Province of Teruel

Teruel is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel.

It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Zaragoza. The area of the province is 14,809 km². Its population is 138,686 (2003), of whom about a quarter live in the capital, and its population density is 9.36/km². It contains 236 municipalities, of which more than half are villages of under 200 people.

The main language throughout the province is Spanish (with official status), although Catalan is spoken in the comarca of Matarranya.

Geography

This province is located in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area. The main ranges in the province of Teruel are Sierra de la Virgen, Sierra de Santa Cruz, Sierra de Cucalón, Sierra de San Just, Sierra Carrascosa, Sierra Menera, Sierra Palomera, Sierra de Javalambre, Sierra de Gúdar, Sierra de Albarracín and the Montes Universales, among others.

Depopulation and neglect

Teruel

Teruel (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈɾwel]) is a town in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,961 in 2013 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate (hot in summer and very cold in winter), its renowned jamón serrano (cured ham), its pottery, its surrounding archaeological sites, rock outcrops containing some of the oldest dinosaur remains of the Iberian Peninsula, and its famous Fiestas (La vaquilla del ángel during the second weekend of July and "Bodas de Isabel de Segura" around the third weekend of February). Teruel is regarded as the "town of mudéjar" (Moorish-influenced architecture) due to numerous buildings designed in this style. All of them are comprised in the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon which is a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

Teruel's remote and mountainous location (it is 915 metres above sea level) and its low population has led to relative isolation within Spain. A campaign group with the slogan Teruel existe ("Teruel exists") was founded in 1999 to press for greater recognition and investment in the town and the province. Due in part to the campaign, transport connections to Teruel are being greatly improved with the construction of a motorway between Zaragoza and Sagunto, large parts of which are now open. However, Teruel remains the only provincial capital in peninsular Spain without a direct railway link to the capital, Madrid.

Teruel (disambiguation)

Teruel may refer to:

Places

Sports

Other

Teruel (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Teruel is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: circunscripciones) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is one of the three electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Aragon. In terms of registered voters, the district is the fourth smallest overall with only Soria and the African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla having less voters.Teruel is the largest town with only 24,000 voters. There are no other municipalities with electorates over 15,000. Teruel has been a political bellwether as the party that has won most seats in the district has gone on to form the government.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution the boundaries must be the same as the province of Teruel and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.