladolid desborda sus propios límites y salta a municipios del entorno. Esta transformación urbana ha sido definida por el catedrático emérito de Geografía urbana Jesús García como el paso «de la ciudad a la aglomeración».

Partiendo del primer dato de población recogido por el Instituto Nacional de Estadística, que data de 1842, se observa un crecimiento constante de población en toda la segunda mitad del siglo , que coincide en el tiempo con la construcción del Canal de Castilla y con la llegada del ferrocarril a Valladolid.[57]​.

A lo largo de los tres primeros tercios del siglo , Valladolid experimentó un importante aumento de población, gracias al éxodo rural. Este crecimiento, lento durante las dos primeras décadas e interrumpido por la Guerra Civil, fue especialmente significativo desde los años sesenta, con la llegada de mano de obra foránea, y supuso el momento de mayor crecimiento demográfico en la historia de la capital. Sin embargo, a partir de los años ochenta se produjo un giro en esta tendencia, que supuso un estancamiento en el crecimiento de la población, debido a dos motivos: al cese de los flujos migratorios que habían impulsado el crecimiento en épocas pasadas y a un descenso brusco en la tasa de natalidad.[58]​.

En los últimos años, la ciudad de Valladolid ha ido perdiendo población en favor de su franja periurbana, donde prolifera el crecimiento de nuevas áreas residenciales. Esta cuenta con poco más de 400 000 habitantes, y es la 20.ª área de España en población.[6]​[7]​ El encarecimiento de la vivienda en la capital, la falta de una política adecuada de planeamiento urbano y, como consecuencia de ello, el incremento de los problemas asociados al tráfico rodado, originaron cambios residenciales de carácter centrífugo.[59]​ Las parejas jóvenes que no emigran a otras provincias optan por la adquisición de una vivienda en los municipios de la periferia, cuyo crecimiento demográfico deriva del propio vaciamiento de la ciudad (de 330 700 habitantes en 1991 a 303 905 en 2015) y del asentamiento de familias procedentes, en menor medida, de otros municipios de la provincia.[60]​.

En el último lustro, Valladolid ha sufrido una paulatina pérdida de población, principalmente debido a movimientos hacia su área metropolitana.

Population movements

In 2005, a total of 2,600 births occurred in Valladolid. This confirms an upward trend that dates back to 1999. This birth rate is the highest recorded since 1992, the year in which 2,658 births were recorded. For its part, the gross birth rate in Valladolid stands at 8.10‰, which is the highest figure since 1992.[61]​.

In 2005, 2,735 deaths were recorded in the city of Valladolid, which represented an increase compared to previous years. It is, in fact, the highest number since 1920, the year in which 3,206 deaths were recorded. The crude mortality rate was 8.52‰, following the upward trend reflected in the number of deaths, and is the highest since 1969.[61]​.

According to data from 2002, a total of 9,072 people arrived in Valladolid. Of this total, 2,246 came from the province itself, 1,721 from other provinces of Castilla y León, 2,407 from another autonomous community and finally 2,698 people arrived from abroad.[61]​.

By continent, Europe is the most represented in Valladolid with 8,680 residents in 2010. As for the country of origin, Bulgaria contributes the largest number of foreigners, with 3,983 compared to 3,881 in 2009. The Romanian group consolidates its position in second place among Europeans present in the capital with a positive balance of 42 inhabitants (it has gone from the 2,490 that resided in 2009 to 2532 that do so today).

Metropolitan area

The metropolitan area of Valladolid, as such, is neither legally nor administratively constituted, although there are proposals from some parties to create it.[62] However, this name is given to the group of municipalities, which, centered in Valladolid, are defined by the Guidelines for the Planning of the Territory of Valladolid and its Environment (DOTVAENT), a document prepared by the urban planning institute of the University of Valladolid at the request of the Junta de Castilla and León.[63]​.

Precisely this absence of a legal definition prevents knowing its size with certainty, which is why the figures come from independent studies or indirect data from official organizations. Thus, according to the project AUDES5 - Urban Areas of Spain 2005, the metropolitan area of ​​Valladolid has a population of 388,555 inhabitants, while according to indirect data from the National Institute of Statistics (2007) its population would be 407,148 inhabitants.[6][64]​.

Economic history

After its repopulation, and once the valley was free of Arab occupation, the city began to expand. At the end of the century, a great variety of union-based neighborhoods began to appear, which were established in different areas, opening streets under the direct influence of the economic issue. Around these dates, annual fairs were held in Valladolid, which were usually attended by businessmen from various places.[65]​.

At the beginning of the century, attracted fundamentally by the commercial bustle, the agricultural activity and the attention that the Court favored in the Villa, people came to Valladolid, not only from Hispanic territories, but also from other countries, of Christian, Jewish or Mudejar descent, who shared the same geographical space.

In 1359 the city obtained the Privilege of having a Mint, which survived until the century when Philip V concentrated the manufacture of this metal.

In the 2nd century, the city was the capital of the Kingdom, and the main political-administrative bodies were centralized there. Added to this was the fact that Philip II, shortly before his death, granted Valladolid the title of city, and, although mid-century the capital was moved to Madrid (until 1601), Valladolid continued to experience a time of great economic splendor.

From the definitive departure of the Court, in the time of Philip III, the city suffered in the following centuries a period of certain decline, barely mitigated by the effects of the Enlightenment, led by a strong demographic decline, and above all a gradual economic depression.

Valladolid would not experience major changes until the second half of the century, when it was reborn with the help of the flour industry and the development of communications, which favored the transportation of production and imports. The operation of the Canal de Castilla and the appearance of the first industrial centers around the dock, and the subsequent arrival of the railway to Valladolid, constituted the cornerstone of this urban takeoff. The financial system was also developed; The first credit societies appeared, and in 1857 the Bank of Valladolid was created.

In 1864 there was a serious economic crisis, leading to the collapse of the Bank of Valladolid and the appearance of famine. In the last third of the century, the city, still marked by the crisis, moved forward very slowly. The secondary sector is a minority, while the tertiary sector is at the forefront of the productive sectors.

Already in the 1950s, it experienced powerful industrial development, fundamentally around automobile manufacturing; and also commercial, as a consequence of the above. Currently, the Valladolid industry remains fundamentally linked to the automobile industry. In parallel with this large-scale production, several urbanized industrial estates house small and medium-sized companies, dedicated to supplies of all kinds for the Spanish market. Commerce is another of the great economic sources of the city, which due to this centuries-old tradition, has had, since 1965, the International Trade Fair to showcase the constant innovations in the sector.

Economic structure

The main economic sector of Valladolid is the services sector, which employs 104,168 people, which represents 72.7% of Valladolid workers affiliated with Social Security. Likewise, 82.5% of the city's workplaces correspond to companies in the tertiary sector. The branch with the largest number of establishments is the retail trade of non-food products, which represents more than 50% of the total.[66]​.

Next are the industry and construction sector: 22,013 people are employed in industrial workplaces and 15,710 find work in the construction sector, representing 15.4% and 11% of the total number of workers, respectively. By work centers, 6.0% correspond to industrial centers and 10.3% to construction companies. The predominant industry of the city corresponds to the sectors derived from agricultural activities, metallurgy, the automobile industry, chemicals, construction, graphic arts, etc.[66]​ The San Cristóbal industrial estate is one of the two industrial estates in the city of Valladolid. This industrial estate is home to a large number of companies. It is delimited by the inner ring road (VA-20), by the outer ring road (VA-30) and by the Soria (A-11) and Segovia (A-601) roads.

Finally, agricultural activity, a very minority activity, employs 1,491 people, just 1% of the total, with only 153 work centers (1.2%) dedicated to this activity. Of this limited agricultural dedication, the predominant type of cultivation is dryland, represented in the production of wheat, barley and sugar beets, mainly.[66]​.

The main companies in the city are: Renault-España, Indal, Michelin, Iveco, Ambuibérica, Aquagest, ACOR, Grupo Norte, Panibérica de Levaduras (Lessafre), Helios, Ingotes Especiales or Queserías Entrepinares.[67]​.

Regional administration

Valladolid is home to the headquarters of the Cortes of Castilla y León and the Junta de Castilla y León, including the Presidency of the latter and its ten ministries.

The current headquarters of the Cortes of Castilla y León was inaugurated in June 2007. It is located on Salamanca Avenue, in the Villa de Prado residential neighborhood, and is the work of the Granada architect Ramón Fernández Alonso.[68] The previous headquarters was provisionally located in the Fuensaldaña Castle, in the Valladolid town of Fuensaldaña.

The location of the regional executive, chaired by Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, is in the Asunción school. This building is located in the Plaza de Castilla y León in the Covaresa neighborhood, while the headquarters of the different departments are distributed in different parts of the city.[69]​.

Provincial administration

The Provincial Council of Valladolid also has its headquarters in the city, specifically, in the Pimentel Palace "Palacio de Pimentel (Valladolid)"). After the 2019 municipal elections, it is chaired by Conrado Íscar of the Popular Party, replacing Jesús Julio Carnero García, of the same party.

Municipal government

Valladolid is governed by the mayor and the councilors, who make up the municipal corporation, which is in charge of the municipality. The Valladolid City Council has its headquarters in the Plaza Mayor, in the town hall building. Councilors are elected every four years, by universal suffrage, by those over 18 years of age. The current mayor is Jesús Julio Carnero García, of the Popular Party (PP) since June 17, 2023, which governs in coalition together with Vox "Vox (political party)").

The political parties present at the local level are the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, led by Óscar Puente Santiago, the Popular Party, Vox "Vox (political party)") and Valladolid Toma la Palabra. Thus, after the 2023 municipal elections, the composition of the Valladolid City Council is as follows:

Territorial organization

The municipal area of ​​Valladolid is made up of three separate territories: the main one, where the city of Valladolid is located, and two exclaves, known as Navabuena and El Rebollar&action=edit&redlink=1 "El Rebollar (Valladolid) (not yet written)"), to the northwest of that. Navabuena is the northernmost and largest of the two, with El Rebollar being uninhabited.

Demographically speaking, the population of the municipality is divided into five unique population entities, which in turn comprise seven population centers. The entities and their populations are, according to the 2012 gazetteer:[71]​.

• - Valladolid (city): 306,872 inhabitants;

• - Pinar de Antequera (colony): 848 inhabitants;.

• - Puente Duero-Esparragal (place): 1,179 inhabitants, distributed in the centers of:

• Duero-Esparragal Bridge: 968 inhabitants;

• El Pinarillo: 178 inhabitants;

• Doctrines: 33 inhabitants;.

• - Navabuena (work houses): 38 inhabitants;.

• - La Overuela (suburb): 2,480 inhabitants.

With the renewal of the municipal registry of inhabitants that was carried out in 1986, the municipal area was officially divided into different zones, since before this date there was already a popular division, into neighborhoods, which did not have any administrative function. To execute this division, different criteria were used, such as the physical continuity of the territory, sociological criteria and their popular name.

From that moment on, Valladolid was divided into a total of twelve districts, which in turn were subdivided into forty-seven statistical zones, not necessarily coinciding with the traditional neighborhoods.[72][73]​.

Education

Education in Valladolid depends on the Department of Education of the Government of Castilla y León, which assumes responsibility for education at the regional level, both at the university levels of its two Universities (the University of Valladolid and the Miguel de Cervantes European University) and at non-university levels.[74] According to data from the Department itself, it is estimated that in the 2005-2006 academic year the total number of non-university students was greater than 52. 000, which have 141 educational centers at their disposal, with 2,399 classrooms and 4,487 teachers.[75]​.

Regarding university education, Valladolid has two universities, a public university and a private university:.

• - University of Valladolid, founded in the 19th century, is one of the oldest in the world.[76]​ Public university that has different faculties and campuses spread throughout the city. In addition, the university has campuses in three other provinces of Castilla y León: Palencia, Soria and Segovia.

Currently, the University of Valladolid has four campuses in the city: Huerta del Rey, Centro, Río Esgueva and Miguel Delibes. Spread across its 25 faculties and associated centres, some 2,000 teachers teach more than 12,906 students enrolled in Valladolid in 2023.[77]​[78]​.

In addition to the 25 centers, it has a series of administrative buildings, such as the Palacio de Santa Cruz "Palacio de Santa Cruz (Valladolid)"), where the rectorate is located, and the Museum of the University of Valladolid (MUVa), the Casa del Estudiante&action=edit&redlink=1 "Casa del Estudiante de Valladolid) (not yet written)"), where the rest of the administrative services are located, or the CTI (Center of Information Technologies), which is located in the basement of the Alfonso VIII University Residence, next to the old Faculty of Sciences.

• - Miguel de Cervantes European University. The UEMC is an important private university of a face-to-face and online nature, founded in 2002 and which has more than 5,000 students, spread across its three faculties: Social Sciences, Health Sciences and the Higher Polytechnic School. It teaches 17 degrees, 6 double degrees, 6 Double International Degrees, 15 master's degrees, a doctoral program and numerous own degrees that the university offers both in person and online.[79]​ In 2025, a new building will come into operation on its Valladolid campus that significantly expands the surface area for teaching and research and improves the University Clinic. The Miguel de Cervantes University also has a Business School in Madrid, the UEMC Business School, located in the Chamartín area.

Health

Valladolid has 410 health facilities,[66]​ among which are outpatient clinics, health centers or hospitals, both public and private.

The two public hospitals of Valladolid, both dependent on SACYL (Health of Castilla y León), are the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, heir to the historic Hospital of the Resurrection "Hospital de la Resurrección (Valladolid)"), with 777 beds, and the Hospital Universitario Río Hortega, with 589.[80] A third hospital has been built in the neighborhood of Las Delicias "Barrio de Las Delicias (Valladolid)"), the new Río Hortega, which opened its doors in January 2009 and replaced the old Río Hortega.[81] Valladolid has the following health centers: Barrio España, Canterac, Circunvalación, Delicias I, Delicias II, Magdalena, Pilarica, Plaza Circular, Rondilla I, Rondilla II, San Pablo, Tórtola, Arturo Eyríes, Casa del Barco, Gamazo, Huerta del Rey, La Victoria, Parquesol, Plaza del Ejercito, Parque Alameda-Covaresa; of which Rondilla, Delicias and Pilarica have PAC emergency services.

The Recoletas health group has two hospitals in the city, the Felipe II Hospital and the Campo Grande Hospital, the latter being the most important in Castilla y León of this private group. It also has a third center, the Paracelso Center, which functions as a primary care center and with some specialties.

In addition to health coverage, the University of Valladolid has a University School of Nursing and a Faculty of Medicine "Faculty of Medicine (University of Valladolid)"), in which Medicine, Speech Therapy, and Nutrition and Dietetics are taught. Medical studies in Valladolid date back to the 19th century, being the first medical school erected in Spain, and the city has the second oldest Royal Academy of Medicine in Spain.[82]​.

Associated with the university institution are various health research centers: the Institute of Applied Ophthalmobiology (IOBA), created in 1994; the Institute of Pharmacoepidemiology (IFE), dedicated to research on the safety and effects of medications in the population; the Institute of Medical Sciences (ICIME); the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics (IBGM) "Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics (IBGM)"), attached to the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) or the National Flu Center.[80]​.

Transportation and communications

The Valladolid City Council has had a Public Bicycle System for years as an individualized, comfortable, healthy, ecological and easy-to-use means of public transportation. The system is electronic and works 24 hours a day, every day of the year. From 2013 to 2023, this service was provided by VallaBici, operated by the company UsualBike") through a concession. The service had 34 loan points and 260 bicycles to be able to choose at any time where to pick up or leave the bicycle quickly and easily.

The system was replaced by Biki, inaugurated in 2023 and operated by the municipal transport company (AUVASA). This system has 98 loan points and some 861 bicycles,[83]​ of which a quarter are electrically assisted. The system has 20,454 registered users and more than 463,099 annual trips (2024).[84]​ To use Biki it is necessary to register, subscribing to one of the rates offered (BIKI#Rates). Users can undock their bicycles using the Biki App or with their public transportation card (linked to their Biki account).

Valladolid has a network of bicycle lanes segregated from motorized traffic of various types and types. As can be seen on the map, the network has partial coverage of the city. The predominant typology is the bidirectional bike sidewalk, generally using milled green concrete and with an approximate width of 2.4m.

Bus services replaced the Valladolid Tram network in the 1920s. After a long period of management through a private concession, since 1982 the urban transport of Valladolid is managed by the municipal company Autobuses Urbanos de Valladolid, S. A. (AUVASA), in charge of public transport within the municipal area of ​​Valladolid. In addition, due to an agreement with the Valladolid City Council, several lines reach the towns of Simancas and La Cistérniga.[85]​[86]​ It has an annual budget of about 31 million euros.[87]​.

It has 23 ordinary lines (2 of them circular), 9 working lines to industrial estates, 2 shuttle lines to the Miguel Delibes University Campus, 7 special morning service lines and 5 at night (Búho), 6 F lines that serve the José Zorrilla stadium on match days, and 5 special lines for different fairs or other cultural events to the Real de la Feria.

It has a fleet of 150 vehicles with an average age of 12.83 years. If only the vehicles on ordinary lines are taken into account, their average life is 10.89 years, while that of buses that reinforce the lines at peak times or replace the usual ones due to breakdowns or any other reason rises to 19.2 years.[88]​.

Currently, of the total fleet, 58.7% (88 buses) run on LPG, 50 on biodiesel (33.3%), 11 are rechargeable hybrid-electric (7.3%) and one bus is hybrid (0.7%). 22% are 18 m articulated buses (33 units), and the rest are 12 m rigid buses. The entire fleet is low-floor and 109 buses (72.7%) have a ramp for the disabled.[88] All buses assigned to ordinary lines have a ramp for the disabled.

Los Reales sites and surroundings

Near the Pisuerga River, along with what was for a long time the only entrance to the city, the Puente Mayor, crossing the streets of the city's old Jewish quarter, there are a series of squares and streets with an abundance of ancient temples and civil noble buildings. In this environment are located the palace of the Counts of Benavente, the church of San Nicolás de Bari "Iglesia de San Nicolás (Valladolid)") or the convent of San Quirce "Convento de San Quirce (Valladolid)"), in the Plaza de la Trinidad "Plaza de la Trinidad (Valladolid)"), the convent street of Santo Domingo de Guzmán and the church of San Agustín "Iglesia de San Agustín (Valladolid)"), today converted into a municipal archive.

In the Plaza de San Pablo "Plaza de San Pablo (Valladolid)"), the nucleus of court life in the times of Philip III and where his predecessor Philip II was born, is the church of San Pablo "Iglesia de San Pablo (Valladolid)"), which has a façade by Simón de Colonia, in the Elizabethan Gothic style, which resembles a stone altarpiece. It corresponds to the last period of the Gothic style. It was the scene of numerous royal ceremonies, the first burial of the infante Alfonso "Alfonso of Castile (1286-1291)") and John II, or the baptism place of Henry IV, Philip II, Philip IV and Anne of Austria. Here Maximilian II and Mary of Austria married, and Cardinal Hadrian of Utrecht took the hat, who would eventually become Pope Hadrian VI. It was a favorite place for numerous bishops who later carried out their pastoral activity in the New World.

On the opposite side of the square, the Royal Palace, residence of the Spanish monarchs Charles I, Philip II and Philip III and also of Napoleon Bonaparte during the War of Independence, has reached the present with numerous structural alterations of its primitive layout, completed around 1528. Philip IV was born here in 1605. It was built by Luis de Vega, architect of Charles I, and its Renaissance patio is decorated with medallions attributed to Esteban Jamete and coats of arms of the different territories belonging to the Spanish Empire. In the 19th century Ventura Rodríguez built the neoclassical staircase.

The corner with Las Angustias street is occupied by the Pimentel palace "Palacio de Pimentel (Valladolid)"), where, not to mention the Empress Isabel with her own residence in Valladolid, Philip II was born in 1527. The building, built of brick, has two notable stone details: the doorway with a carpanel arch and the corner with a Plateresque angular window. Cadenas de San Gregorio street is home to the four departments of the National Museum of Sculpture: the Colegio de San Gregorio, the church of San Benito el Viejo #Iglesia_de_San_Benito_el_Viejo "Museo Nacional Colegio de San Gregorio (Spain)"), the palace of Villena and the Palace of the Count of Gondomar (Casa del Sol).

Next to the Villena Palace, on Fray Luis de Granada street, is the house where the romantic poet José Zorrilla was born and lived, and which houses the Zorrilla House Museum. Nearby, the church of San Martín "Iglesia de San Martín (Valladolid)") stands out for its slender tower, made in Romanesque style at the beginning of the century. For its part, classicism prevails on the façade of the Penitential Church of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias "Iglesia Penitencial de Nuestra Señora de las Angustias (Valladolid)"), erected at the beginning of the century, with monumental sculpture by Francisco del Rincón "Francisco del Rincón (sculptor)").

In front of this last temple, inaugurated in 1864 according to a project by Jerónimo de la Gándara, is the Teatro Calderón "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)"). Its location and structure follows the trends of the moment. The façade moves within the classicist taste and inside is the performance hall, in the shape of a horseshoe, Italian style. It is decorated with paintings by Augusto Ferri, set designer of the time. On stage there is a stage system due to the Italian engineer Egidio Piccoli. Behind the theater is the Archbishop's Palace "Palacio Arzobispal (Valladolid)"), which was owned by Juan de Villasante and María de Villarroel, built in the mid-19th century. In 1857 it became the seat of the first archbishop of Valladolid, Luis de la Lastra y Cuesta.

The Plaza Mayor and surroundings

Originating from the string line of the streets with arcades that followed the fire of 1561, the so-called historic core of Valladolid is articulated from the Plaza Mayor through the seven roads that cross it.

Built in the 19th century, the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid is the first regular main square in Spain, and served as a model, since the 19th century, for many others in Spain and South America: in the 19th century, the old Market Square became the cultural, political, economic and social center of the city.

In 1908, the current town hall opened its doors, a palace with four towers, a rectangular floor plan and an interior patio, from whose front a tribune protrudes that supports the main balcony. This building is the work of Enrique María Repullés, inspired by the project of Antonio de Iturralde"), but modifying it to imitate the models of Spanish Renaissance architecture.

In front of the town hall, in the place occupied until the century by the convent of San Francisco "Convento de San Francisco (Valladolid)"), where Christopher Columbus died, is the Zorrilla Theater "Teatro Zorrilla (Valladolid)"). The theater was inaugurated in October 1884, with the play Traitor, unconfessed and martyr, with the presence of the author of the play himself, José Zorrilla, and the Valladolid poet Emilio Ferrari.[101]​.

On one side of the town hall, the church of Jesus "Iglesia de Jesús (Valladolid)") maintains a façade of a Catalan-type neo-Romanesque model, in pressed brick.

Crossing the Plaza de la Rinconada, behind the town hall building, where the Palacio de Correos y Telégrafos "Palacio de Correos y Telégrafos (Valladolid)") stands, you access the church of San Benito el Real "Church of the monastery of San Benito el Real (Valladolid)"), of the Benedictine order, one of the oldest temples in Valladolid. It was erected on the old Royal Alcázar, and is made in Gothic style, although the façade is later: it was designed by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón in the middle of the century. Inside, the grille from the same century stands out, which covers the three naves of the church. Next to it is the Mercado del Val, which dates back to the 19th century.

Nearby, the church of San Miguel and San Julián "Iglesia de San Miguel y San Julián (Valladolid)"), on the highest topographic point of the city, was a temple of the Company of Jesus in Valladolid, as attested by the façade and the interior structure, in accordance with the Roman model. Inside you can see works by Gregorio Fernández and reliefs by Adrián Álvarez and Francisco de Rincón.

On the same street of San Ignacio, some of the many palaces built in this area in the times of Philip II are preserved, such as the Palace of the Marquis of Valverde, whose exterior features an angled window and medallion decoration, and the Palace of Fabio Nelli, a work of Renaissance classicism by Juan de Lastra and Diego de Praves. Next to these palaces, through a small entrance, you can access the Plaza del Viejo Coso, the primitive bullring of Valladolid.

The cathedral and its surroundings

On the banks of the now diverted southern branch of the Esgueva River "Esgueva (river)"), the collegiate church of Santa María "Colegiata de Santa María (Valladolid)") was erected by Pedro Ansúrez, destined to be the religious head of his new and prosperous fiefdom. During the first half of the century, three national Councils were held in the temple, and the building being insufficient or of little rank, a new one was built beginning in the century following the new Cistercian architecture.

The unfinished cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption was designed by Juan de Herrera with a layout of great monumentality, a double proportion for two equal squares with a transept and towers in four corners, but the scarcity of income from the newly created Valladolid bishopric, the death of the architect and Philip II, the main promoters of the work, and the lack of resources and interest in its completion during the following centuries, resulted in only almost half of what was designed by him being built. Herrera. Attached to its walls, the Romanesque and Gothic remains of the collegiate church, from the 19th century, survive, which it replaced as the main church of the city. The main altarpiece of the cathedral is the work of Juan de Juni.

The main building of this institution stands in the University Square "Plaza de la Universidad (Valladolid)". The historic building of the University of Valladolid was built in the century according to the design of Brother Pedro de la Visitación. Its sculptural decoration is the work of Antonio Tomé and sons.

Nearby stands, since the 19th century, the church of Santa María La Antigua "Iglesia de Santa María La Antigua (Valladolid)"), foundation of Count Pedro Ansúrez, lord of Valladolid, with a slender bell tower of French influence, known as The queen of the Romanesque towers of Castile, topped with a pyramidal roof and a cloister, both from the beginning of the 19th century. The rest of the structure and the interior are in the Gothic style. At the beginning of the century the Gothic naves of the temple threatened ruin and in 1917 they were demolished and reconstruction began in neo-Gothic style.

Halfway between these places and the Plaza Mayor, the Pasaje Gutiérrez is preserved, a commercial gallery built in 1885 in the European style of the time, following the design of Jerónimo Ortiz de Urbina, and which constitutes, together with the Pasaje de Lodares in Albacete, the only examples of this type of construction in all of Spain. Near the Pasaje, there is the church of the Savior "Iglesia del Salvador (Valladolid)"), where, according to tradition, the patron saint of Valladolid, Saint Pedro Regalado, was baptized.

Campo Grande and its perimeter

Bordering the Campo Grande, on the Acera de Recoletos, a great artery of expansion of the bourgeoisie, buildings from the end of the century and beginning of the century remain: the Casa Mantilla, from 1891, in an eclectic style, with Renaissance inspiration, the Casa Resines also from the same year or the modernist "Modernism (art)") Casa del Príncipe "Casa del Príncipe (Valladolid)"), from 1906, the work of Jerónimo Arroyo, Palencia architect trained in the Barcelona school.

After crossing the Acera de Recoletos you reach the Plaza de Colón "Plaza de Colón (Valladolid)"), where until the century the Convent of San José "Convento de San José de Padres Capuchinos (Valladolid)" was located. A few meters from the square is the Valladolid-Campo Grande Station, the city's main railway station.

Surrounding the Campo Grande, on Paseo de Filipinos, the church of San Juan de Letrán "Iglesia de San Juan de Letrán (Valladolid)") stands out for its façade and its vaults covered with baroque plasterwork, both from the 19th century, the work of Matías Machuca. The body of the church is from the end of the .

Also from the century is the convent of the Filipino Augustinians "Convento de los Agustinos Filipinos (Valladolid)"). The building, whose façade faces the rear door of Paseo del Príncipe del Campo Grande, was designed by Ventura Rodríguez.

Continuing the route around the park, we find the Valladolid Cavalry Academy, which dates back to 1915 and is a historicist building topped by spiers similar to those that characterized the Austrian palaces.

Next to the Cavalry Academy, Zorrilla Square is a key point in the urban layout of Valladolid. Presided over by a statue of Zorrilla, the work of Aurelio Carretero, it links the main streets of Valladolid: the previously mentioned Recoletos sidewalk, Paseo de Zorrilla, the city's main boulevard, Santiago Street, which leads to the Plaza Mayor and Miguel Íscar streets, Duque de la Victoria "Calle Duque de la Victoria (Valladolid)") and the Plaza de España "Plaza España (Valladolid)").

The Columbian heritage

Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, on May 20, 1506. The city council decided in 1968 to build a building in the Gothic-Elizabethan style that reproduced a palatial house owned by Diego Colón, the Admiral's younger brother, located in the city of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. This building today houses the Columbus House Museum "Casa Museo de Colón (Valladolid)").

On the same street, on the opposite sidewalk, the Magdalena church "Iglesia de Santa María Magdalena (Valladolid)"), from the 19th century, displays on its façade a large stone shield, the coat of arms of its patron, the viceroy of Peru and bishop, Pedro de la Gasca. Inside you can see the main altarpiece, that of Santiago, and the alabaster tomb of the aforementioned bishop, the work of Esteban Jordán The Palace of Santa Cruz "Palacio de Santa Cruz (Valladolid)"), the first Renaissance building in Spain, erected starting in 1486 by the architect Lorenzo Vázquez de Segovia with the patronage of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza, has a semicircular arch doorway and a patio of three floors, two in late Gothic style and the third with baroque nuances, a consequence of a reform in the 19th century. In its library, which is accessed through a plateresque door, valuable documents are preserved in its gilded wooden shelves on two floors, including the Beato de Valcabado, from the year 970.

Nearby, the Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales "Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales (Valladolid)"), in Palladian style, preserves a Mudejar arch from what was the palace of the Queen of Castile María de Molina. And in the convent of Santa Clara "Convento de Santa Clara (Valladolid)"), from the 19th century, the Franciscan severity of the exterior contrasts with the baroque plasterwork of the 19th century.

The convent of the Descalzas Reales "Convento de las Descalzas Reales (Valladolid)") was commissioned by Philip III and Margaret of Austria, in the 17th century; It has a three-story tower, palatial type, with lattices on the balconies. Inside it is possible to see the Tuscan-style cloister, and, in the church, the altarpiece made jointly by Juan de Muniátegui, Gregorio Fernández and Santiago Morán.

The Vivero Palace, built in the 19th century, heads a complex of buildings that was enlarged to meet the needs of the administration of justice. The Catholic Monarchs married there (1469), and then decided its destiny as Royal Court and Chancery.

Lost heritage

During the century and, fundamentally, throughout the century numerous historical monuments were demolished from the execution of different urban plans designed to try to take on the uncontrolled rural exodus and the demographic growth of the city during this period, to which the state of ruin in which many of them were found contributed.[102]​ In this way, a multitude of old buildings such as the Hospital of the Resurrection, where Miguel de Cervantes set his novel dogs*, convents and cloisters such as that of San Francisco "Convento de San Francisco (Valladolid)") or that of San José, churches such as that of San Julián and Santa Basilisa "Iglesia de San Julián y Santa Basilisa (Valladolid)") or that of San Miguel "Iglesia de San Miguel (Valladolid)"), including dozens of medieval and Renaissance palaces such as that of La Ribera, the Gardoqui palace or the house of the Knockers were demolished to build new buildings, such as Casa Mantilla, or high-rise apartment blocks that broke with the architectural harmony of the city.

In July 1978, the Council of Ministers declared the city a historical-artistic site, but for many scholars the declaration came too late and had no subsequent impact. The architect Fernando Chueca Goitia even stated that the destruction of the historical-artistic heritage of Valladolid was nine out of ten.[103]​.

urban statuary

Urban sculpture in Valladolid is featured by works that represent illustrious figures who have been remembered in this way. Thus, in 1887, the standing statue of Miguel de Cervantes "Statue of Cervantes (Valladolid)"), with period costume, pen and book at the ready, made by Nicolás Fernández de la Oliva, was installed in the Plaza de la Universidad. The writer José Zorrilla also has a sculpture in the square that bears his name. The founder of the city, Count Pedro Ansúrez, has a monument in the center of the Plaza Mayor, made in 1903 by Aurelio Carretero. The Columbus Monument "Monumento a Colón (Valladolid)"), the work of the artist Antonio Susillo, and inaugurated in 1905, recalls the figure of the discoverer.

Also noteworthy are the sculptures that adorn the Campo Grande of Valladolid, and near it, at the entrance to the Cavalry Academy "Academia de Caballería (Valladolid)"), the monument to the Hunters of Alcántara, from 1931, the work of Mariano Benlliure.

Far from there, the Plaza de San Pablo "Plaza de San Pablo (Valladolid)") is presided over by a statue of Philip II; Made in 1964 by Federico Coullaut-Valera, it is a copy of the one in the Plaza de la Armería in Madrid and imitates the Pompeo Leoni model. At the entrance to Cadenas de San Gregorio Street, the iron sculpture The depth is the air, by Eduardo Chillida, was installed in 1982, a tribute to the Valladolid poet Jorge Guillén.

Among the "human scale" sculptures, The Comedian stands out, in the Plaza de Martí Monsó, the work of Eduardo Cuadrado; the sculpture by Rosa Chacel that is located on one of the benches in the Poniente gardens") and which was made by Luis Santiago Pardo in 1996. Other examples are El Encuentro, a work by Feliciano Álvarez Buenaposada, located since 1997 in the Plaza de Madrid; the one titled Candia, in the Ribera de Castilla Park, by the sculptor Ana Jiménez; the monument to the bullfighter Fernando Domínguez, in the Plaza de bulls; the sculpture Dancing in bronze, a tribute to the dancer Vicente Escudero by the sculptor Belén González, or those dedicated to Einstein and Pío del Río Hortega, in the Plaza del Museo de la Ciencia.

Among the new constructions, it is worth highlighting those installed in the extension of the Zorrilla promenade: Stage Set for a Film, by Dennis Oppenheim; the Doors of Valladolid, by Cristóbal Gabarrón; and the Columna form of sound, by Lorenzo Frechilla. Another is the Monument to the IV Centenary of the city of Valladolid, built in 1999 by Ángel Mateos Bernal, located in front of the Castilla y León fairgrounds, on Salamanca Avenue.

On other occasions the sculptures share their role with water, in fountains such as Los Colosos (Pedro Monje, 1996), in the Plaza de la Rinconada; the (Concha Gay, 1996), in the Plaza de Martí Monsó; the one titled (Luis Santiago Pardo, 1998), located in the central roundabout of the Poniente gardens; the (Fernando González Poncio, 1998), in the square of the same name; and others.

Parks and gardens

The oldest and most emblematic park in the city is Campo Grande; It is a large romantic garden, located in the heart of Valladolid, designed in its current appearance by Miguel Íscar, mayor of Valladolid between 1877 and 1880. It houses a great variety of trees that constitute a true botanical garden. Different birds inhabit it and peacocks and, recently, squirrels are famous.

Also at the end of the century, the Poniente gardens were built on the old northern branch of the Esgueva.

It is a simple garden in the center of which there are two pergolas that house a small square in which there is a fountain that recalls the work of the Valladolid writer Jorge Guillén.

Along the course of the Pisuerga there are also plenty of green areas. Starting in the north, the Ribera de Castilla Park (inaugurated on March 20, 1988), with an area of ​​12 hectares, is populated with different species of poplars, poplars and lime trees. Following the flow of the water, the Moreras Park has several walks, sports areas and a river beach. Next to it is the Francisco Sabadell Rose Garden, a small garden exclusively made up of roses.

Other green areas are the Pinar de Antequera, the main natural resource of the Valladolid capital; the La Fuente del Sol Forest Park, a historic green space next to the La Victoria neighborhood, the Las Norias park in Santa Victoria, which occupies the old facilities of the Santa Victoria sugar factory, the La Victoria botanical garden, which has 30 different species of trees along with a sample of native species, the Fuente de la Salud park in the Los Pajarillos neighborhood, the Canterac y de la Paz park in Las Delicias or the Mediodía park in Parquesol.

Bridges

Following the course of the Pisuerga River, the following bridges cross it:

A significant number of bridges cross the Esgueva River. As the river is much smaller and the current configuration is due to its channeling through one end of the city, suppressing its passage through the center and its various branches, these structures do not have their own name, but rather take the name corresponding to the street that crosses the river.

In the park located behind the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, next to the riverbed, a pond has been designed in which the remains of one of the city's fences are found.

• - Main Bridge.

• - Remains of the water passage of one of the city's fences over the Esgueva River.

• - Hanging Bridge.

• - Isabel la Católica Bridge.

• - Poniente Bridge.

• - Arturo Eyries Bridge.

• - Juan de Austria Bridge.

• - Condesa Eylo Bridge.

• - Hispanic America Bridge.

• - Science Museum walkway.

• - Pedro Gómez Bosque walkway.

Files

• - The Archive of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid (ARCHV) is the oldest archive in the city and the only one of a state nature, since it depends directly on the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. Created in 1489, it contains the documentation funds generated by the Royal Court and Chancery of Valladolid, the highest judicial instance of the Crown of Castile for the territories located north of the Tagus River, from its creation in 1387 until its suppression in 1834. It also preserves the funds of the former Territorial Court of Valladolid (1834-1988), as well as the War Court (century), Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León, Social Courts of Valladolid and other legal institutions. It is located in the Chancery archive building.[104]​.

• - The General Archive of Castilla y León, created in 2002, is the successor to the Central Archive of the Administration of Castilla y León, in charge of guarding the documentation generated in the pre-autonomous era, and currently, in charge of guarding the documentation of the various bodies of the Junta de Castilla y León.

• - The Provincial Historical Archive, located in the Palacio de los Vivero, headquarters of the former Royal Court and Chancery of Valladolid, was created in 1932 to guard the heritage of the central and peripheral Administration of the province, the notarial protocols as well as the historical documentation of the province's town councils and other public and private documentation that entered it.[106]​.

• - The Municipal Archive of Valladolid preserves the documentation generated by the Valladolid City Council throughout its history. Existing since 1503 with antecedents in 1375, the oldest document dates from 1191 and preserves a good number of medieval scrolls from between 1192-1393. In addition to the funds generated by the City Council, it also collects funds from defunct institutions such as the Hospital del Esgueva, photographic funds, posters, private funds, etc.[107]​ It has its headquarters in the church of San Agustín "Iglesia de San Agustín (Valladolid)").

Furthermore, due to its proximity to the capital, the General Archive of Simancas is notable, which keeps the documentation of the Hispanic Monarchy from the Catholic Monarchs until the establishment of the Liberal Regime. As for private ones, the most important is the Diocesan Archive, which houses the funds generated by the collegiate church and then by the cathedral, the documentation of the diocesan curia, the set of parish archives of the diocese and a large musical archive with more than 6,000 scores.

Museums

• - The National Museum of Sculpture has international relevance, for having the most important sculpture collection in the peninsula and being one of the most outstanding in Europe in its field. It dates back to 1842 as the Provincial Museum of Fine Arts, but was elevated to National Museum status in 1933. It is housed in three buildings: Colegio de San Gregorio, a masterpiece of Elizabethan Gothic from the century that houses the permanent collection, the Villena Palace "Palacio de Villena (Valladolid)"), in front of it, with a library, temporary exhibition room, warehouse, conference room and a Neapolitan nativity scene, and the Gondomar Palace (popularly known as Casa del Sol), which has the church of San Benito el Viejo attached to it and is located at the end of the street, housing the collection of the National Museum of Artistic Reproductions. The Museum houses great works of Spanish sculpture, mainly from the Baroque, by authors such as Alonso Berruguete (Altarpiece of San Benito el Real de Valladolid, Juan de Juni, Gregorio Fernández, Pompeo Leoni or Pedro de Mena, including quality painting —Alonso Berruguete, Francisco Ribalta, Pier Paul Rubens, Francisco de Zurbarán or Luis Meléndez). Some of his sculptural groups parade through the streets during Holy Week.

• - Inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is the Diocesan and Cathedral Museum, inaugurated in 1965 at the initiative of the then archbishop of Valladolid, José García Goldáraz. Its collections are distributed throughout ten chapels that grouped rooms of the old medieval collegiate church of Santa María "Colegiata de Santa María (Valladolid)") erected by Count Ansúrez, such as the Chapter Room, Cloister Chapel, Cathedral Chapter... Inside there are works from the cathedral treasury and extinct parishes of the archdiocese of Valladolid: sculptures, paintings, metalwork, ivories, ornaments or funerary monuments. Highlights include the Processional Custody of Juan de Arfe "Juan de Arfe (son)"), which parades during the Corpus Christi festival and its musical archive, one of the most complete in Spain.

• - In the Museum of Valladolid (Fabio Nelli Palace), which is part of the so-called Provincial Museums, sections of Archeology are exhibited that show a complete chronological sequence of pieces from the Valladolid province from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages (such as the Roman mosaics found in Villa del Prado). The Fine Arts section offers paintings from the 19th and 2nd centuries, Flemish tapestries, metalwork from the 19th century, popular Spanish ceramics, sculpture and a small section dedicated to the history of the city.[108]​ There is a project to reform and expand the museum.[109]​.

• - The Patio Herreriano Museum of Spanish Contemporary Art, an important reference in the dissemination of contemporary art, since its foundation, and inaugurated in June 2002.

• - Anatomical Museum. Founded in 1917 by Salvino Sierra in the anatomical pavilion of the Faculty of Medicine "Faculty of Medicine (University of Valladolid)").[110]​ In it you can admire pieces of natural and artificial human anatomy, skeletons of animal skulls, as well as instruments and devices related to medicine.

• - Museum of Natural Sciences. It has 5,102 pieces distributed across fifteen rooms, formed with essentially scientific and pedagogical criteria. There are collections of Natural Sciences, Botany, Zoology and Geology.

• - Doctor Saracíbar Ophthalmology Museum. It is a museum attached to the University Institute of Applied Ophthalmology (IOBA) of the University of Valladolid. It is named after José María Saracíbar"), an ophthalmologist from Valladolid who donated much of the material that can be seen today. In the museum, created in 1995, there are instruments, devices, books and treatises on ophthalmology from the end of the century and beginning of the 20th century.

• - Science Museum: built on the facilities of the old flour factory El Palero (only the façade remains) it assembles several buildings, which are architectural elements designed by architects Rafael Moneo and Enrique de Teresa in collaboration with Francisco Romero and Juan José Echevarría. Among these elements, the pedestrian walkway over the Pisuerga River and the tower stand out. Regarding the museum contents, the museum consists of a permanent exhibition, through the rooms different aspects of science are presented, starting with its digital planetarium, one of the most modern in the world, which allows all types of exhibitions to be held.[111]​ There is a space for the little ones The Children's Room, in which the aim is to bring scientific and technological content closer through play. In the Water Room its complete cycle is presented, from its collection to its return to the environment. The human body is also an object of study, as well as the forces of Nature. On the top floor is Room 41 4 dedicated to the history of Cartography. Associated with this exhibition is a space of the Junta de Castilla y León: La Casa del Mapa, dedicated to the distribution and sale of all types of cartography and geographical publications. In the Gallery of the Wise, the central element is the narration of the virtual image of a series of conflicts from all times, and in the Gallery of Inventions, those that have represented an important advance in people's lives are shown. The museum also has a temporary exhibition hall, Interactive Room, Consultation and Library along with a restaurant at the highest part of the tower.

• - La Casa del Río: located next to the Science Museum, it is the first river aquarium in Spain. Collect the flora and fauna of the Pisuerga in different fish tanks where you can see species that have already disappeared, such as the white-legged crab, the eel or the sea lamprey, along with species still native to their habitat: the percasol, the red crab or the black bass. In addition, two terrariums allow you to get to know the amphibian inhabitants of the river: frogs, toads, salamanders or newts "Newt (batracian)"). As a complement, the Casa del Río presents several audiovisuals on the life chain or the water cycle, an area of ​​explanatory panels and a viewpoint towards the Pisuerga.

• - The Cristóbal Gabarrón Foundation Museum is conceived as a center for the dissemination of the work of the Valladolid artist Cristóbal Gabarrón through a retrospective selection of art history organized in different rooms that allow an approach to cultures: The Pillars of History —Egypt, Etruria, Greece and Rome—, Art of Pre-Hispanic America —Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru— Cultures of Black Africa —Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Ivory Coast, Mali, etc.—.

The foundation's funds also house several historical sections that include from the century to: a collection of religious painting and sculpture, an exhibition of European painting, and those titled "Picasso Ceramista" and "International Graphic Works Collection." Among the most current collections, the Museum of Avant-garde Art (MAVA) stands out, intended to collect proposals from young artists and Espacio–Novo, which is conceived as a center of international contemporary art. Currently the center is closed.

• - Cavalry Academy Museum. It was created in 1976 thanks to the initiative of several Academy professors. Paintings are exhibited, such as the painting of the Battle of Treviño, due to the brush of Víctor Morelli, or the equestrian portrait of Alfonso XIII, painted by Román Navarro García. You can also see knives and firearms, paintings, military miniatures, uniforms, mounts, etc.

• - The Oriental Museum,[112]​ in the Convent of the Philippine Augustinians, work of Ventura Rodríguez. Begun in 1759, it was completed in 1930 with the blessing of the temple. The Oriental Museum was founded in 1908. A first renovation took place in 1980, and a second in 2005, opening again to the public in May 2006. It houses an extraordinary collection of Chinese and Filipino art from the century BC. C. al. It is one of the largest collections of oriental art that can be admired in Europe, and without a doubt the most complete in Spain. This great collection of art is located in this city due to two reasons, Valladolid was the headquarters of the Philippine Augustinians of Spain and the second, which, being the headquarters, was where future missionaries were trained and for this many materials were brought from the East.

• - Museum of the Monastery of Santa Isabel. Located in the church of the convent of Santa Isabel "Iglesia del Convento de Santa Isabel (Valladolid)"), it exhibits various works of art, highlighting two canvases by Diego Valentín Díaz, that of the Inmaculada by Felipe Gil de Mena and paintings from the middle of the century.

• - The Museum of the Royal Monastery of San Joaquín and Santa Ana "Real Monasterio de San Joaquín y Santa Ana (Valladolid)") (MM Cistercians), where you can admire several works by Goya, a recumbent Christ by Gregorio Fernández, and an important collection of fabrics and clothing made by the Cistercian community since 1767.

• - Arellano Alonso African Art Museum of the University of Valladolid. In its three rooms, located in the Palacio de Santa Cruz, you can see the only museum dedicated exclusively to African art in Spain. In the Rectors' Hall there is an introduction to the collection and outstanding pieces, while in the Renaissance Room part of its large collection of terracotta sculpture from sub-Saharan Africa is permanently exhibited. Almost two hundred pieces take a journey of more than two thousand years through the different cultures that have used this material in the western part of the continent. It is the most important set, both in terms of quantity and quality, of those on public display in Europe. In 2012, a third room was added to the museum, that of San Ambrosio, where you can see the complex called the Kingdom of Oku, with traditional pieces linked to the sovereign and the secret societies of this kingdom located in the northwest of Cameroon.

• - Museum of the University of Valladolid. The permanent collection houses a sample of objects related to the history of the university and its documentary heritage: ophthalmological and anatomical instruments, archaeological and religious samples, academic furniture, minute books, codices, bulls and authorizations for the teaching of civil and religious studies and a small collection of paintings. You can see a codex copy of the comments to the Apocalypse by Beato de Liébana, known as Beato de Valcabado, written in the year 970.

The museum of the University of Valladolid also has three temporary exhibition rooms, intended for exhibitions of young artists, collections from exchanges with other universities or the exhibition of the results of research work carried out by the various departments and institutes of the University.

• - Bull Museum: located in the old ticket offices of the bullring, it was a space that took a tour through the history of bullfighting from the prehistory of bullfighting to the present. The museum had various multimedia elements: such as graphics, audiovisuals or photographs related to the world of bullfighting and a collection of costumes and dresses from the bullfighting world. It was closed in 2016 for not having visitors.

• - Cubero Sweet Museum: this is the first sugar candy museum in the world. You can see sugar reproductions of the most important monuments of Valladolid (San Juan de Letrán "Church of San Juan de Letrán (Valladolid)"), Fabio Nelli palace, Fuensaldaña castle, church of the Antigua "Iglesia de Santa María La Antigua (Valladolid)"), the North station...) and also a representation of the Episcopal palace of Astorga.

Museum houses

You can visit three house museums:

• - The Cervantes House Museum "Casa de Cervantes (Valladolid)"). It is located in the property occupied by the writer Miguel de Cervantes during his stay in Valladolid between 1604 and 1606, which coincided with the publication of the first edition of Don Quixote in 1605. The building is also the headquarters of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

• - Zorrilla's House. It is the house where the poet José Zorrilla was born on February 21, 1817 and where he lived continuously throughout his early childhood, and sporadically throughout his life, such as during his return from Mexico in 1866. The Zorrilla House reflects the atmosphere of the romantic period in which the playwright's life developed and has personal memories and original furniture donated by his widow upon his death.

• - The Columbus House Museum "Columbus House Museum (Valladolid)"). After the demolition in the 1920s of the building where Admiral Christopher Columbus died, on the street of the same name, the current building, a replica of Columbus's palace in Puerto Rico, was inaugurated in 1968. It has been remodeled and reopened with multimedia and interactive content in 2006, on the occasion of the V Centenary of the death of the sailor in Valladolid.

• - The Casa de la India houses the Casa de la India Foundation in Spain, established in March 2003, inaugurated its headquarters in autumn 2006, once the rehabilitation and refurbishment of its headquarters was completed, in a contemporary key. The building is a two-story house, made of red brick, it has classrooms for academic and cultural programming, an assembly hall, a library with a reading room and multimedia space, an exhibition room, an information office and a garden with a stage for holding outdoor events. The Casa de la India, in conjunction with the counterpart centers in London and Berlin, is a cultural institution created to promote dialogue between the peoples of India and Spain, and to promote the development of their relations in the cultural, social and institutional spheres.[113]​.

Easter week

Holy Week is the most important cultural event in the city, due to its valuable polychrome carvings from the centuries and by Juan de Juni, Gregorio Fernández or Francisco del Rincón, many of them exhibited during the rest of the year in the National Museum of Sculpture, annually attracting visitors from all over Spain and the rest of the world.

This celebration was declared of International Tourist Interest "Festivals of International Tourist Interest (Spain)") in 1980, thus being the first celebration of Holy Week in Spain to hold such declaration. In 2014, the procedures began to achieve its recognition as intangible cultural heritage of Humanity.[114]​.

During Passion Week, and whenever there is no rain, the twenty Valladolid brotherhoods procession through the historic center of the city. The history of Holy Week in Valladolid dates back to the 19th century, although previously there were processions inside the convents, where the oldest brotherhoods were born such as Santa Vera Cruz "Penitential Brotherhood of the Santa Vera Cruz (Valladolid)"), Angustias, La Piedad, La Pasión and Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno.

During Holy Week in Valladolid you can see one of the main exhibitions of religious imagery in the world through the streets. Steps "Paso (Holy Week)") such as the Virgin of Sorrows, one of the main carvings of Juan de Juni, The Holy Supper, by Juan Guraya, The Prayer of the Garden, by Andrés de Solanes, The Lord Bound to the Column and The Descent, by Gregorio Fernández, or The Tears of Saint Peter, by Pedro de Ávila, remind to the citizen the link between religion and art.

Holy Week in Valladolid is not only distinguished by the artistic singularity and great value of its steps but also by the sobriety, silence and respect that reigns in each act.

Within the Valladolid Passion Week, events such as the Proclamation and the Sermon of the Seven Words stand out, which transforms the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid into a stage that seems to go back to the century and the General Procession of the Sacred Passion of the Redeemer on Good Friday, which takes a journey from the Last Supper to the solitude of the Virgin and in which you can contemplate the 32 most important sculptural groups.

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi is a Catholic religious celebration.

SEMINCI

The Valladolid International Film Week (SEMINCI) is held annually at the end of October. Created in 1956 as "Valladolid Religious Film Week", it was celebrated during Holy Week, evolving to become one of the main film festivals in Spain, and the second oldest, with the objective of disseminating and promoting artistic category films that contribute to the knowledge of world cinematography.

The festival has its main headquarters at the Calderón Theater "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)"), where the opening gala, the screening of films from the Official Section and the closing gala are held, in which the Golden Spike, the festival's main award, is awarded.

Characters from the world of cinema have paraded at SEMINCI, such as Ken Loach, Brad Pitt, Kenneth Branagh, Ang Lee, Sophia Loren, Julie Christie, John Cleese, María de Medeiros, Liv Ullmann, Abbas Kiarostami, Atom Egoyan and Mira Sorvino.

Events

Throughout the year, numerous cultural events are held in the city. Chronologically, the first weekend after the Three Kings' holiday the Pingüinos winter motorcycling rally "Pingüinos (biker rally)") is held, the largest in Europe, in which all kinds of activities related to the world of two wheels are carried out.

Between the end of May and the beginning of June, the Valladolid Book Fair is held in the Plaza Mayor. In its forty-sixth edition, the fair brought together more than 130 authors from all over the world. Fernando Savater, Juan Manuel de Prada and Antonio Gamoneda among others have passed through it. Between the end of March and the beginning of April and on the central promenade of Campo Grande, the Antique and Second-hand Book Fair is also held, in which more than 20 bookstores from all over Spain participate.

During the month of May, Renaissance Week takes place, with the celebration of a Renaissance market, with the recreation of flavors, smells and characters of Valladolid of the century. These days, La Ruta del Hereje, popularized after the work of Miguel Delibes, is also dramatized in the streets, while the restaurants offer gastronomic menus rescued from the century and updated by Valladolid restaurateurs. Also in May, the Valladolid International Street Theater and Arts Festival (TAC) is held. The shows are national and foreign, designed to be exhibited in spaces without seats.

In spring, the famous and internationally consolidated Valladolid Latino music festival also took place, in which artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Paulina Rubio, Julieta Venegas and Marc Anthony, among many others, have participated from 2006 to 2015.

During the summer months, Las Noches de San Benito is celebrated with concerts and open-air cinema.

In 2007, a cycle called Music in the Cathedral was created, taking advantage of the acquisition of an Allen electronic organ to the detriment of the old organ "Organ (instrument)") of the cathedral built in two phases (1904 and 1932) by Aquilino Amezua and Leocadio Galdós and which is a valuable instrument with three keyboards and pedal and 36 sets, in a romantic-symphonic style.

In 2007, the first edition of the Valladolid Sculpture Biennial was held, for contemporary sculpture, which to a certain extent complements the city's National Museum of Sculpture.[115]​.

Finally, the patron saint festivities of San Pedro Regalado are celebrated, in the middle of spring - May 13 -, with a short celebration in which the medieval market, gastronomy and music are the main protagonists and, then, the Fair and Festivities of Our Lady of San Lorenzo that are celebrated at the beginning of September whose central day is September 8, the festival of the patron saint. The program gives way to various musical performances, theater, gastronomic fairs, bullfights, craft events, fireworks or exhibitions among other activities. During this festive week, the Day Fair, the concerts in the Plaza Mayor, the regional gastronomic booths, the Trade Fair and the Fireworks stand out.

Language and literature

Valladolid is topically cited as a place where the best Spanish is spoken. This tradition seems to date back to the 19th century, from the reference made to Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy (referring to her trip to Spain, which was reflected in her work Relato del viaje a España) about the purity of Spanish in the city.[117]​[118]​ This fact is taking shape in the promotion of initiatives for the creation of centers specialized in teaching the Spanish language to foreigners.[119]​ But despite Due to this fame, the speech of the people of Valladolid is characterized by diatopic features such as leimism,[120]​ laism and others typical of the northern Castilian dialect.[121]​.

In 2001, Valladolid hosted the Second International Congress of the Spanish Language, which was held under the title "Spanish in the Information Society" between October 16 and 19 of that year.[122]​.

Miguel de Cervantes, the greatest exponent of Spanish literature and universally known, lived in Valladolid, during 2 stages of his life, the first time that Miguel de Cervantes resided in Valladolid he was only 4 years old, after the years he returned to Valladolid with the arrival to said city of the court of King Philip III in 1601, during this last stay he wrote part of his crowning work, Don Quixote de la Mancha and in this city he The author was there when said novel was published in 1605.

Up to four Cervantes awards, the highest literary distinction in the Spanish language, are linked to Valladolid: Miguel Delibes, Jorge Guillén (both natives of the city), Francisco Umbral and José Jiménez Lozano (residents for many years). Other notable authors born in the city or closely linked to it are Miguel de Cervantes, José Zorrilla, Gaspar Núñez de Arce, Rosa Chacel, Francisco Pino, Blas Pajarero, Gustavo Martín Garzo, José María Luelmo, Fernando de Orbaneja or José Manuel de la Huerga.

Music and dance

The Miguel Delibes Cultural Center,[123]​ inaugurated in 2007, is the headquarters of the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra and the Castilla y León Youth Symphony Orchestra (OSCyL Joven), the city's Professional Conservatory of Music,[124]​ the Higher School of Dramatic Art and the Professional School of Dance and Experimental Theater. In addition, it is equipped with an auditorium with capacity for 1,700 spectators, a room for chamber music and another for experimental theater; Its openness has been key in musical culture.

The Calderón theaters "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)") (remodeled in 1999) and Zorrilla "Teatro Zorrilla (Valladolid)") (rebuilt between 2005 and 2009) offer programming that covers most of the performing and musical arts.

The Teatro Carrión"), reopened in 2013, has hosted the Philharmonic Orchestra since 2014, with an opera, zarzuela and concert season.[125]​.

The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Valladolid (JOSVa)[126] and the Municipal School of Music Band are also based in the capital, both promoted by the Valladolid City Council, as well as different choral and instrumental groups private or dependent on other institutions. In addition, folk music groups such as Candeal "Candeal (band)") or Tradere, children's music groups such as La Carraca, come from the city, and in the field of modern music, the Celtas Cortos, a Celtic rock group from the 90s, and others such as Greta y los Garbo, Los Mismos "Los Mismos (Spanish group)"), Triquel "Triquel (band)") or Arizona Baby "Arizona Baby" stand out. (band)").

In addition, the city has several concert halls and other venues for live music, which provides Valladolid with a musical offering of all genres, along with the major festivals of the Virgin of San Lorenzo and its free concerts in the Plaza Mayor, in which internationally renowned artists have performed.

Porta Caeli, LAVA or Cientocero are just some of the concert halls in the city.

Cinema and television

Among the recognized figures dedicated to the world of acting, great actors stand out such as Lola Herrera, Concha Velasco, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Diego Martín "Diego Martín (actor)"), Roberto Enríquez, Elvira Mínguez, Ágata Lys, the actress and model Inés Sastre, Juanjo Pardo, Emilio Laguna, Julia Torres, Paloma Valdés, Daniel Muriel, Nacho López, Fernando Cayo, Ana Otero or the sisters Loreto and Marta Valverde, directors such as Enrique Gato," Arturo Dueñas, Álvaro Martín Sanz, Alberto Morais or Enrique García-Vázquez or Pedro del Rio[127]​ and producers such as Rodrigo Espinel").[128]​.

In the world of television, Patricia Conde "Patricia Conde (presenter)"), Deborah Ombres and Manu Carreño have acquired great relevance.

The city has also hosted various filmings of films such as Pilar Guerra (1926) by José Buchs, La illustre fregona (1927) by Armando Pou, Forja de almas (1943) by Eusebio Fernández Ardavín, Cerca del Cielo (1951) by Domingo Viladomar, Mr. Arkadin (1955) by Orson Welles, A Little Girl from Valladolid (1951) by Luis César Amadori, Los Farsantes (1963) by Mario Camus, Doctor Zhivago (1965) by David Lean, Living Again (1967) by Mario Camus, La Coquito (1977) Pedro Masó, Soldiers of lead (1983) by José Sacristán, Romanza final (1986) by José María Forqué, Cuernos de Mujer (1994) by Enrique Urbizu, Hello, are you alone? (1995) by Iciar Bollain, Plenilunio (2000) by Imanol Uribe, The biggest robbery ever told (2002) by Daniel Monzón, or Un Anyone has a good day (2007) by Santiago Lorenzo, and series such as Memento Mori "Memento Mori (television series)") (2023), adaptation of the homonymous novel by Valladolid writer César Pérez Gellida.[129]​.

Valladolid has belonged to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network since 2019, in the cinema category.[130]​.

Gastronomy

Valladolid gastronomy is part of Castilian gastronomy. "Meat and roasts occupy a special place; one of the most typical dishes is roast suckling lamb seasoned with water and salt and cooked in a wood-fired oven (castilian-style roast). They are followed by suckling pig or goat and game foods such as partridges, quail and rabbit, which are cooked here braised or pickled. The local cheese It is made with sheep's milk, which means a strong flavor in various degrees of cure.

Naturally, these are dishes that require bread and wine to be fully enjoyed, two preparations that have been made in this area for centuries. You can taste dozens of textures of Castilian cereal bread. Of them, the most famous is the lechuguino bread "Lechuguino (bread)") but the picos bread or the four canteros also stand out. In Valladolid you can taste high quality wines such as those assigned to the five designations of origin of the Valladolid province: the reds from the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin, the whites from Rueda or the rosés from the Cigales Designation of Origin, the Toro and the DO Tierra de León "Tierra de León (wine)").

A good dessert begins in Valladolid with the pastries made by the artisan hands of the convents and is complemented with the stew coffee "Puchero (container)"). It can be accompanied by artisanal pastas, such as Portillo mantecados (popularly known as sneakers) or with Santa Clara sponge cakes, empiñonados, cream fritters or sugared almonds.

Cultural itineraries

• - Camino de Santiago de Madrid, which passes through the Duero Bridge on its main route, with an alternative route that crosses the urban center, and continues northwest towards Sahagún "Sahagún (Spain)"), where it joins the French Way.

• - Footprints of Saint Teresa. Pilgrimage, tourist, cultural and heritage route that brings together the 17 cities where Saint Teresa of Jesus left her mark in the form of foundations.[131]​ The route does not have an established order or a limited time since each pilgrim or visitor can do it how and in the time they wish.

Sport

Valladolid is the center of sport in Castilla y León, as well as a top-class sports reference at the national level, having elite teams in most of the most popular sports, particularly highlighting the practice of rugby in the city, with two of the leading teams in the Honor Division of rugby, El Salvador and the VRAC, which between them have twenty-two National League Championships, fifteen Copas del Rey and fifteen Super Cups of Spain, having historically contributed a significant number of players to the Spanish rugby team.

The most representative team in the city is Real Valladolid, with more than forty seasons in the First Division of Spanish football, champion of a League Cup "League Cup (Spain)") in 1984 and twice runner-up in the Copa del Rey de Fútbol. Currently, it is part of the national Second Division. The team plays its home games at the José Zorrilla Stadium, which has a capacity for more than 27,000 people.

Both the City of Valladolid Trophy and the Provincial Council of Valladolid Trophy are held annually.

In basketball, the Ciudad de Valladolid Basketball Club competes in Second FEB.

Also noteworthy are the BM Aula Cultural, which plays in the highest category of Spanish women's handball, and the BM Atlético Valladolid, created in 2014 and which has been active since the 2016/2017 season in the Asobal League (replacing the defunct Club Balonmano Valladolid, which won a European Cup Winners' Cup, an ASOBAL Cup and two editions of the Handball King's Cup); the extinct Club Baloncesto Valladolid, one of the historic teams of the ACB basketball league and the two aforementioned rugby teams, the VRAC and the El Salvador Rugby Club.

Valladolid's sports offer is completed with outstanding badminton teams, the most important being the Valladolid Badminton Club, table tennis (Collosa Telecyl), wheelchair basketball (BSR Valladolid), futsal, inline hockey (CPLV), several important canoeing clubs based in Pisuerga and with the Valladolid Athletics Club, which is currently in the Women's Honor Division of Athletics and the Men's First Division. of Athletics being one of the most important clubs in Castilla y León. The city also has four golf courses, multiple football, basketball, handball, tennis, athletics, swimming, cycling, volleyball, martial arts, indigenous sports, hunting and fishing clubs, as well as sports clubs and facilities for other disciplines.[132]​.

It is also the city of high-level athletes such as Mayte Martínez, Rubén Baraja, Laura López Valle, Isaac Viciosa, Miriam Blasco or Roldán Rodríguez (most of them already retired from high competition) and young athletes such as Álvaro Rodríguez or Mohamed Elbendir and the Paralympic swimmer Amaya Alonso.

Also notable are the canoeist Narciso Suárez, bronze in Los Angeles 1984; Diego Criado"), co-pilot of the first Spanish balloon to fly over the geographic North Pole; the boxers Nani Rodríguez")[133]​ and Alfonso Cavia 'El Cubi'; the Amazonian Reyes Martín García-Abril"), winner of the Grand Prix and the Equestrian World Cup;[134]​ the swimmer Ramiro Cerdá");[135]​ the hunter Faustino Alonso"); the basketball player Pepe Moratinos");[136]​ the inline hockey player Ángel Ruiz;[137]​ and Juan Manuel Couder, winner of the Spanish Tennis Championship in the years 1955, 1956, 1965 and 1966 and winner of the Canadian Open in 1962.

Media

• - EFE Agency (Autonomous Delegation of Castilla y León).

Valladolid actively participates in the city twinning initiative promoted, among other institutions, by the European Union. From this initiative, the aim is to establish ties with the following cities with the celebration of cultural cycles, exchanges or sporting events:[138]​[139]​.

• - Portal:Valladolid. Content related to Valladolid.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category about Valladolid.

• - Wiktionary has definitions and other information about Valladolid.

• - Wikinews has news related to Valladolid.

• - Wikiquote hosts famous phrases from or about Valladolid.

• - Wikisource contains original works from or about Valladolid.

• - Wikiviajes hosts travel guides for Valladolid.

• - Valladolid City Council website.

Contenido

Sobre el origen del nombre hay varias teorías pero poca evidencia. Una teoría afirma que en la época andalusí se llamó Balad al-Walīd بلد الوليد, exónimo árabe usado actualmente") y que significa «puebla de Walid» o «villa de Ulit»[9]​[10]​ en alusión quizá al califa omeya Walid I, que gobernaba el Imperio islámico en el momento de la conquista árabe, pero más probablemente a algún posible gobernante o propietario árabe local llamado Walid o cristiano con dicho nombre (sea cual sea el caso, este común nombre árabe Ulit se castellanizaría en Olit u Olid).[10]​ En muy estrecha relación con esta hipótesis, existe también la posible etimología mixta romance-árabe (caso no infrecuente en la península) de «Vallis Oleti» o «Valle de Olit».[11]​[12]​ que habría evolucionado hasta la forma, esta ya sí documentada, de «Valledolit».[13]​ Otro posible origen pudiera ser «Vallis olivetum», es decir, «Valle de los Olivos», aunque dado el clima con fríos inviernos y con frecuentes heladas entrada ya la primavera que tiene la ciudad no es muy probable que hubiera gran cantidad de olivos en la zona. Otra teoría afirma que el origen de la palabra proviene de la expresión romana «Vallis tolitum» («Valle de Aguas»), ya que por la ciudad pasan el río Pisuerga y el río Esgueva "Esgueva (río)"), que antes de su canalización, en el siglo , se extendía por varios ramales. Otra teoría parte del gentilicio «vallisoletano», que se cree que provendría de «valle del sol» o «valle soleado». Pero es improbable, porque este gentilicio deriva del nombre latino de la ciudad empleado desde la baja Edad Media, «Vallisoletum»,[14]​ que es de creación artificial, para su uso en documentos oficiales o eclesiales en topónimos sin precedente en era romana, como es también el caso de «Matritus» o «Albasitum».

También existe la teoría de Valladolid como contracción de «valle de lid», lugar, por su llanura, donde se reunían los clanes y tribus prerromanos para sus enfrentamientos armados.

El historiador Ángel Montenegro Duque sostiene que bien podría ser la «Tola» del itinerario de Antonino de Ptolomeo, y apunta al origen céltico del topónimo, por la raíz «tollo» («lugar de aguas»).[15]​ Pero, siendo un poblado de los vacceos, «Vaccea Tollit» («Solevantado de los Vacceos», o «lugar elevado de los vacceos») parece un nombre más probable que «valle tollitum», dado que «Tolitum» evoluciona a «Toledo». El origen latino de Valladolid sería así un caso de falso amigo entre «Tollo» y «Tollere». «Vaccea Tollit» parece el origen etimológico de «Vallatolit» (siglo ), que fonéticamente evolucionó de forma natural a «Valladolid».

Pucela

The term "Pucela" is also popularly used to name the city. There are several theories about the origin of this word, which place its appearance in the 16th century.[16]​.

• - It is said that in the 19th century, a few Valladolid knights went with their hosts to France, to fight on the side of Joan of Arc against the English. Joan of Arc was known as the "Maid of Orleans." In French, maiden is said "pucelle", and in the Spanish that was spoken at that time, the word was very similar: "pucela". According to Luis Calabia"),[17]​ journalist and official chronicler of Valladolid, at the end of the war, the knights returned to Valladolid and began to tell of their exploits and courtships, and everything that happened with the pucela of Orleans. From then on they began to be called "pucelanos", and from there came the eponym "Pucela". But there is no document that supports the existence of these knights and their participation in the Hundred Years' War.

• - The professor at the University of Valladolid Celso Almuiña has a second theory: Valladolid is located in a valley and is watered by the Pisuerga River, the Esgueva River "Esgueva (river)") and the Castilla Canal.[18]​ Therefore, it is a pond in the middle of a dry environment. That pond could well be called poza, or its diminutive pozuela, from which "Pucela" would be derived.

• - The folklorist Joaquín Díaz maintains that the term Pucela comes from the exclusivity that the city had with the distribution of pozzolana (Roman cement), for which the people of Valladolid were known as "pucelanos".[19]​[20]​.

Pintia

Finally, there is the term "Pintia", which seems to have a much more cultured origin. Near Peñafiel, in the town of Padilla de Duero, there are the ruins of an important city, presumably Celtic: Pintia, belonging to the pre-Roman town of the Vacceos. Identifying Valladolid with this city comes from the Renaissance and the custom that prevailed at that time of relating everything to ancient civilizations. Subsequently, the non-existence of said relationship was demonstrated.

La ciudad de Valladolid se encuentra en la mitad norte de la península ibérica. Está situada en el centro de la Meseta Norte, división de la Meseta Central, por lo que presenta un paisaje típico, llano y con escasa vegetación. El relieve vallisoletano lo conforma una llanura interrumpida por pequeñas series de colinas que originan un paisaje montañoso de cerros testigos como el de San Cristóbal (), a pocos kilómetros de la capital. Las coordenadas de la ciudad son 41°38′ N 4.º 43' O. La altitud del centro de la ciudad es de ,[21]​ mientras que la altitud máxima del municipio es de , la cual se da al noreste, entre Páramo de Cabezón y Barco de San Pedro; y la altitud mínima es de , la cual se da en el último tramo del río Duero dentro del municipio, a unos metros de su confluencia con el río Pisuerga.[2]​.

El término municipal cuenta con dos exclaves, uno al norte de Villanubla (Navabuena) y otro al oeste de Ciguñuela (El Rebollar).

Su céntrica situación en la Meseta Norte le hace estar casi equidistante del resto de las capitales de Castilla y León. Palencia está a 50 kilómetros, Zamora a 104 kilómetros, Segovia a 117 kilómetros, Salamanca a 121 kilómetros, Burgos a 127 kilómetros, Ávila a 138 kilómetros, León a 139 kilómetros y Soria a 208 kilómetros.

Climate

The climate of Valladolid is continentalized Mediterranean. According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of Valladolid in the reference period 1981-2010 is, in general, type Csa (Mediterranean). However, the average temperature in July and August only slightly exceeds 22 °C in the urban area (specifically in the Valladolid observatory), but this value drops below 22 °C in some areas of the highest altitude municipality, on the outskirts, thus giving these places a Csb type climate (Mediterranean with mild summers).[22]​ The climate of Valladolid is largely determined by the location of the city in the center of the city. Duero sedimentary basin, which, being almost completely surrounded by mountains that isolate it from the sea, has an extremely dry climate for what would be expected at almost 700 m altitude and only 190 kilometers from the Cantabrian Sea in a straight line. The mountains that delimit the plateau retain the winds and rain, except in the west, where the absence of large mountains allows an open corridor to the Atlantic Ocean and it is here, through Portugal, where most of the rainfall that reaches Valladolid penetrates. The winds from the north arrive dry and cold, while those from the south tend to be warm and humid, but it is from the west and southwest where the rain usually arrives in Valladolid. The predominant winds are from the southwest, and this is reflected, for example, in the orientation of the Villanubla airport runway.

Precipitation is distributed quite irregularly throughout the year, although there is a marked minimum in summer and a maximum in autumn and spring. The annual precipitation is 433 mm and the average relative humidity throughout the year is 64%. Every year there are 2,624 hours of sunshine and 67 days of rain.[23]​.

Regarding temperatures, perhaps the most notable thing is the important daily thermal oscillation. The temperature differences between day and night often exceed 20 degrees. The average annual temperature is 12.7 °C. Winters are cold with frequent fog and frost (56 days of frost on average). The city has 9 days of snow a year; although heavy snowfalls are rare due to the particular geographical location of the city. In the anticyclonic calms of winter, mainly on the long nights of December and January, the thermal inversion produces fog, which may not lift all day. It is in December and January when the cencellada can appear. Spring in its beginnings still has the cold of winter, but becomes quite mild and pleasant as we approach summer. Summers are generally hot and dry, with maximums between 30°C and 35°C, but mild minimums, slightly exceeding 14°C. In the city it is possible to record some nights with a tropical minimum above 20 °C. Autumns are generally rainy. Its days alternate between mild afternoons with temperatures around 20-23 °C at the beginning of autumn, with cooler and even cold days as winter approaches. The temperature records are 41.1 °C, on July 15, 2022, and –11.5 °C on February 14, 1983, measured at the observatory of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) located in the Parquesol neighborhood, the highest in the city.

Although this data is official, in the cold wave of January 1971, specifically on the 3rd of that month, –16.4 °C was reached at the Valladolid airport, located on the outskirts of the city. Yes, this is the case in the case of Villanubla, whose absolute minimum occurs in this cold wave, reaching –18.8 °C on January 3, 1971. At the Villanubla observatory the temperatures are lower, because it is located at 849 m altitude, about 150 m higher than the city.[24]​.

Hydrography

As indicated above, the most probable origin of the name of the city comes from the Celtic expression Vallis tolitum (Valley of Waters), and that Valladolid is located at the confluence of the Pisuerga river with the Esgueva river "Esgueva (river)"). The latter crossed the city in two branches, until at the end of the century it was canalized.

Valladolid's relationship with the Esgueva River was ambivalent. It served as a wastewater collector, making it impossible to drink its water, making it extremely unhealthy and having foul odors, but at the same time it was used for washing and was the driving force for factories and workshops.

From 1840 to 1864 Valladolid experienced important economic development: the Canal de Castilla was put into service and the Madrid-Irún railway line was completed, so the balance was broken. In this way, the Esgueva was decided to cover the central areas of Valladolid, and channel it in the peripheral areas.[27] In addition, the Duero River also crosses the municipality through the center of Puente Duero, south of Valladolid.

The Pisuerga, the city's main river, currently offers various leisure and cultural options. The Leyenda del Pisuerga boat "Leyenda del Pisuerga (boat)") allows you to take a trip along the river, from the Boarding Station, located at the height of Paseo de las Moreras, downstream, to the neighboring town of Arroyo de la Encomienda. It is a boat 25 m long and 6 m deep. During the journey you can closely observe the flora and fauna of Pisuerga. In addition, Valladolid has an artificial beach, Las Moreras Beach, which allows Valladolid residents to sunbathe right in the center and even take a dip in Pisuerga itself.

Valladolid also has two artificial canals "Canal (artificial waterway)"): the Canal de Castilla, built between the middle of the century and the first third of the century to facilitate the transportation of wheat from Castilla to the northern ports; and the Duero Canal, built in the century to ensure the water supply to the capital and allow the creation of irrigated areas to the south of the city.

Foundation

There are datable traces in the Lower Paleolithic, essentially Acheulean, collected on the surface in the Quaternary terraces of the Pisuerga River, in Canterac (which is currently a large park located on the outskirts);[28]​ but it cannot be said that the city had a stable occupation until the Middle Ages, which is possibly when the toponym that gives it its name arose.

The later settlements in the current province of Valladolid date back to pre-Roman times, with sites of Vaccean peoples existing in the area, who, like the rest of the Celtic peoples, arrived to the peninsula from northern Europe. The greatest exponent of this culture in the vicinity, which was devastated by the Romans, is Pincia (Pintia), in the current town of Padilla de Duero.

For years, it was believed that Valladolid was ancient Pincia, until archaeological excavations demonstrated the true location of the Vaccean city. In several areas of the old town of the city, remains from the Roman period have appeared: next to the Antigua church, construction evidence of a town of a certain size appeared (- centuries),[29]​ as well as in Angustias, Arribas, Juan Mambrilla and Empecinado and Padilla streets, where there is evidence of the appearance of several Roman mosaics. There have also been finds in peripheral points of the city; In the surroundings of the Monastery of Our Lady of Prado, another villa was discovered in the 1950s: the Roman Villa of Prado, which houses a large residential architectural complex, accompanied by mosaics. In fact, a large marble and limestone mosaic, the Mosaico de los cantharus (dated to the 17th century), presides over the chamber of the Cortes of Castilla y León (deposited by the Museum of Valladolid).[30]​.

Repopulation and expansion

In the century Alfonso III of Asturias consolidated the border of the Kingdom of Asturias to the Duero. In the 19th century, during the repopulation of the Meseta, King Alfonso VI of León commissioned the Count of Saldaña y Carrión, Pedro Ansúrez, and his wife, Doña Eylo Alfonso, to settle and expand the primitive agrarian nucleus, which already existed and was organized through an open Council. Alfonso VI granted the lordship of it to the count in 1072, date from which the growth of the city took place. He had a palace built for him and his wife, Doña Eylo, which is not preserved, as well as the Collegiate Church of Santa María "Colegiata de Santa María (Valladolid)") (which gave it the rank of town) and the church of La Antigua "Iglesia de Santa María La Antigua (Valladolid)"). In 1208, King Alfonso VIII of Castile named it a courtly city and in 1255 Alfonso X granted it the Royal Charter.

After the early death of Henry I of Castile, born in Valladolid, and the abdication of his mother, Ferdinand III the Saint was proclaimed king of Castile in 1217, in an event held in the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid. Over the centuries, Valladolid experienced rapid growth, favored by the fairs and commercial privileges granted by the monarchs Alfonso VIII and Alfonso During these centuries, the city occasionally served as a royal residence and seat of the Cortes. The first Alcazarejo was transformed into the Royal Alcázar, and Queen María de Molina, queen and regent of Castile, had a palace built and established her residence there around 1300. In 1346, Pope Clement VI granted the bull that allowed the transition from the Valladolid Private Study, existing since the second half of the century, to a General Study or University.

John II of Castile grew up and died in Valladolid having reigned from this city which he would say is "the most notable town of these my kingdoms and even outside of them." This king was buried in the church of San Pablo "Iglesia conventual de San Pablo (Valladolid)"), until the final transfer of his remains to the Cartuja de Miraflores. In 1425, Henry IV of Castile was born in the missing Casa de las Aldabas on Teresa Gil Street. In 1453 Álvaro de Luna, all-powerful servant of John II, was tried, condemned and finally beheaded on a public scaffold in the Plaza Mayor. On December 7, 1453, the Concordia de Valladolid was signed in the city, establishing peace between Juan de Navarra (future king of Aragon) and his son Carlos de Viana.

On October 19, 1469, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon (who would become Ferdinand II of Aragon) celebrated their secret marriage in the Vivero palace (later the site of the Royal Court and Chancery), and spent their honeymoon in the Fuensaldaña castle. Already in 1481 Valladolid had a printing press, located in the Prado monastery, of the Order of San Jerónimo, and under the Catholic Monarchs the city experienced a period of great university dynamism, which culminated in the creation of the Colegios Mayores de Santa Cruz (by Cardinal Mendoza "Pedro González de Mendoza (cardinal)") and San Gregorio (by Fray Alonso de Burgos), which made Valladolid one from the hotbeds of modern bureaucracy.

In conclusion to this period, it can be said that Valladolid experienced a clear process of both demographic and influence growth, going from being a place dependent on the municipality of Cabezón de Pisuerga to encompassing a large territory under its jurisdiction. An example of this are the multiple privileges granted to the city, such as the one granted by Alfonso VIII to Valladolid, confirming the purchase of the Santovenia de Pisuerga area; plus several of Alfonso To this we should add another from Sancho IV, granting Cigales to the council of Valladolid.[31]​.

16th-18th centuries

In 1489 the Court of Chancery was definitively established, and in 1500 that of the Inquisition, to judge acts of heresy, giving rise to the celebration of the Autos de Fe. In 1506 Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, and was buried in the city, in the disappeared convent of San Francisco "Convento de San Francisco (Valladolid)"). Another navigator, Magellan, signed the capitulations with King Charles I of Spain in Valladolid, before beginning his western route to the Indies, on March 22, 1518. In 1509, Juan de Aragón y Foix was born in Valladolid, the only son of Ferdinand the Catholic and his second wife Germana de Foix, who died a few hours after birth.

In 1518 the Cortes of Castile, meeting in Valladolid, swore Charles I as king. During the War of the Communities of Castile, the fire of Medina del Campo caused the Valladolid uprising and, after the communal defeat in Tordesillas, the rebels began to regroup in the city, where the Junta was established. After the victory of the emperor, and the forgiveness of the rebels except for their leaders, Valladolid became one of the capitals of the Spanish Empire of Charles I of Spain and V of Germany, gaining great political, judicial and financial importance.

On May 21, 1527, the future King Philip II was born in the Pimentel Palace "Palacio de Pimentel (Valladolid)").

The famous Valladolid controversy took place in 1550 and 1551 at the Colegio de San Gregorio and pitted two antagonistic ways of conceiving the conquest of America, represented by Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. That debate is considered pioneering today and a vital contribution in history to the construction of human rights. Its result was new ordinances that regulated conquests, the creation of the figure of the defender of Indians and a notable promotion of the "right of nations."

In 1559, the May and October autos-da-fe were held, famous for their severity. In 1561 the city was devastated by a huge fire, after which Philip II undertook to rebuild the city, providing it with the first regular Plaza Mayor in Spain. This king also granted his native town the title of city on January 9, 1596 by virtue of a Royal Provision,[33] and obtained from Pope Clement VIII the creation of a diocese in 1595 (elevated to archdiocese in 1857).

Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Jesus coincided in Valladolid when the nun founded the first convent of the reform of the Order of Carmel in 1568, which she inhabited for a time. Fray Luis de León, who had already spent years of childhood in Valladolid with his family, was also imprisoned in 1572 in the prisons of the city's Holy Office, to face an inquisitorial process for questioning the traditional way of understanding Theology.

The most famous image makers of the Spanish Renaissance, Alonso Berruguete, Juan de Juni and Gaspar Becerra, established their workshops in Valladolid upon their arrival from Italy.

19th century

Valladolid was the city chosen to house the French troops upon their arrival in Spain, mainly due to its location on the Paris-Madrid-Lisbon axis. During the stay of the French troops, altercations occurred in the city, between the residents and the soldiers, despite continuous calls for calm by the authorities of both.

Following the news of the Aranjuez mutiny, the city also rioted from March 24, for several days; The figure of Manuel Godoy was humiliated (his portrait ended up torn to pieces and thrown into the Pisuerga), and it culminated with the settlement of the Marquis of Revilla in the Fernandista regiduría. On May 31, 1808, Two of May in Valladolid occurred: the people gathered in squares and streets shouting "Long live Fernando VII!", demanding, in front of the town halls, the general enlistment, the delivery of weapons, the designation of a chief, and the proclamation of Ferdinand VII. The Cabildo condescended to this, and the protesters went to the Chancery. The insurrection aroused the concern of Marshal de Bessières. As a consequence, the Battle of Cabezón was prepared, which took place on July 12, with an absolute defeat and disbanded retreat of the army led by García de la Cuesta, gathered in very precarious conditions.

Joaquín Blake participated in numerous war actions. On July 14 he was defeated along with Cuesta in the battle of Medina de Rioseco. Blake, of Irish origin and president of the Regency Council of Spain and the Indies (1810-1811) and chief of the General Staff, died in Valladolid in 1827.

The city was finally liberated by the army commanded by Wellington, in July 1812. Evaristo Pérez de Castro, from Valladolid, was a deputy and first secretary in the Cortes of Cádiz, playing an active role in claiming national sovereignty for them after the Napoleonic invasion. A plaque in the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri "Oratorio de San Felipe Neri (Cádiz)") in Cádiz remembers him.

Starting in 1830, with the confiscation of Mendizábal and the reorganization of Spanish territory into provinces, trade and administration were timidly reactivated. When Mendizábal transfers the immense orchards and gardens of the convents and their buildings, the opportunity is taken to open new streets or create public services in the new buildings.

With the development of the financial system, the first credit societies appeared, and in 1855 the Bank of Valladolid was created. In 1856, the dean of the Spanish daily press, El Norte de Castilla, was founded in Valladolid, the result of the merger of two other newspapers: El Avisador and El Correo de Castilla.[35]​.

The arrival of the railway – Compañía del Norte from 1860 and Compañía de Ferrocarriles Secundarios de Castilla in 1884 – to Valladolid was a great boost and marked the direction of growth of the city. During this century the city did not grow noticeably, but its internal structure changed, new streets were opened, new squares and gardens were opened, such as the Poniente one, the Campo Grande was reformed, and the Esgueva River "Esgueva (river)") was channeled and diverted, which marked the end of flooding in the city. All this is possible thanks to the management of great mayors, like Miguel Íscar.

20th century

The city expands, growing on the other side of the railway in the neighborhood that will be called Las Delicias "Las Delicias (Valladolid)"). In 1915, a project began, promoted by the Barcelona Development Society,[36]​ for a "garden city" in the La Rubia neighborhood.[37]​ However, only one residential block was built.[36]​.

The Valladolid lawyer and politician Santiago Alba would hold several ministerial portfolios in different governments between 1906 and 1923, and would be president of the Congress of Deputies during the Second Republic. The city experienced the instability typical of Spanish politics in the first decades of the century and welcomed the establishment of the Republic in 1931. On March 4, 1934, the Spanish Falange (Primo de Rivera's party) and the JONS "National-Syndicalist Offensive Boards (JONS)") (a movement founded by Valladolid native Onísimo Redondo) merged in an event held at the Calderón Theater "Calderón Theater (Valladolid)").

The coup d'état with which the Civil War began triumphed in Valladolid, remaining in the national zone, being one of the 12 centers of the military uprising.[38]​ The assault guard revolted at 5 in the afternoon on July 18[39]​ and the military rebels on the night of July 18 to 19, 1936 took control of the military forces after violently arresting their legitimate leader, the general Molero.

Valladolid became the first large peninsular city in which the uprising triumphed.[40] With the important support of the Falangists and the Alfonsine monarchists, they controlled the entire province in a short time, proceeding to organize a column that marched on Madrid through the ports of Guadarrama (Alto del León) and Navacerrada. Thus, the city remained from the beginning of the war inside the rebel zone, not belonging to the front at any time during the war.

During the war and also once it ended, Franco's repression shot around 40 people every day in Valladolid.[41]​ There, as in other cities in the rebel zone, prisoners were taken out at night in trucks to be shot on the outskirts of the city without even a mock trial.[42]​ General Mola would send a statement asking that these executions be carried out in more discreet places and that they be carried out. The dead were buried, something that until then had not been done.[43]​ It is estimated that there were at least 2,500 fatalities, and more than 7,000 reprisals throughout the province.[44]​[45]​ In the capital, the Campo de San Isidro stands out as a place of executions. The Carmen cemetery is, for its part, one of the places where one of the largest mass graves of the civil war at the national level is located.[46] Among the victims, the case of the mayor of Valladolid himself during the Second Republic between 1932 and 1934, who had been re-elected again in the 1936 elections, Antonio García Quintana, stands out. After the uprising, he remained hidden until he was betrayed and shot in the Campo de San Isidro in Valladolid on October 8, 1937.

21st century

As a significant city in the evolution of the Spanish language, the II International Congress of the Spanish Language was held between October 16 and 19, 2001, at the Teatro Calderón "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)"), a forum for reflection on the Spanish language, chaired by the kings of Spain.

Valladolid was awarded by the international association LUCI in 2011 with the Award for the Best City People Light Urban Lighting Project for the Ríos de Luz Route and in 2012 with the Popular Jury Award for the Best Urban Lighting Project of the City People Light Awards.[49]​ In 2012, Unicef declared Valladolid a Child-Friendly City.[50]​ In April In 2013, Valladolid was awarded the Reina Sofía Accessibility Award from Spanish Municipalities for its efforts in the integration, normalization and active participation of all citizens regardless of their functional capacity.[51]​.

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic caused the declaration of a state of alarm throughout Spain and the confinement of the population to their homes.[52]​.

The oldest known representation of the shield of Valladolid dates from the year 1454, although at that time only the wavy "Jirón (heraldry)") appeared on it. The shield may have been granted by the Valladolid king Enrique IV of Castile.

The gules border with the eight golden castles in the city's coat of arms appears for the first time on the cover of one of the more than ten copies of the History of Valladolid by Juan Antolínez de Burgos dating from 1722 (although the original work was completed in 1641). Until then, the municipal shield had never appeared with such an armory increase. The border becomes a historicist transcript, also with an ornamental desire, of the old medieval seal of the city where eight notches or towers also appeared as part of the fence or wall that symbolically surrounded the town, identifying these castles with the eight gates of the two fences or walls that the population came to have represented by the border. This composition was successful and was gradually adopted by the different guilds of the city and finally by the council.[53]​.

The royal crown is open, of medieval origin, older than the closed royal crown. It would have been granted by the Catholic Monarchs, as a symbol of a royal town, with its own jurisdictions.

Finally, the Laureate Cross of San Fernando, the highest Spanish military decoration, created in the 20th century, was awarded by the new Franco authorities by decree of July 17, 1939 to the municipality of Valladolid for war actions carried out by the rebel side to control the city and its surroundings in the Spanish civil war.[54]​.

The flag of Valladolid is crimson with the shield of Valladolid located in the center.

Valladolid acquired the category of town in the middle of the century to continue adding titles: buenos y leales (Muy leal) in the year 1329; Very Noble in 1422; City in 1596; Heroic in 1854 and Laureate in 1939.

Valladolid cuenta con una población de (INE "Instituto Nacional de Estadística (España)") 2025).

Valladolid desborda sus propios límites y salta a municipios del entorno. Esta transformación urbana ha sido definida por el catedrático emérito de Geografía urbana Jesús García como el paso «de la ciudad a la aglomeración».

Partiendo del primer dato de población recogido por el Instituto Nacional de Estadística, que data de 1842, se observa un crecimiento constante de población en toda la segunda mitad del siglo , que coincide en el tiempo con la construcción del Canal de Castilla y con la llegada del ferrocarril a Valladolid.[57]​.

A lo largo de los tres primeros tercios del siglo , Valladolid experimentó un importante aumento de población, gracias al éxodo rural. Este crecimiento, lento durante las dos primeras décadas e interrumpido por la Guerra Civil, fue especialmente significativo desde los años sesenta, con la llegada de mano de obra foránea, y supuso el momento de mayor crecimiento demográfico en la historia de la capital. Sin embargo, a partir de los años ochenta se produjo un giro en esta tendencia, que supuso un estancamiento en el crecimiento de la población, debido a dos motivos: al cese de los flujos migratorios que habían impulsado el crecimiento en épocas pasadas y a un descenso brusco en la tasa de natalidad.[58]​.

En los últimos años, la ciudad de Valladolid ha ido perdiendo población en favor de su franja periurbana, donde prolifera el crecimiento de nuevas áreas residenciales. Esta cuenta con poco más de 400 000 habitantes, y es la 20.ª área de España en población.[6]​[7]​ El encarecimiento de la vivienda en la capital, la falta de una política adecuada de planeamiento urbano y, como consecuencia de ello, el incremento de los problemas asociados al tráfico rodado, originaron cambios residenciales de carácter centrífugo.[59]​ Las parejas jóvenes que no emigran a otras provincias optan por la adquisición de una vivienda en los municipios de la periferia, cuyo crecimiento demográfico deriva del propio vaciamiento de la ciudad (de 330 700 habitantes en 1991 a 303 905 en 2015) y del asentamiento de familias procedentes, en menor medida, de otros municipios de la provincia.[60]​.

En el último lustro, Valladolid ha sufrido una paulatina pérdida de población, principalmente debido a movimientos hacia su área metropolitana.

Population movements

In 2005, a total of 2,600 births occurred in Valladolid. This confirms an upward trend that dates back to 1999. This birth rate is the highest recorded since 1992, the year in which 2,658 births were recorded. For its part, the gross birth rate in Valladolid stands at 8.10‰, which is the highest figure since 1992.[61]​.

In 2005, 2,735 deaths were recorded in the city of Valladolid, which represented an increase compared to previous years. It is, in fact, the highest number since 1920, the year in which 3,206 deaths were recorded. The crude mortality rate was 8.52‰, following the upward trend reflected in the number of deaths, and is the highest since 1969.[61]​.

According to data from 2002, a total of 9,072 people arrived in Valladolid. Of this total, 2,246 came from the province itself, 1,721 from other provinces of Castilla y León, 2,407 from another autonomous community and finally 2,698 people arrived from abroad.[61]​.

By continent, Europe is the most represented in Valladolid with 8,680 residents in 2010. As for the country of origin, Bulgaria contributes the largest number of foreigners, with 3,983 compared to 3,881 in 2009. The Romanian group consolidates its position in second place among Europeans present in the capital with a positive balance of 42 inhabitants (it has gone from the 2,490 that resided in 2009 to 2532 that do so today).

Metropolitan area

The metropolitan area of Valladolid, as such, is neither legally nor administratively constituted, although there are proposals from some parties to create it.[62] However, this name is given to the group of municipalities, which, centered in Valladolid, are defined by the Guidelines for the Planning of the Territory of Valladolid and its Environment (DOTVAENT), a document prepared by the urban planning institute of the University of Valladolid at the request of the Junta de Castilla and León.[63]​.

Precisely this absence of a legal definition prevents knowing its size with certainty, which is why the figures come from independent studies or indirect data from official organizations. Thus, according to the project AUDES5 - Urban Areas of Spain 2005, the metropolitan area of ​​Valladolid has a population of 388,555 inhabitants, while according to indirect data from the National Institute of Statistics (2007) its population would be 407,148 inhabitants.[6][64]​.

Economic history

After its repopulation, and once the valley was free of Arab occupation, the city began to expand. At the end of the century, a great variety of union-based neighborhoods began to appear, which were established in different areas, opening streets under the direct influence of the economic issue. Around these dates, annual fairs were held in Valladolid, which were usually attended by businessmen from various places.[65]​.

At the beginning of the century, attracted fundamentally by the commercial bustle, the agricultural activity and the attention that the Court favored in the Villa, people came to Valladolid, not only from Hispanic territories, but also from other countries, of Christian, Jewish or Mudejar descent, who shared the same geographical space.

In 1359 the city obtained the Privilege of having a Mint, which survived until the century when Philip V concentrated the manufacture of this metal.

In the 2nd century, the city was the capital of the Kingdom, and the main political-administrative bodies were centralized there. Added to this was the fact that Philip II, shortly before his death, granted Valladolid the title of city, and, although mid-century the capital was moved to Madrid (until 1601), Valladolid continued to experience a time of great economic splendor.

From the definitive departure of the Court, in the time of Philip III, the city suffered in the following centuries a period of certain decline, barely mitigated by the effects of the Enlightenment, led by a strong demographic decline, and above all a gradual economic depression.

Valladolid would not experience major changes until the second half of the century, when it was reborn with the help of the flour industry and the development of communications, which favored the transportation of production and imports. The operation of the Canal de Castilla and the appearance of the first industrial centers around the dock, and the subsequent arrival of the railway to Valladolid, constituted the cornerstone of this urban takeoff. The financial system was also developed; The first credit societies appeared, and in 1857 the Bank of Valladolid was created.

In 1864 there was a serious economic crisis, leading to the collapse of the Bank of Valladolid and the appearance of famine. In the last third of the century, the city, still marked by the crisis, moved forward very slowly. The secondary sector is a minority, while the tertiary sector is at the forefront of the productive sectors.

Already in the 1950s, it experienced powerful industrial development, fundamentally around automobile manufacturing; and also commercial, as a consequence of the above. Currently, the Valladolid industry remains fundamentally linked to the automobile industry. In parallel with this large-scale production, several urbanized industrial estates house small and medium-sized companies, dedicated to supplies of all kinds for the Spanish market. Commerce is another of the great economic sources of the city, which due to this centuries-old tradition, has had, since 1965, the International Trade Fair to showcase the constant innovations in the sector.

Economic structure

The main economic sector of Valladolid is the services sector, which employs 104,168 people, which represents 72.7% of Valladolid workers affiliated with Social Security. Likewise, 82.5% of the city's workplaces correspond to companies in the tertiary sector. The branch with the largest number of establishments is the retail trade of non-food products, which represents more than 50% of the total.[66]​.

Next are the industry and construction sector: 22,013 people are employed in industrial workplaces and 15,710 find work in the construction sector, representing 15.4% and 11% of the total number of workers, respectively. By work centers, 6.0% correspond to industrial centers and 10.3% to construction companies. The predominant industry of the city corresponds to the sectors derived from agricultural activities, metallurgy, the automobile industry, chemicals, construction, graphic arts, etc.[66]​ The San Cristóbal industrial estate is one of the two industrial estates in the city of Valladolid. This industrial estate is home to a large number of companies. It is delimited by the inner ring road (VA-20), by the outer ring road (VA-30) and by the Soria (A-11) and Segovia (A-601) roads.

Finally, agricultural activity, a very minority activity, employs 1,491 people, just 1% of the total, with only 153 work centers (1.2%) dedicated to this activity. Of this limited agricultural dedication, the predominant type of cultivation is dryland, represented in the production of wheat, barley and sugar beets, mainly.[66]​.

The main companies in the city are: Renault-España, Indal, Michelin, Iveco, Ambuibérica, Aquagest, ACOR, Grupo Norte, Panibérica de Levaduras (Lessafre), Helios, Ingotes Especiales or Queserías Entrepinares.[67]​.

Regional administration

Valladolid is home to the headquarters of the Cortes of Castilla y León and the Junta de Castilla y León, including the Presidency of the latter and its ten ministries.

The current headquarters of the Cortes of Castilla y León was inaugurated in June 2007. It is located on Salamanca Avenue, in the Villa de Prado residential neighborhood, and is the work of the Granada architect Ramón Fernández Alonso.[68] The previous headquarters was provisionally located in the Fuensaldaña Castle, in the Valladolid town of Fuensaldaña.

The location of the regional executive, chaired by Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, is in the Asunción school. This building is located in the Plaza de Castilla y León in the Covaresa neighborhood, while the headquarters of the different departments are distributed in different parts of the city.[69]​.

Provincial administration

The Provincial Council of Valladolid also has its headquarters in the city, specifically, in the Pimentel Palace "Palacio de Pimentel (Valladolid)"). After the 2019 municipal elections, it is chaired by Conrado Íscar of the Popular Party, replacing Jesús Julio Carnero García, of the same party.

Municipal government

Valladolid is governed by the mayor and the councilors, who make up the municipal corporation, which is in charge of the municipality. The Valladolid City Council has its headquarters in the Plaza Mayor, in the town hall building. Councilors are elected every four years, by universal suffrage, by those over 18 years of age. The current mayor is Jesús Julio Carnero García, of the Popular Party (PP) since June 17, 2023, which governs in coalition together with Vox "Vox (political party)").

The political parties present at the local level are the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, led by Óscar Puente Santiago, the Popular Party, Vox "Vox (political party)") and Valladolid Toma la Palabra. Thus, after the 2023 municipal elections, the composition of the Valladolid City Council is as follows:

Territorial organization

The municipal area of ​​Valladolid is made up of three separate territories: the main one, where the city of Valladolid is located, and two exclaves, known as Navabuena and El Rebollar&action=edit&redlink=1 "El Rebollar (Valladolid) (not yet written)"), to the northwest of that. Navabuena is the northernmost and largest of the two, with El Rebollar being uninhabited.

Demographically speaking, the population of the municipality is divided into five unique population entities, which in turn comprise seven population centers. The entities and their populations are, according to the 2012 gazetteer:[71]​.

• - Valladolid (city): 306,872 inhabitants;

• - Pinar de Antequera (colony): 848 inhabitants;.

• - Puente Duero-Esparragal (place): 1,179 inhabitants, distributed in the centers of:

• Duero-Esparragal Bridge: 968 inhabitants;

• El Pinarillo: 178 inhabitants;

• Doctrines: 33 inhabitants;.

• - Navabuena (work houses): 38 inhabitants;.

• - La Overuela (suburb): 2,480 inhabitants.

With the renewal of the municipal registry of inhabitants that was carried out in 1986, the municipal area was officially divided into different zones, since before this date there was already a popular division, into neighborhoods, which did not have any administrative function. To execute this division, different criteria were used, such as the physical continuity of the territory, sociological criteria and their popular name.

From that moment on, Valladolid was divided into a total of twelve districts, which in turn were subdivided into forty-seven statistical zones, not necessarily coinciding with the traditional neighborhoods.[72][73]​.

Education

Education in Valladolid depends on the Department of Education of the Government of Castilla y León, which assumes responsibility for education at the regional level, both at the university levels of its two Universities (the University of Valladolid and the Miguel de Cervantes European University) and at non-university levels.[74] According to data from the Department itself, it is estimated that in the 2005-2006 academic year the total number of non-university students was greater than 52. 000, which have 141 educational centers at their disposal, with 2,399 classrooms and 4,487 teachers.[75]​.

Regarding university education, Valladolid has two universities, a public university and a private university:.

• - University of Valladolid, founded in the 19th century, is one of the oldest in the world.[76]​ Public university that has different faculties and campuses spread throughout the city. In addition, the university has campuses in three other provinces of Castilla y León: Palencia, Soria and Segovia.

Currently, the University of Valladolid has four campuses in the city: Huerta del Rey, Centro, Río Esgueva and Miguel Delibes. Spread across its 25 faculties and associated centres, some 2,000 teachers teach more than 12,906 students enrolled in Valladolid in 2023.[77]​[78]​.

In addition to the 25 centers, it has a series of administrative buildings, such as the Palacio de Santa Cruz "Palacio de Santa Cruz (Valladolid)"), where the rectorate is located, and the Museum of the University of Valladolid (MUVa), the Casa del Estudiante&action=edit&redlink=1 "Casa del Estudiante de Valladolid) (not yet written)"), where the rest of the administrative services are located, or the CTI (Center of Information Technologies), which is located in the basement of the Alfonso VIII University Residence, next to the old Faculty of Sciences.

• - Miguel de Cervantes European University. The UEMC is an important private university of a face-to-face and online nature, founded in 2002 and which has more than 5,000 students, spread across its three faculties: Social Sciences, Health Sciences and the Higher Polytechnic School. It teaches 17 degrees, 6 double degrees, 6 Double International Degrees, 15 master's degrees, a doctoral program and numerous own degrees that the university offers both in person and online.[79]​ In 2025, a new building will come into operation on its Valladolid campus that significantly expands the surface area for teaching and research and improves the University Clinic. The Miguel de Cervantes University also has a Business School in Madrid, the UEMC Business School, located in the Chamartín area.

Health

Valladolid has 410 health facilities,[66]​ among which are outpatient clinics, health centers or hospitals, both public and private.

The two public hospitals of Valladolid, both dependent on SACYL (Health of Castilla y León), are the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, heir to the historic Hospital of the Resurrection "Hospital de la Resurrección (Valladolid)"), with 777 beds, and the Hospital Universitario Río Hortega, with 589.[80] A third hospital has been built in the neighborhood of Las Delicias "Barrio de Las Delicias (Valladolid)"), the new Río Hortega, which opened its doors in January 2009 and replaced the old Río Hortega.[81] Valladolid has the following health centers: Barrio España, Canterac, Circunvalación, Delicias I, Delicias II, Magdalena, Pilarica, Plaza Circular, Rondilla I, Rondilla II, San Pablo, Tórtola, Arturo Eyríes, Casa del Barco, Gamazo, Huerta del Rey, La Victoria, Parquesol, Plaza del Ejercito, Parque Alameda-Covaresa; of which Rondilla, Delicias and Pilarica have PAC emergency services.

The Recoletas health group has two hospitals in the city, the Felipe II Hospital and the Campo Grande Hospital, the latter being the most important in Castilla y León of this private group. It also has a third center, the Paracelso Center, which functions as a primary care center and with some specialties.

In addition to health coverage, the University of Valladolid has a University School of Nursing and a Faculty of Medicine "Faculty of Medicine (University of Valladolid)"), in which Medicine, Speech Therapy, and Nutrition and Dietetics are taught. Medical studies in Valladolid date back to the 19th century, being the first medical school erected in Spain, and the city has the second oldest Royal Academy of Medicine in Spain.[82]​.

Associated with the university institution are various health research centers: the Institute of Applied Ophthalmobiology (IOBA), created in 1994; the Institute of Pharmacoepidemiology (IFE), dedicated to research on the safety and effects of medications in the population; the Institute of Medical Sciences (ICIME); the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics (IBGM) "Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics (IBGM)"), attached to the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) or the National Flu Center.[80]​.

Transportation and communications

The Valladolid City Council has had a Public Bicycle System for years as an individualized, comfortable, healthy, ecological and easy-to-use means of public transportation. The system is electronic and works 24 hours a day, every day of the year. From 2013 to 2023, this service was provided by VallaBici, operated by the company UsualBike") through a concession. The service had 34 loan points and 260 bicycles to be able to choose at any time where to pick up or leave the bicycle quickly and easily.

The system was replaced by Biki, inaugurated in 2023 and operated by the municipal transport company (AUVASA). This system has 98 loan points and some 861 bicycles,[83]​ of which a quarter are electrically assisted. The system has 20,454 registered users and more than 463,099 annual trips (2024).[84]​ To use Biki it is necessary to register, subscribing to one of the rates offered (BIKI#Rates). Users can undock their bicycles using the Biki App or with their public transportation card (linked to their Biki account).

Valladolid has a network of bicycle lanes segregated from motorized traffic of various types and types. As can be seen on the map, the network has partial coverage of the city. The predominant typology is the bidirectional bike sidewalk, generally using milled green concrete and with an approximate width of 2.4m.

Bus services replaced the Valladolid Tram network in the 1920s. After a long period of management through a private concession, since 1982 the urban transport of Valladolid is managed by the municipal company Autobuses Urbanos de Valladolid, S. A. (AUVASA), in charge of public transport within the municipal area of ​​Valladolid. In addition, due to an agreement with the Valladolid City Council, several lines reach the towns of Simancas and La Cistérniga.[85]​[86]​ It has an annual budget of about 31 million euros.[87]​.

It has 23 ordinary lines (2 of them circular), 9 working lines to industrial estates, 2 shuttle lines to the Miguel Delibes University Campus, 7 special morning service lines and 5 at night (Búho), 6 F lines that serve the José Zorrilla stadium on match days, and 5 special lines for different fairs or other cultural events to the Real de la Feria.

It has a fleet of 150 vehicles with an average age of 12.83 years. If only the vehicles on ordinary lines are taken into account, their average life is 10.89 years, while that of buses that reinforce the lines at peak times or replace the usual ones due to breakdowns or any other reason rises to 19.2 years.[88]​.

Currently, of the total fleet, 58.7% (88 buses) run on LPG, 50 on biodiesel (33.3%), 11 are rechargeable hybrid-electric (7.3%) and one bus is hybrid (0.7%). 22% are 18 m articulated buses (33 units), and the rest are 12 m rigid buses. The entire fleet is low-floor and 109 buses (72.7%) have a ramp for the disabled.[88] All buses assigned to ordinary lines have a ramp for the disabled.

Los Reales sites and surroundings

Near the Pisuerga River, along with what was for a long time the only entrance to the city, the Puente Mayor, crossing the streets of the city's old Jewish quarter, there are a series of squares and streets with an abundance of ancient temples and civil noble buildings. In this environment are located the palace of the Counts of Benavente, the church of San Nicolás de Bari "Iglesia de San Nicolás (Valladolid)") or the convent of San Quirce "Convento de San Quirce (Valladolid)"), in the Plaza de la Trinidad "Plaza de la Trinidad (Valladolid)"), the convent street of Santo Domingo de Guzmán and the church of San Agustín "Iglesia de San Agustín (Valladolid)"), today converted into a municipal archive.

In the Plaza de San Pablo "Plaza de San Pablo (Valladolid)"), the nucleus of court life in the times of Philip III and where his predecessor Philip II was born, is the church of San Pablo "Iglesia de San Pablo (Valladolid)"), which has a façade by Simón de Colonia, in the Elizabethan Gothic style, which resembles a stone altarpiece. It corresponds to the last period of the Gothic style. It was the scene of numerous royal ceremonies, the first burial of the infante Alfonso "Alfonso of Castile (1286-1291)") and John II, or the baptism place of Henry IV, Philip II, Philip IV and Anne of Austria. Here Maximilian II and Mary of Austria married, and Cardinal Hadrian of Utrecht took the hat, who would eventually become Pope Hadrian VI. It was a favorite place for numerous bishops who later carried out their pastoral activity in the New World.

On the opposite side of the square, the Royal Palace, residence of the Spanish monarchs Charles I, Philip II and Philip III and also of Napoleon Bonaparte during the War of Independence, has reached the present with numerous structural alterations of its primitive layout, completed around 1528. Philip IV was born here in 1605. It was built by Luis de Vega, architect of Charles I, and its Renaissance patio is decorated with medallions attributed to Esteban Jamete and coats of arms of the different territories belonging to the Spanish Empire. In the 19th century Ventura Rodríguez built the neoclassical staircase.

The corner with Las Angustias street is occupied by the Pimentel palace "Palacio de Pimentel (Valladolid)"), where, not to mention the Empress Isabel with her own residence in Valladolid, Philip II was born in 1527. The building, built of brick, has two notable stone details: the doorway with a carpanel arch and the corner with a Plateresque angular window. Cadenas de San Gregorio street is home to the four departments of the National Museum of Sculpture: the Colegio de San Gregorio, the church of San Benito el Viejo #Iglesia_de_San_Benito_el_Viejo "Museo Nacional Colegio de San Gregorio (Spain)"), the palace of Villena and the Palace of the Count of Gondomar (Casa del Sol).

Next to the Villena Palace, on Fray Luis de Granada street, is the house where the romantic poet José Zorrilla was born and lived, and which houses the Zorrilla House Museum. Nearby, the church of San Martín "Iglesia de San Martín (Valladolid)") stands out for its slender tower, made in Romanesque style at the beginning of the century. For its part, classicism prevails on the façade of the Penitential Church of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias "Iglesia Penitencial de Nuestra Señora de las Angustias (Valladolid)"), erected at the beginning of the century, with monumental sculpture by Francisco del Rincón "Francisco del Rincón (sculptor)").

In front of this last temple, inaugurated in 1864 according to a project by Jerónimo de la Gándara, is the Teatro Calderón "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)"). Its location and structure follows the trends of the moment. The façade moves within the classicist taste and inside is the performance hall, in the shape of a horseshoe, Italian style. It is decorated with paintings by Augusto Ferri, set designer of the time. On stage there is a stage system due to the Italian engineer Egidio Piccoli. Behind the theater is the Archbishop's Palace "Palacio Arzobispal (Valladolid)"), which was owned by Juan de Villasante and María de Villarroel, built in the mid-19th century. In 1857 it became the seat of the first archbishop of Valladolid, Luis de la Lastra y Cuesta.

The Plaza Mayor and surroundings

Originating from the string line of the streets with arcades that followed the fire of 1561, the so-called historic core of Valladolid is articulated from the Plaza Mayor through the seven roads that cross it.

Built in the 19th century, the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid is the first regular main square in Spain, and served as a model, since the 19th century, for many others in Spain and South America: in the 19th century, the old Market Square became the cultural, political, economic and social center of the city.

In 1908, the current town hall opened its doors, a palace with four towers, a rectangular floor plan and an interior patio, from whose front a tribune protrudes that supports the main balcony. This building is the work of Enrique María Repullés, inspired by the project of Antonio de Iturralde"), but modifying it to imitate the models of Spanish Renaissance architecture.

In front of the town hall, in the place occupied until the century by the convent of San Francisco "Convento de San Francisco (Valladolid)"), where Christopher Columbus died, is the Zorrilla Theater "Teatro Zorrilla (Valladolid)"). The theater was inaugurated in October 1884, with the play Traitor, unconfessed and martyr, with the presence of the author of the play himself, José Zorrilla, and the Valladolid poet Emilio Ferrari.[101]​.

On one side of the town hall, the church of Jesus "Iglesia de Jesús (Valladolid)") maintains a façade of a Catalan-type neo-Romanesque model, in pressed brick.

Crossing the Plaza de la Rinconada, behind the town hall building, where the Palacio de Correos y Telégrafos "Palacio de Correos y Telégrafos (Valladolid)") stands, you access the church of San Benito el Real "Church of the monastery of San Benito el Real (Valladolid)"), of the Benedictine order, one of the oldest temples in Valladolid. It was erected on the old Royal Alcázar, and is made in Gothic style, although the façade is later: it was designed by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón in the middle of the century. Inside, the grille from the same century stands out, which covers the three naves of the church. Next to it is the Mercado del Val, which dates back to the 19th century.

Nearby, the church of San Miguel and San Julián "Iglesia de San Miguel y San Julián (Valladolid)"), on the highest topographic point of the city, was a temple of the Company of Jesus in Valladolid, as attested by the façade and the interior structure, in accordance with the Roman model. Inside you can see works by Gregorio Fernández and reliefs by Adrián Álvarez and Francisco de Rincón.

On the same street of San Ignacio, some of the many palaces built in this area in the times of Philip II are preserved, such as the Palace of the Marquis of Valverde, whose exterior features an angled window and medallion decoration, and the Palace of Fabio Nelli, a work of Renaissance classicism by Juan de Lastra and Diego de Praves. Next to these palaces, through a small entrance, you can access the Plaza del Viejo Coso, the primitive bullring of Valladolid.

The cathedral and its surroundings

On the banks of the now diverted southern branch of the Esgueva River "Esgueva (river)"), the collegiate church of Santa María "Colegiata de Santa María (Valladolid)") was erected by Pedro Ansúrez, destined to be the religious head of his new and prosperous fiefdom. During the first half of the century, three national Councils were held in the temple, and the building being insufficient or of little rank, a new one was built beginning in the century following the new Cistercian architecture.

The unfinished cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption was designed by Juan de Herrera with a layout of great monumentality, a double proportion for two equal squares with a transept and towers in four corners, but the scarcity of income from the newly created Valladolid bishopric, the death of the architect and Philip II, the main promoters of the work, and the lack of resources and interest in its completion during the following centuries, resulted in only almost half of what was designed by him being built. Herrera. Attached to its walls, the Romanesque and Gothic remains of the collegiate church, from the 19th century, survive, which it replaced as the main church of the city. The main altarpiece of the cathedral is the work of Juan de Juni.

The main building of this institution stands in the University Square "Plaza de la Universidad (Valladolid)". The historic building of the University of Valladolid was built in the century according to the design of Brother Pedro de la Visitación. Its sculptural decoration is the work of Antonio Tomé and sons.

Nearby stands, since the 19th century, the church of Santa María La Antigua "Iglesia de Santa María La Antigua (Valladolid)"), foundation of Count Pedro Ansúrez, lord of Valladolid, with a slender bell tower of French influence, known as The queen of the Romanesque towers of Castile, topped with a pyramidal roof and a cloister, both from the beginning of the 19th century. The rest of the structure and the interior are in the Gothic style. At the beginning of the century the Gothic naves of the temple threatened ruin and in 1917 they were demolished and reconstruction began in neo-Gothic style.

Halfway between these places and the Plaza Mayor, the Pasaje Gutiérrez is preserved, a commercial gallery built in 1885 in the European style of the time, following the design of Jerónimo Ortiz de Urbina, and which constitutes, together with the Pasaje de Lodares in Albacete, the only examples of this type of construction in all of Spain. Near the Pasaje, there is the church of the Savior "Iglesia del Salvador (Valladolid)"), where, according to tradition, the patron saint of Valladolid, Saint Pedro Regalado, was baptized.

Campo Grande and its perimeter

Bordering the Campo Grande, on the Acera de Recoletos, a great artery of expansion of the bourgeoisie, buildings from the end of the century and beginning of the century remain: the Casa Mantilla, from 1891, in an eclectic style, with Renaissance inspiration, the Casa Resines also from the same year or the modernist "Modernism (art)") Casa del Príncipe "Casa del Príncipe (Valladolid)"), from 1906, the work of Jerónimo Arroyo, Palencia architect trained in the Barcelona school.

After crossing the Acera de Recoletos you reach the Plaza de Colón "Plaza de Colón (Valladolid)"), where until the century the Convent of San José "Convento de San José de Padres Capuchinos (Valladolid)" was located. A few meters from the square is the Valladolid-Campo Grande Station, the city's main railway station.

Surrounding the Campo Grande, on Paseo de Filipinos, the church of San Juan de Letrán "Iglesia de San Juan de Letrán (Valladolid)") stands out for its façade and its vaults covered with baroque plasterwork, both from the 19th century, the work of Matías Machuca. The body of the church is from the end of the .

Also from the century is the convent of the Filipino Augustinians "Convento de los Agustinos Filipinos (Valladolid)"). The building, whose façade faces the rear door of Paseo del Príncipe del Campo Grande, was designed by Ventura Rodríguez.

Continuing the route around the park, we find the Valladolid Cavalry Academy, which dates back to 1915 and is a historicist building topped by spiers similar to those that characterized the Austrian palaces.

Next to the Cavalry Academy, Zorrilla Square is a key point in the urban layout of Valladolid. Presided over by a statue of Zorrilla, the work of Aurelio Carretero, it links the main streets of Valladolid: the previously mentioned Recoletos sidewalk, Paseo de Zorrilla, the city's main boulevard, Santiago Street, which leads to the Plaza Mayor and Miguel Íscar streets, Duque de la Victoria "Calle Duque de la Victoria (Valladolid)") and the Plaza de España "Plaza España (Valladolid)").

The Columbian heritage

Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, on May 20, 1506. The city council decided in 1968 to build a building in the Gothic-Elizabethan style that reproduced a palatial house owned by Diego Colón, the Admiral's younger brother, located in the city of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. This building today houses the Columbus House Museum "Casa Museo de Colón (Valladolid)").

On the same street, on the opposite sidewalk, the Magdalena church "Iglesia de Santa María Magdalena (Valladolid)"), from the 19th century, displays on its façade a large stone shield, the coat of arms of its patron, the viceroy of Peru and bishop, Pedro de la Gasca. Inside you can see the main altarpiece, that of Santiago, and the alabaster tomb of the aforementioned bishop, the work of Esteban Jordán The Palace of Santa Cruz "Palacio de Santa Cruz (Valladolid)"), the first Renaissance building in Spain, erected starting in 1486 by the architect Lorenzo Vázquez de Segovia with the patronage of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza, has a semicircular arch doorway and a patio of three floors, two in late Gothic style and the third with baroque nuances, a consequence of a reform in the 19th century. In its library, which is accessed through a plateresque door, valuable documents are preserved in its gilded wooden shelves on two floors, including the Beato de Valcabado, from the year 970.

Nearby, the Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales "Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales (Valladolid)"), in Palladian style, preserves a Mudejar arch from what was the palace of the Queen of Castile María de Molina. And in the convent of Santa Clara "Convento de Santa Clara (Valladolid)"), from the 19th century, the Franciscan severity of the exterior contrasts with the baroque plasterwork of the 19th century.

The convent of the Descalzas Reales "Convento de las Descalzas Reales (Valladolid)") was commissioned by Philip III and Margaret of Austria, in the 17th century; It has a three-story tower, palatial type, with lattices on the balconies. Inside it is possible to see the Tuscan-style cloister, and, in the church, the altarpiece made jointly by Juan de Muniátegui, Gregorio Fernández and Santiago Morán.

The Vivero Palace, built in the 19th century, heads a complex of buildings that was enlarged to meet the needs of the administration of justice. The Catholic Monarchs married there (1469), and then decided its destiny as Royal Court and Chancery.

Lost heritage

During the century and, fundamentally, throughout the century numerous historical monuments were demolished from the execution of different urban plans designed to try to take on the uncontrolled rural exodus and the demographic growth of the city during this period, to which the state of ruin in which many of them were found contributed.[102]​ In this way, a multitude of old buildings such as the Hospital of the Resurrection, where Miguel de Cervantes set his novel dogs*, convents and cloisters such as that of San Francisco "Convento de San Francisco (Valladolid)") or that of San José, churches such as that of San Julián and Santa Basilisa "Iglesia de San Julián y Santa Basilisa (Valladolid)") or that of San Miguel "Iglesia de San Miguel (Valladolid)"), including dozens of medieval and Renaissance palaces such as that of La Ribera, the Gardoqui palace or the house of the Knockers were demolished to build new buildings, such as Casa Mantilla, or high-rise apartment blocks that broke with the architectural harmony of the city.

In July 1978, the Council of Ministers declared the city a historical-artistic site, but for many scholars the declaration came too late and had no subsequent impact. The architect Fernando Chueca Goitia even stated that the destruction of the historical-artistic heritage of Valladolid was nine out of ten.[103]​.

urban statuary

Urban sculpture in Valladolid is featured by works that represent illustrious figures who have been remembered in this way. Thus, in 1887, the standing statue of Miguel de Cervantes "Statue of Cervantes (Valladolid)"), with period costume, pen and book at the ready, made by Nicolás Fernández de la Oliva, was installed in the Plaza de la Universidad. The writer José Zorrilla also has a sculpture in the square that bears his name. The founder of the city, Count Pedro Ansúrez, has a monument in the center of the Plaza Mayor, made in 1903 by Aurelio Carretero. The Columbus Monument "Monumento a Colón (Valladolid)"), the work of the artist Antonio Susillo, and inaugurated in 1905, recalls the figure of the discoverer.

Also noteworthy are the sculptures that adorn the Campo Grande of Valladolid, and near it, at the entrance to the Cavalry Academy "Academia de Caballería (Valladolid)"), the monument to the Hunters of Alcántara, from 1931, the work of Mariano Benlliure.

Far from there, the Plaza de San Pablo "Plaza de San Pablo (Valladolid)") is presided over by a statue of Philip II; Made in 1964 by Federico Coullaut-Valera, it is a copy of the one in the Plaza de la Armería in Madrid and imitates the Pompeo Leoni model. At the entrance to Cadenas de San Gregorio Street, the iron sculpture The depth is the air, by Eduardo Chillida, was installed in 1982, a tribute to the Valladolid poet Jorge Guillén.

Among the "human scale" sculptures, The Comedian stands out, in the Plaza de Martí Monsó, the work of Eduardo Cuadrado; the sculpture by Rosa Chacel that is located on one of the benches in the Poniente gardens") and which was made by Luis Santiago Pardo in 1996. Other examples are El Encuentro, a work by Feliciano Álvarez Buenaposada, located since 1997 in the Plaza de Madrid; the one titled Candia, in the Ribera de Castilla Park, by the sculptor Ana Jiménez; the monument to the bullfighter Fernando Domínguez, in the Plaza de bulls; the sculpture Dancing in bronze, a tribute to the dancer Vicente Escudero by the sculptor Belén González, or those dedicated to Einstein and Pío del Río Hortega, in the Plaza del Museo de la Ciencia.

Among the new constructions, it is worth highlighting those installed in the extension of the Zorrilla promenade: Stage Set for a Film, by Dennis Oppenheim; the Doors of Valladolid, by Cristóbal Gabarrón; and the Columna form of sound, by Lorenzo Frechilla. Another is the Monument to the IV Centenary of the city of Valladolid, built in 1999 by Ángel Mateos Bernal, located in front of the Castilla y León fairgrounds, on Salamanca Avenue.

On other occasions the sculptures share their role with water, in fountains such as Los Colosos (Pedro Monje, 1996), in the Plaza de la Rinconada; the (Concha Gay, 1996), in the Plaza de Martí Monsó; the one titled (Luis Santiago Pardo, 1998), located in the central roundabout of the Poniente gardens; the (Fernando González Poncio, 1998), in the square of the same name; and others.

Parks and gardens

The oldest and most emblematic park in the city is Campo Grande; It is a large romantic garden, located in the heart of Valladolid, designed in its current appearance by Miguel Íscar, mayor of Valladolid between 1877 and 1880. It houses a great variety of trees that constitute a true botanical garden. Different birds inhabit it and peacocks and, recently, squirrels are famous.

Also at the end of the century, the Poniente gardens were built on the old northern branch of the Esgueva.

It is a simple garden in the center of which there are two pergolas that house a small square in which there is a fountain that recalls the work of the Valladolid writer Jorge Guillén.

Along the course of the Pisuerga there are also plenty of green areas. Starting in the north, the Ribera de Castilla Park (inaugurated on March 20, 1988), with an area of ​​12 hectares, is populated with different species of poplars, poplars and lime trees. Following the flow of the water, the Moreras Park has several walks, sports areas and a river beach. Next to it is the Francisco Sabadell Rose Garden, a small garden exclusively made up of roses.

Other green areas are the Pinar de Antequera, the main natural resource of the Valladolid capital; the La Fuente del Sol Forest Park, a historic green space next to the La Victoria neighborhood, the Las Norias park in Santa Victoria, which occupies the old facilities of the Santa Victoria sugar factory, the La Victoria botanical garden, which has 30 different species of trees along with a sample of native species, the Fuente de la Salud park in the Los Pajarillos neighborhood, the Canterac y de la Paz park in Las Delicias or the Mediodía park in Parquesol.

Bridges

Following the course of the Pisuerga River, the following bridges cross it:

A significant number of bridges cross the Esgueva River. As the river is much smaller and the current configuration is due to its channeling through one end of the city, suppressing its passage through the center and its various branches, these structures do not have their own name, but rather take the name corresponding to the street that crosses the river.

In the park located behind the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, next to the riverbed, a pond has been designed in which the remains of one of the city's fences are found.

• - Main Bridge.

• - Remains of the water passage of one of the city's fences over the Esgueva River.

• - Hanging Bridge.

• - Isabel la Católica Bridge.

• - Poniente Bridge.

• - Arturo Eyries Bridge.

• - Juan de Austria Bridge.

• - Condesa Eylo Bridge.

• - Hispanic America Bridge.

• - Science Museum walkway.

• - Pedro Gómez Bosque walkway.

Files

• - The Archive of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid (ARCHV) is the oldest archive in the city and the only one of a state nature, since it depends directly on the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. Created in 1489, it contains the documentation funds generated by the Royal Court and Chancery of Valladolid, the highest judicial instance of the Crown of Castile for the territories located north of the Tagus River, from its creation in 1387 until its suppression in 1834. It also preserves the funds of the former Territorial Court of Valladolid (1834-1988), as well as the War Court (century), Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León, Social Courts of Valladolid and other legal institutions. It is located in the Chancery archive building.[104]​.

• - The General Archive of Castilla y León, created in 2002, is the successor to the Central Archive of the Administration of Castilla y León, in charge of guarding the documentation generated in the pre-autonomous era, and currently, in charge of guarding the documentation of the various bodies of the Junta de Castilla y León.

• - The Provincial Historical Archive, located in the Palacio de los Vivero, headquarters of the former Royal Court and Chancery of Valladolid, was created in 1932 to guard the heritage of the central and peripheral Administration of the province, the notarial protocols as well as the historical documentation of the province's town councils and other public and private documentation that entered it.[106]​.

• - The Municipal Archive of Valladolid preserves the documentation generated by the Valladolid City Council throughout its history. Existing since 1503 with antecedents in 1375, the oldest document dates from 1191 and preserves a good number of medieval scrolls from between 1192-1393. In addition to the funds generated by the City Council, it also collects funds from defunct institutions such as the Hospital del Esgueva, photographic funds, posters, private funds, etc.[107]​ It has its headquarters in the church of San Agustín "Iglesia de San Agustín (Valladolid)").

Furthermore, due to its proximity to the capital, the General Archive of Simancas is notable, which keeps the documentation of the Hispanic Monarchy from the Catholic Monarchs until the establishment of the Liberal Regime. As for private ones, the most important is the Diocesan Archive, which houses the funds generated by the collegiate church and then by the cathedral, the documentation of the diocesan curia, the set of parish archives of the diocese and a large musical archive with more than 6,000 scores.

Museums

• - The National Museum of Sculpture has international relevance, for having the most important sculpture collection in the peninsula and being one of the most outstanding in Europe in its field. It dates back to 1842 as the Provincial Museum of Fine Arts, but was elevated to National Museum status in 1933. It is housed in three buildings: Colegio de San Gregorio, a masterpiece of Elizabethan Gothic from the century that houses the permanent collection, the Villena Palace "Palacio de Villena (Valladolid)"), in front of it, with a library, temporary exhibition room, warehouse, conference room and a Neapolitan nativity scene, and the Gondomar Palace (popularly known as Casa del Sol), which has the church of San Benito el Viejo attached to it and is located at the end of the street, housing the collection of the National Museum of Artistic Reproductions. The Museum houses great works of Spanish sculpture, mainly from the Baroque, by authors such as Alonso Berruguete (Altarpiece of San Benito el Real de Valladolid, Juan de Juni, Gregorio Fernández, Pompeo Leoni or Pedro de Mena, including quality painting —Alonso Berruguete, Francisco Ribalta, Pier Paul Rubens, Francisco de Zurbarán or Luis Meléndez). Some of his sculptural groups parade through the streets during Holy Week.

• - Inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is the Diocesan and Cathedral Museum, inaugurated in 1965 at the initiative of the then archbishop of Valladolid, José García Goldáraz. Its collections are distributed throughout ten chapels that grouped rooms of the old medieval collegiate church of Santa María "Colegiata de Santa María (Valladolid)") erected by Count Ansúrez, such as the Chapter Room, Cloister Chapel, Cathedral Chapter... Inside there are works from the cathedral treasury and extinct parishes of the archdiocese of Valladolid: sculptures, paintings, metalwork, ivories, ornaments or funerary monuments. Highlights include the Processional Custody of Juan de Arfe "Juan de Arfe (son)"), which parades during the Corpus Christi festival and its musical archive, one of the most complete in Spain.

• - In the Museum of Valladolid (Fabio Nelli Palace), which is part of the so-called Provincial Museums, sections of Archeology are exhibited that show a complete chronological sequence of pieces from the Valladolid province from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages (such as the Roman mosaics found in Villa del Prado). The Fine Arts section offers paintings from the 19th and 2nd centuries, Flemish tapestries, metalwork from the 19th century, popular Spanish ceramics, sculpture and a small section dedicated to the history of the city.[108]​ There is a project to reform and expand the museum.[109]​.

• - The Patio Herreriano Museum of Spanish Contemporary Art, an important reference in the dissemination of contemporary art, since its foundation, and inaugurated in June 2002.

• - Anatomical Museum. Founded in 1917 by Salvino Sierra in the anatomical pavilion of the Faculty of Medicine "Faculty of Medicine (University of Valladolid)").[110]​ In it you can admire pieces of natural and artificial human anatomy, skeletons of animal skulls, as well as instruments and devices related to medicine.

• - Museum of Natural Sciences. It has 5,102 pieces distributed across fifteen rooms, formed with essentially scientific and pedagogical criteria. There are collections of Natural Sciences, Botany, Zoology and Geology.

• - Doctor Saracíbar Ophthalmology Museum. It is a museum attached to the University Institute of Applied Ophthalmology (IOBA) of the University of Valladolid. It is named after José María Saracíbar"), an ophthalmologist from Valladolid who donated much of the material that can be seen today. In the museum, created in 1995, there are instruments, devices, books and treatises on ophthalmology from the end of the century and beginning of the 20th century.

• - Science Museum: built on the facilities of the old flour factory El Palero (only the façade remains) it assembles several buildings, which are architectural elements designed by architects Rafael Moneo and Enrique de Teresa in collaboration with Francisco Romero and Juan José Echevarría. Among these elements, the pedestrian walkway over the Pisuerga River and the tower stand out. Regarding the museum contents, the museum consists of a permanent exhibition, through the rooms different aspects of science are presented, starting with its digital planetarium, one of the most modern in the world, which allows all types of exhibitions to be held.[111]​ There is a space for the little ones The Children's Room, in which the aim is to bring scientific and technological content closer through play. In the Water Room its complete cycle is presented, from its collection to its return to the environment. The human body is also an object of study, as well as the forces of Nature. On the top floor is Room 41 4 dedicated to the history of Cartography. Associated with this exhibition is a space of the Junta de Castilla y León: La Casa del Mapa, dedicated to the distribution and sale of all types of cartography and geographical publications. In the Gallery of the Wise, the central element is the narration of the virtual image of a series of conflicts from all times, and in the Gallery of Inventions, those that have represented an important advance in people's lives are shown. The museum also has a temporary exhibition hall, Interactive Room, Consultation and Library along with a restaurant at the highest part of the tower.

• - La Casa del Río: located next to the Science Museum, it is the first river aquarium in Spain. Collect the flora and fauna of the Pisuerga in different fish tanks where you can see species that have already disappeared, such as the white-legged crab, the eel or the sea lamprey, along with species still native to their habitat: the percasol, the red crab or the black bass. In addition, two terrariums allow you to get to know the amphibian inhabitants of the river: frogs, toads, salamanders or newts "Newt (batracian)"). As a complement, the Casa del Río presents several audiovisuals on the life chain or the water cycle, an area of ​​explanatory panels and a viewpoint towards the Pisuerga.

• - The Cristóbal Gabarrón Foundation Museum is conceived as a center for the dissemination of the work of the Valladolid artist Cristóbal Gabarrón through a retrospective selection of art history organized in different rooms that allow an approach to cultures: The Pillars of History —Egypt, Etruria, Greece and Rome—, Art of Pre-Hispanic America —Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru— Cultures of Black Africa —Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Ivory Coast, Mali, etc.—.

The foundation's funds also house several historical sections that include from the century to: a collection of religious painting and sculpture, an exhibition of European painting, and those titled "Picasso Ceramista" and "International Graphic Works Collection." Among the most current collections, the Museum of Avant-garde Art (MAVA) stands out, intended to collect proposals from young artists and Espacio–Novo, which is conceived as a center of international contemporary art. Currently the center is closed.

• - Cavalry Academy Museum. It was created in 1976 thanks to the initiative of several Academy professors. Paintings are exhibited, such as the painting of the Battle of Treviño, due to the brush of Víctor Morelli, or the equestrian portrait of Alfonso XIII, painted by Román Navarro García. You can also see knives and firearms, paintings, military miniatures, uniforms, mounts, etc.

• - The Oriental Museum,[112]​ in the Convent of the Philippine Augustinians, work of Ventura Rodríguez. Begun in 1759, it was completed in 1930 with the blessing of the temple. The Oriental Museum was founded in 1908. A first renovation took place in 1980, and a second in 2005, opening again to the public in May 2006. It houses an extraordinary collection of Chinese and Filipino art from the century BC. C. al. It is one of the largest collections of oriental art that can be admired in Europe, and without a doubt the most complete in Spain. This great collection of art is located in this city due to two reasons, Valladolid was the headquarters of the Philippine Augustinians of Spain and the second, which, being the headquarters, was where future missionaries were trained and for this many materials were brought from the East.

• - Museum of the Monastery of Santa Isabel. Located in the church of the convent of Santa Isabel "Iglesia del Convento de Santa Isabel (Valladolid)"), it exhibits various works of art, highlighting two canvases by Diego Valentín Díaz, that of the Inmaculada by Felipe Gil de Mena and paintings from the middle of the century.

• - The Museum of the Royal Monastery of San Joaquín and Santa Ana "Real Monasterio de San Joaquín y Santa Ana (Valladolid)") (MM Cistercians), where you can admire several works by Goya, a recumbent Christ by Gregorio Fernández, and an important collection of fabrics and clothing made by the Cistercian community since 1767.

• - Arellano Alonso African Art Museum of the University of Valladolid. In its three rooms, located in the Palacio de Santa Cruz, you can see the only museum dedicated exclusively to African art in Spain. In the Rectors' Hall there is an introduction to the collection and outstanding pieces, while in the Renaissance Room part of its large collection of terracotta sculpture from sub-Saharan Africa is permanently exhibited. Almost two hundred pieces take a journey of more than two thousand years through the different cultures that have used this material in the western part of the continent. It is the most important set, both in terms of quantity and quality, of those on public display in Europe. In 2012, a third room was added to the museum, that of San Ambrosio, where you can see the complex called the Kingdom of Oku, with traditional pieces linked to the sovereign and the secret societies of this kingdom located in the northwest of Cameroon.

• - Museum of the University of Valladolid. The permanent collection houses a sample of objects related to the history of the university and its documentary heritage: ophthalmological and anatomical instruments, archaeological and religious samples, academic furniture, minute books, codices, bulls and authorizations for the teaching of civil and religious studies and a small collection of paintings. You can see a codex copy of the comments to the Apocalypse by Beato de Liébana, known as Beato de Valcabado, written in the year 970.

The museum of the University of Valladolid also has three temporary exhibition rooms, intended for exhibitions of young artists, collections from exchanges with other universities or the exhibition of the results of research work carried out by the various departments and institutes of the University.

• - Bull Museum: located in the old ticket offices of the bullring, it was a space that took a tour through the history of bullfighting from the prehistory of bullfighting to the present. The museum had various multimedia elements: such as graphics, audiovisuals or photographs related to the world of bullfighting and a collection of costumes and dresses from the bullfighting world. It was closed in 2016 for not having visitors.

• - Cubero Sweet Museum: this is the first sugar candy museum in the world. You can see sugar reproductions of the most important monuments of Valladolid (San Juan de Letrán "Church of San Juan de Letrán (Valladolid)"), Fabio Nelli palace, Fuensaldaña castle, church of the Antigua "Iglesia de Santa María La Antigua (Valladolid)"), the North station...) and also a representation of the Episcopal palace of Astorga.

Museum houses

You can visit three house museums:

• - The Cervantes House Museum "Casa de Cervantes (Valladolid)"). It is located in the property occupied by the writer Miguel de Cervantes during his stay in Valladolid between 1604 and 1606, which coincided with the publication of the first edition of Don Quixote in 1605. The building is also the headquarters of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

• - Zorrilla's House. It is the house where the poet José Zorrilla was born on February 21, 1817 and where he lived continuously throughout his early childhood, and sporadically throughout his life, such as during his return from Mexico in 1866. The Zorrilla House reflects the atmosphere of the romantic period in which the playwright's life developed and has personal memories and original furniture donated by his widow upon his death.

• - The Columbus House Museum "Columbus House Museum (Valladolid)"). After the demolition in the 1920s of the building where Admiral Christopher Columbus died, on the street of the same name, the current building, a replica of Columbus's palace in Puerto Rico, was inaugurated in 1968. It has been remodeled and reopened with multimedia and interactive content in 2006, on the occasion of the V Centenary of the death of the sailor in Valladolid.

• - The Casa de la India houses the Casa de la India Foundation in Spain, established in March 2003, inaugurated its headquarters in autumn 2006, once the rehabilitation and refurbishment of its headquarters was completed, in a contemporary key. The building is a two-story house, made of red brick, it has classrooms for academic and cultural programming, an assembly hall, a library with a reading room and multimedia space, an exhibition room, an information office and a garden with a stage for holding outdoor events. The Casa de la India, in conjunction with the counterpart centers in London and Berlin, is a cultural institution created to promote dialogue between the peoples of India and Spain, and to promote the development of their relations in the cultural, social and institutional spheres.[113]​.

Easter week

Holy Week is the most important cultural event in the city, due to its valuable polychrome carvings from the centuries and by Juan de Juni, Gregorio Fernández or Francisco del Rincón, many of them exhibited during the rest of the year in the National Museum of Sculpture, annually attracting visitors from all over Spain and the rest of the world.

This celebration was declared of International Tourist Interest "Festivals of International Tourist Interest (Spain)") in 1980, thus being the first celebration of Holy Week in Spain to hold such declaration. In 2014, the procedures began to achieve its recognition as intangible cultural heritage of Humanity.[114]​.

During Passion Week, and whenever there is no rain, the twenty Valladolid brotherhoods procession through the historic center of the city. The history of Holy Week in Valladolid dates back to the 19th century, although previously there were processions inside the convents, where the oldest brotherhoods were born such as Santa Vera Cruz "Penitential Brotherhood of the Santa Vera Cruz (Valladolid)"), Angustias, La Piedad, La Pasión and Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno.

During Holy Week in Valladolid you can see one of the main exhibitions of religious imagery in the world through the streets. Steps "Paso (Holy Week)") such as the Virgin of Sorrows, one of the main carvings of Juan de Juni, The Holy Supper, by Juan Guraya, The Prayer of the Garden, by Andrés de Solanes, The Lord Bound to the Column and The Descent, by Gregorio Fernández, or The Tears of Saint Peter, by Pedro de Ávila, remind to the citizen the link between religion and art.

Holy Week in Valladolid is not only distinguished by the artistic singularity and great value of its steps but also by the sobriety, silence and respect that reigns in each act.

Within the Valladolid Passion Week, events such as the Proclamation and the Sermon of the Seven Words stand out, which transforms the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid into a stage that seems to go back to the century and the General Procession of the Sacred Passion of the Redeemer on Good Friday, which takes a journey from the Last Supper to the solitude of the Virgin and in which you can contemplate the 32 most important sculptural groups.

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi is a Catholic religious celebration.

SEMINCI

The Valladolid International Film Week (SEMINCI) is held annually at the end of October. Created in 1956 as "Valladolid Religious Film Week", it was celebrated during Holy Week, evolving to become one of the main film festivals in Spain, and the second oldest, with the objective of disseminating and promoting artistic category films that contribute to the knowledge of world cinematography.

The festival has its main headquarters at the Calderón Theater "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)"), where the opening gala, the screening of films from the Official Section and the closing gala are held, in which the Golden Spike, the festival's main award, is awarded.

Characters from the world of cinema have paraded at SEMINCI, such as Ken Loach, Brad Pitt, Kenneth Branagh, Ang Lee, Sophia Loren, Julie Christie, John Cleese, María de Medeiros, Liv Ullmann, Abbas Kiarostami, Atom Egoyan and Mira Sorvino.

Events

Throughout the year, numerous cultural events are held in the city. Chronologically, the first weekend after the Three Kings' holiday the Pingüinos winter motorcycling rally "Pingüinos (biker rally)") is held, the largest in Europe, in which all kinds of activities related to the world of two wheels are carried out.

Between the end of May and the beginning of June, the Valladolid Book Fair is held in the Plaza Mayor. In its forty-sixth edition, the fair brought together more than 130 authors from all over the world. Fernando Savater, Juan Manuel de Prada and Antonio Gamoneda among others have passed through it. Between the end of March and the beginning of April and on the central promenade of Campo Grande, the Antique and Second-hand Book Fair is also held, in which more than 20 bookstores from all over Spain participate.

During the month of May, Renaissance Week takes place, with the celebration of a Renaissance market, with the recreation of flavors, smells and characters of Valladolid of the century. These days, La Ruta del Hereje, popularized after the work of Miguel Delibes, is also dramatized in the streets, while the restaurants offer gastronomic menus rescued from the century and updated by Valladolid restaurateurs. Also in May, the Valladolid International Street Theater and Arts Festival (TAC) is held. The shows are national and foreign, designed to be exhibited in spaces without seats.

In spring, the famous and internationally consolidated Valladolid Latino music festival also took place, in which artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Paulina Rubio, Julieta Venegas and Marc Anthony, among many others, have participated from 2006 to 2015.

During the summer months, Las Noches de San Benito is celebrated with concerts and open-air cinema.

In 2007, a cycle called Music in the Cathedral was created, taking advantage of the acquisition of an Allen electronic organ to the detriment of the old organ "Organ (instrument)") of the cathedral built in two phases (1904 and 1932) by Aquilino Amezua and Leocadio Galdós and which is a valuable instrument with three keyboards and pedal and 36 sets, in a romantic-symphonic style.

In 2007, the first edition of the Valladolid Sculpture Biennial was held, for contemporary sculpture, which to a certain extent complements the city's National Museum of Sculpture.[115]​.

Finally, the patron saint festivities of San Pedro Regalado are celebrated, in the middle of spring - May 13 -, with a short celebration in which the medieval market, gastronomy and music are the main protagonists and, then, the Fair and Festivities of Our Lady of San Lorenzo that are celebrated at the beginning of September whose central day is September 8, the festival of the patron saint. The program gives way to various musical performances, theater, gastronomic fairs, bullfights, craft events, fireworks or exhibitions among other activities. During this festive week, the Day Fair, the concerts in the Plaza Mayor, the regional gastronomic booths, the Trade Fair and the Fireworks stand out.

Language and literature

Valladolid is topically cited as a place where the best Spanish is spoken. This tradition seems to date back to the 19th century, from the reference made to Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy (referring to her trip to Spain, which was reflected in her work Relato del viaje a España) about the purity of Spanish in the city.[117]​[118]​ This fact is taking shape in the promotion of initiatives for the creation of centers specialized in teaching the Spanish language to foreigners.[119]​ But despite Due to this fame, the speech of the people of Valladolid is characterized by diatopic features such as leimism,[120]​ laism and others typical of the northern Castilian dialect.[121]​.

In 2001, Valladolid hosted the Second International Congress of the Spanish Language, which was held under the title "Spanish in the Information Society" between October 16 and 19 of that year.[122]​.

Miguel de Cervantes, the greatest exponent of Spanish literature and universally known, lived in Valladolid, during 2 stages of his life, the first time that Miguel de Cervantes resided in Valladolid he was only 4 years old, after the years he returned to Valladolid with the arrival to said city of the court of King Philip III in 1601, during this last stay he wrote part of his crowning work, Don Quixote de la Mancha and in this city he The author was there when said novel was published in 1605.

Up to four Cervantes awards, the highest literary distinction in the Spanish language, are linked to Valladolid: Miguel Delibes, Jorge Guillén (both natives of the city), Francisco Umbral and José Jiménez Lozano (residents for many years). Other notable authors born in the city or closely linked to it are Miguel de Cervantes, José Zorrilla, Gaspar Núñez de Arce, Rosa Chacel, Francisco Pino, Blas Pajarero, Gustavo Martín Garzo, José María Luelmo, Fernando de Orbaneja or José Manuel de la Huerga.

Music and dance

The Miguel Delibes Cultural Center,[123]​ inaugurated in 2007, is the headquarters of the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra and the Castilla y León Youth Symphony Orchestra (OSCyL Joven), the city's Professional Conservatory of Music,[124]​ the Higher School of Dramatic Art and the Professional School of Dance and Experimental Theater. In addition, it is equipped with an auditorium with capacity for 1,700 spectators, a room for chamber music and another for experimental theater; Its openness has been key in musical culture.

The Calderón theaters "Teatro Calderón (Valladolid)") (remodeled in 1999) and Zorrilla "Teatro Zorrilla (Valladolid)") (rebuilt between 2005 and 2009) offer programming that covers most of the performing and musical arts.

The Teatro Carrión"), reopened in 2013, has hosted the Philharmonic Orchestra since 2014, with an opera, zarzuela and concert season.[125]​.

The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Valladolid (JOSVa)[126] and the Municipal School of Music Band are also based in the capital, both promoted by the Valladolid City Council, as well as different choral and instrumental groups private or dependent on other institutions. In addition, folk music groups such as Candeal "Candeal (band)") or Tradere, children's music groups such as La Carraca, come from the city, and in the field of modern music, the Celtas Cortos, a Celtic rock group from the 90s, and others such as Greta y los Garbo, Los Mismos "Los Mismos (Spanish group)"), Triquel "Triquel (band)") or Arizona Baby "Arizona Baby" stand out. (band)").

In addition, the city has several concert halls and other venues for live music, which provides Valladolid with a musical offering of all genres, along with the major festivals of the Virgin of San Lorenzo and its free concerts in the Plaza Mayor, in which internationally renowned artists have performed.

Porta Caeli, LAVA or Cientocero are just some of the concert halls in the city.

Cinema and television

Among the recognized figures dedicated to the world of acting, great actors stand out such as Lola Herrera, Concha Velasco, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Diego Martín "Diego Martín (actor)"), Roberto Enríquez, Elvira Mínguez, Ágata Lys, the actress and model Inés Sastre, Juanjo Pardo, Emilio Laguna, Julia Torres, Paloma Valdés, Daniel Muriel, Nacho López, Fernando Cayo, Ana Otero or the sisters Loreto and Marta Valverde, directors such as Enrique Gato," Arturo Dueñas, Álvaro Martín Sanz, Alberto Morais or Enrique García-Vázquez or Pedro del Rio[127]​ and producers such as Rodrigo Espinel").[128]​.

In the world of television, Patricia Conde "Patricia Conde (presenter)"), Deborah Ombres and Manu Carreño have acquired great relevance.

The city has also hosted various filmings of films such as Pilar Guerra (1926) by José Buchs, La illustre fregona (1927) by Armando Pou, Forja de almas (1943) by Eusebio Fernández Ardavín, Cerca del Cielo (1951) by Domingo Viladomar, Mr. Arkadin (1955) by Orson Welles, A Little Girl from Valladolid (1951) by Luis César Amadori, Los Farsantes (1963) by Mario Camus, Doctor Zhivago (1965) by David Lean, Living Again (1967) by Mario Camus, La Coquito (1977) Pedro Masó, Soldiers of lead (1983) by José Sacristán, Romanza final (1986) by José María Forqué, Cuernos de Mujer (1994) by Enrique Urbizu, Hello, are you alone? (1995) by Iciar Bollain, Plenilunio (2000) by Imanol Uribe, The biggest robbery ever told (2002) by Daniel Monzón, or Un Anyone has a good day (2007) by Santiago Lorenzo, and series such as Memento Mori "Memento Mori (television series)") (2023), adaptation of the homonymous novel by Valladolid writer César Pérez Gellida.[129]​.

Valladolid has belonged to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network since 2019, in the cinema category.[130]​.

Gastronomy

Valladolid gastronomy is part of Castilian gastronomy. "Meat and roasts occupy a special place; one of the most typical dishes is roast suckling lamb seasoned with water and salt and cooked in a wood-fired oven (castilian-style roast). They are followed by suckling pig or goat and game foods such as partridges, quail and rabbit, which are cooked here braised or pickled. The local cheese It is made with sheep's milk, which means a strong flavor in various degrees of cure.

Naturally, these are dishes that require bread and wine to be fully enjoyed, two preparations that have been made in this area for centuries. You can taste dozens of textures of Castilian cereal bread. Of them, the most famous is the lechuguino bread "Lechuguino (bread)") but the picos bread or the four canteros also stand out. In Valladolid you can taste high quality wines such as those assigned to the five designations of origin of the Valladolid province: the reds from the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin, the whites from Rueda or the rosés from the Cigales Designation of Origin, the Toro and the DO Tierra de León "Tierra de León (wine)").

A good dessert begins in Valladolid with the pastries made by the artisan hands of the convents and is complemented with the stew coffee "Puchero (container)"). It can be accompanied by artisanal pastas, such as Portillo mantecados (popularly known as sneakers) or with Santa Clara sponge cakes, empiñonados, cream fritters or sugared almonds.

Cultural itineraries

• - Camino de Santiago de Madrid, which passes through the Duero Bridge on its main route, with an alternative route that crosses the urban center, and continues northwest towards Sahagún "Sahagún (Spain)"), where it joins the French Way.

• - Footprints of Saint Teresa. Pilgrimage, tourist, cultural and heritage route that brings together the 17 cities where Saint Teresa of Jesus left her mark in the form of foundations.[131]​ The route does not have an established order or a limited time since each pilgrim or visitor can do it how and in the time they wish.

Sport

Valladolid is the center of sport in Castilla y León, as well as a top-class sports reference at the national level, having elite teams in most of the most popular sports, particularly highlighting the practice of rugby in the city, with two of the leading teams in the Honor Division of rugby, El Salvador and the VRAC, which between them have twenty-two National League Championships, fifteen Copas del Rey and fifteen Super Cups of Spain, having historically contributed a significant number of players to the Spanish rugby team.

The most representative team in the city is Real Valladolid, with more than forty seasons in the First Division of Spanish football, champion of a League Cup "League Cup (Spain)") in 1984 and twice runner-up in the Copa del Rey de Fútbol. Currently, it is part of the national Second Division. The team plays its home games at the José Zorrilla Stadium, which has a capacity for more than 27,000 people.

Both the City of Valladolid Trophy and the Provincial Council of Valladolid Trophy are held annually.

In basketball, the Ciudad de Valladolid Basketball Club competes in Second FEB.

Also noteworthy are the BM Aula Cultural, which plays in the highest category of Spanish women's handball, and the BM Atlético Valladolid, created in 2014 and which has been active since the 2016/2017 season in the Asobal League (replacing the defunct Club Balonmano Valladolid, which won a European Cup Winners' Cup, an ASOBAL Cup and two editions of the Handball King's Cup); the extinct Club Baloncesto Valladolid, one of the historic teams of the ACB basketball league and the two aforementioned rugby teams, the VRAC and the El Salvador Rugby Club.

Valladolid's sports offer is completed with outstanding badminton teams, the most important being the Valladolid Badminton Club, table tennis (Collosa Telecyl), wheelchair basketball (BSR Valladolid), futsal, inline hockey (CPLV), several important canoeing clubs based in Pisuerga and with the Valladolid Athletics Club, which is currently in the Women's Honor Division of Athletics and the Men's First Division. of Athletics being one of the most important clubs in Castilla y León. The city also has four golf courses, multiple football, basketball, handball, tennis, athletics, swimming, cycling, volleyball, martial arts, indigenous sports, hunting and fishing clubs, as well as sports clubs and facilities for other disciplines.[132]​.

It is also the city of high-level athletes such as Mayte Martínez, Rubén Baraja, Laura López Valle, Isaac Viciosa, Miriam Blasco or Roldán Rodríguez (most of them already retired from high competition) and young athletes such as Álvaro Rodríguez or Mohamed Elbendir and the Paralympic swimmer Amaya Alonso.

Also notable are the canoeist Narciso Suárez, bronze in Los Angeles 1984; Diego Criado"), co-pilot of the first Spanish balloon to fly over the geographic North Pole; the boxers Nani Rodríguez")[133]​ and Alfonso Cavia 'El Cubi'; the Amazonian Reyes Martín García-Abril"), winner of the Grand Prix and the Equestrian World Cup;[134]​ the swimmer Ramiro Cerdá");[135]​ the hunter Faustino Alonso"); the basketball player Pepe Moratinos");[136]​ the inline hockey player Ángel Ruiz;[137]​ and Juan Manuel Couder, winner of the Spanish Tennis Championship in the years 1955, 1956, 1965 and 1966 and winner of the Canadian Open in 1962.

Media

• - EFE Agency (Autonomous Delegation of Castilla y León).

Valladolid actively participates in the city twinning initiative promoted, among other institutions, by the European Union. From this initiative, the aim is to establish ties with the following cities with the celebration of cultural cycles, exchanges or sporting events:[138]​[139]​.

• - Portal:Valladolid. Content related to Valladolid.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category about Valladolid.

• - Wiktionary has definitions and other information about Valladolid.

• - Wikinews has news related to Valladolid.

• - Wikiquote hosts famous phrases from or about Valladolid.

• - Wikisource contains original works from or about Valladolid.

• - Wikiviajes hosts travel guides for Valladolid.

• - Valladolid City Council website.