Ponferrada

Ponferrada is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of León, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is located in the Bierzo region, of which it is the capital.

Geography

Panoramic

Extension of the municipality in the province

Fragment of Page 158 of the National Topographic Map of Spain 2002 in which Ponferrada is represented

Integrated in the Bierzo region, it is located 113 kilometers from the provincial capital. The municipal area is crossed by the following highways: Autovía del Noroeste A-6 between pK 383 and 392, the old N-VI highway, the N-536 national highway that connects with Priaranza del Bierzo and Carucedo, and the CL-autonomous highway. 631 that allows communication with Toreno. Ponferrada is located at the confluence of the Sil and Boeza rivers, at the eastern end of the Bercian plain, and in the northwest of the province of León.

The relief of the municipality presents two well differentiated parts. To the north the terrain is flat, as it is located in the Sil and Boeza valleys, at an altitude of around 550 metres. To the south of the valleys lies the mountainous area belonging to the Montes de León, which reaches heights of over 1,500 meters.

The city stands 524 meters above sea level. The altitude of the municipality oscillates between the 2051 meters of the Tuerto peak, located in the Montes Aquilanos, belonging to the Montes de León, and the 414 meters on the banks of the Sil river. The municipal area has a total area of 283.17 km².

It is surrounded by the following municipalities:

Northwest: Camponaraya	North: Horses Rare and Wild Cubilles	Northeast: Congosto
West: Load it.		This: Molinaseca and Santa Colomba de Somoza
Southwest Priaranza del Bierzo	South: Benuza and Castrillo de Cabrera	Sureste: Lucillo

Map of the municipality

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Interactive map — Ponferrada and its municipality

Hydrography

The urban center of Ponferrada is bathed by two rivers, the Sil and the Boeza.

The Sil river crosses the city from northeast to south, up to the station neighborhood, where it joins the flow of the Boeza, and the river begins to follow the foothills of Monte Pajariel, heading west. The river is channeled as it passes through the city, with walkways and gardens along its banks, which begin at the height of La Fuente del Azufre, an old hydroelectric power station now abandoned, and end in the Flores del Sil neighbourhood. There are several bridges and footbridges to cross the Sil as it passes through the city, such as a footbridge that joins the station neighborhood with Mount Pajariel and the Centennial Bridge, which allows a new union between the upper part of Ponferrada and the Campo de los Judíos neighborhood with the Compostilla area and the Sacramento orchards. It should be noted that the Sil divides the city into two parts, and that this fact, together with the orography of Ponferradina, distinguishes the old part of the city as the Zona Alta.

The Boeza River delimits the urban core of the city to the south, separating the neighborhood of Puente Boeza from the urban core. This river is a tributary of the Sil, and its mouth in it occurs in Ponferrada, on the slopes of Pajariel.

In addition, the municipality is crossed by the Oza or Valdueza river, which rises in the Aquilanos Mountains, crossing several towns in the south of the municipality, which make up the Oza valley. The river pours its waters into the Sil after passing the town of Toral de Merayo.

Two canals come out of the Fuente del Azufre, one of them for irrigation, the Bajo del Bierzo canal, which carries water from the Sil to Carracedelo, passing through the Compostilla and Cuatrovientos neighborhoods in Ponferrada. The other canal, the Cornatel canal, carries water from the Sil to the Campañana dam, in Carucedo. The Cornatel channel crosses the upper part of Ponferrada underground, coming to light in a section very close to the old town, to then go back underground, cross the Boeza and disappear again in the vicinity of Otero.

The Bárcena reservoir is also located in the municipality of Ponferrada, as well as others such as Congosto and Cubillos del Sil. It was inaugurated in 1960 and this led to the flooding of towns such as Bárcena del Río and Posada del Río, its population being transferred to newly created towns (Bárcena del Bierzo, its initial name was Bárcena del Caudillo and Posada del Bierzo), or to the neighborhood of Fuentesnuevas. It was inaugurated in 1960, built in the course of the Sil river and has various uses: Cooling the Compostilla II power plant, the main reason for its construction; use for the generation of electrical energy through a hydroelectric power station that owns, and later, the water supply to Ponferrada, with the construction and inauguration in 2009 of the new water supply from the reservoir, to avoid the supply problems it suffered the city due to its growth, since until 2009 it depended on water from the Oza River and the commonwealth.

Climate

Ponferrada has a sub-humid continental Mediterranean climate that occurs in the zones or regions considered to be in transition between the continental Mediterranean climate and the oceanic or mountain climate, with relatively abundant rainfall, although with the summer drought characteristic of the Mediterranean climate and in the interior regions the snow acquires great importance during the winter. Snow is a relatively frequent phenomenon in winter and is usually registered between December and March. Winters are cold and long with temperatures of -3 °C being normal, on the other hand summer is short and warm with temperatures that easily exceed 32 °C. According to the Koppen climate classification, Ponferrada has a transitional climate between the Mediterranean (Csa) and Mediterranean Oceanic (Csb) climates. In addition, in the mountainous areas of the south of the municipality there is also an oceanic climate (Cfb), and the Dfb climate (Hemiboreal without dry season) in the highest mountains of the municipality, which in some cases exceed 2000 meters of altitude..

Average Ponferrada observatory climatic parameters (534 m s. n. m.) (reference period: 1981-2010, sunny hours: 1971-2000, extremes: 1951-2018)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	19.8	25.4	27.2	31.6	34.4	39.2	40.4	39.6	38.7	32.9	24.0	21.4	40.4
Average temperature (°C)	8.7	11.9	15.9	17.6	21.2	26.4	29.4	29.0	24.9	18.5	12.5	8.8	18.7
Average temperature (°C)	4.9	6.9	10.0	11.6	14.9	19.3	21.8	21.4	18.2	13.4	8.5	5.4	13.0
Temp. medium (°C)	1.1	1.8	4.0	5.7	8.7	12.3	14.2	13.8	11.5	8.3	4.4	2.0	7.3
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	−10.4	−8.6	−8.2	−2.4	−1.0	4.0	4.6	5.5	1.6	−1.5	−6.8	−9.6	−10.4
Total precipitation (mm)	67.0	53.8	45.7	49.8	53.8	31.9	22.9	25.4	48.9	81.4	82.2	89.3	652.0
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	8.8	7.5	7.7	9.1	9.6	5.0	3.4	3.7	5.9	10.1	9.7	10.5	91.1
Days of snow (≥)	1.6	1.2	0.4	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	1.0	4.6
Hours of sun	85	102.	156.	187	196	268	307	287	217	156.	109	63	2113
Relative humidity (%)	82	73	65	64	63	59	57	57	63	74	81	84	69
Source: State Meteorology Agency

History

Alfonso IX de León donated Ponferrada to the Order of the Temple

Tomb of Aldonza de Mendoza, who became Lady of Ponferrada in the centuryXV

Detail of the province of Villafranca existing during the Trienio Liberal on the map "Spain & Portugal", made by John Dower, in which Ponferrada was integrated

Royal Decree granting the title of City to the village of Ponferrada in September 1908

Although there are indications of settlement both in the Neolithic (on the banks of the Sil), and in the Iron Age and Roman times, it was not until the XI when we have documentary evidence. It is at the end of that century when Bishop Osmundo de Astorga ordered the construction of a bridge, around the year 1082, with the collaboration of King Alfonso VI of León, to facilitate the transit of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, due to to the difficulties posed by the crossing of the river Sil in the previous pass, at the height of the current neighborhood of Compostilla. This new bridge was reinforced with iron, and this circumstance later gave its name to the population that grew up in its surroundings, on the banks of the River Sil. Another theory about the name of Ponferrada also comes from Pons Ferrata but with the translation of fortified bridge.

Shortly the Church of San Pedro was founded in 1086 and around it La Puebla de San Pedro arose, which is what Ponferrada was first called, to be renamed Ponte Ferrato shortly after.

In 1180 King Ferdinand II of Leon granted the town its first privileges, and it was later donated to the Order of the Temple by King Alfonso IX of León. In this sense, the chronicles say that the first Templars who arrived in Ponferrada did so with Master Guido de Garda at their head, Fray Helías being the first commander of Ponferrada. Likewise, tradition has attributed various feats to the Templars in the town, among which the discovery of the image of the Virgen de la Encina stands out, around 1200, in the hollow of an oak. of said Order at the beginning of the XIV century by papal order, led to Ponferrada ceasing to depend on it in 1312.

On the other hand, during the XIII and XIV, the town began to grow and develop, already walled, appearing both within the walls and in the surroundings, peasants, merchants and artisans, in the shadow of the Camino, which originated a rapid and sustained growth. Regarding the wall, it should be noted that it was built with four entrance gates: El Cristo, Paraisín, Las Nieves and Las Eras, a Jewish community settling on the outskirts of the town.

Already in the XIV century, once the Order of the Temple was dissolved, Ponferrada became dependent on the Castro lineage. In this sense, in the first half of the century, Pedro Fernández de Castro is recognized as the owner of the town and its fortress, which in 1343 passed into the hands of his daughter, Juana de Castro, who owned it until 1374, when he died without offspring, a circumstance that led to Ponferrada passing into the hands of the Crown.

Thus, at the end of the XIV century, Henry III granted Ponferrada to the Count of Trastámara and grandson of Alfonso XI, Pedro Enríquez, who marries Isabel de Castro, showing documentation from the early XV century that Ponferrada was under the rule of their son, Fadrique Enríquez de Castro.

However, the various misdeeds committed by him (among which was that of appropriating the funds that the council of Ponferrada had collected to repair the walls of the town), had as a consequence that King Juan II imprisoned him and confiscate their properties, including the town of Ponferrada. However, his wife, Aldonza de Mendoza, claimed the town by virtue of the marriage pledge, which had the consequence that the king recognized Doña Aldonza as lady of Ponferrada in 1431.

Later, Aldonza de Mendoza bequeathed Ponferrada to his nephew, Diego Manrique, although in 1440 he transferred the town to his cousin, Pedro Álvarez Osorio, who was lord of Cabrera and Ribera de León, and who received it from the king Enrique IV in 1456 the County of Lemos.

On the other hand, at this time, in the context of the conflict for the succession of Enrique IV, the second Irmandiña Revolt broke out, which began in Galicia and spread to the Bierzo from its western part in 1467, attacking the irmandiños several fortresses from Leon, such as Cornatel, Balboa or Sarracín, reaching Ponferrada, where a good part of the Galician nobility fleeing from the Irmandiños took refuge, and who entrenched themselves in the Ponferradina fortress, which suffered damage from the attack by the Irmandiño forces, before the revolt be put down. After this, in 1469, the count of Lemos, Pedro Álvarez Osorio, ordered the reconstruction and repair of his castles that had suffered damage.

Later, after the death in 1483 of Pedro Álvarez Osorio, a bloody conflict broke out over his succession, which faced, on the one hand, the faction formed by the second wife of the Count of Lemos, María de Bazán, and his daughter Juana Osorio, married to Luis Pimentel (son of the Count of Benavente), and on the other hand to Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, the new Count of Lemos. To resolve the conflict, in 1486 the Catholic Monarchs decided to act, creating the Marquisate of Villafranca del Bierzo for Juana and her husband Luis Pimentel, leaving Rodrigo de Castro Osorio the county of Lemos, which is why the monarchs forced him to hand over the castle of Ponferrada, which he had taken, which passed into the hands of the Crown. In this way, the castle and the town of Ponferrada became royal again, a fact that lasted until the end of the Old Regime, corresponding to the monarchs to appoint corregidor in the town, Don Juan de Torres being the first to hold this position after return to real property.

On the other hand, it should be noted that at this time, with the reduction of cities with a vote in Cortes from the Cortes of 1425, the localities of the current municipality of Ponferrada began to be represented by León, which made them form part of the province of León in the Modern Age, however Ponferrada headed its own party within it, which was colloquially called the province of Vierzo. Also, due to the territorial affiliation from the High Middle Ages of the territory of Ponferrada to the kingdom of León, throughout the Modern Age the towns of the municipality were part of the jurisdiction of the "Advancement of the kingdom of León".

Already in the Contemporary Age, beginning of the XIX century, during the War of Independence, Ponferrada stood out for having reached house the headquarters of the Superior Board of León on various dates of September 1809, March 1810, and August 1811.

Later, in 1821, Ponferrada and the rest of the towns in the municipality became part of the province of Villafranca, although when Villafranca lost its provincial status at the end of the Liberal Triennium, in the division of 1833 they became attached to the province of León, within the Leonese Region. A year later, in 1834, when the first division into judicial districts was held in Spain, Ponferrada went on to lead one of them, incorporating the judicial district of Villafranca into it in 1966.

Already in the XX century, it should be noted that on September 4, 1908, King Alfonso XIII granted Ponferrada the title of city, coinciding with the centenary of the coronation of the Virgen de la Encina as patron saint of the region. Finally, the discovery and exploitation of mineral wealth, iron and coal, at this time, as well as the installation in 1949 of the Endesa thermal power plant, definitively changed the character of the city, which has established itself as the main population center. of the region and its economic center and services.

Human Geography

Demographics

Graphic of demographic evolution of Ponferrada between 1842 and 2022

Rule population (1842-1991, except 1857 and 1860 which is a de facto population) or resident population (2001-2011) according to the Population Censuses since 1842.Population according to the municipal register of 2022 of the INE.

The spectacular population boom between 1940 and 1970 is observed, a period in which Ponferrada tripled its population, mainly due to the industrial growth of the municipality and becoming the administrative center of the region, which was experiencing an unprecedented mining boom. This gave rise to numerous problems in its urban planning due to the disproportionate and often chaotic growth of the different neighborhoods of the city, a problem that persisted until well into the 1990-2000s.

The urban area of Ponferrada, excluding Toral de Merayo, Flores del Sil, Cuatrovientos, Fuentesnuevas, Dehesas and other neighbourhoods, had a population of 39,780 inhabitants on January 1, 2021, divided into 18,553 men and 21,227 women.

Population distribution

The population entities that make up the municipality of Ponferrada are the following:

Population Nucles of Ponferrada

Population Entity	Coordinates	Pob. (2021)	Map
Ponfer	42°32′46′N 6°35′27′′O / 42.54611, -6.59083	39 780	Ponfer Bárcena Bouzas Field Urb. Patricia Carracedo Columbrians Compound Compostilla Four-way Defeas Espinoso Flowers New sources Lombillo Manzanedo Montes de Valdueza Otero Ozuela Palaces Peñalba de Santiago The Plate The Martina Rimor Halls of the Barrios San Andrés de Montejos San Clemente San Cristobal San Adrián S. Esteban Saint Lucia S. Lorenzo Sto. Thomas of the Ollas Toral Valdea Valdefrancos Villanueva Villar de los Barrios
Bárcena del Bierzo	42°36′16′N 6°35′43′′O / 42.60444, -6.59528	242
Bouzas	42°26′30′N 6°30′′10′O / 42.44167, -6.50278	34
Field	42°32′15′N 6°33′40′′O / 42.53750, -6.56111	323
Urbanization Patricia	42°32′42′N 6°33′16′O / 42.54500, -6.55444	452
Carracedo de Compludo	42°28′03′′N 6°26′10′O / 42.46750, -6.43611	16
Columbrians	42°34′32′′N 6°36′31′′O / 42.57556, -6.60861	1315
Compound	42°28′35′N 6°27′48′′ / 42.47639, -6.46333	15
Compostilla	42°33′50′N 6°35′42′′O / 42.56389, -6.59500	1882
Four-way	42°33′37′N 6°37′48′′O / 42.56028, -6.63000	3767
Defeas	42°31′35′N 6°40′53′′O / 42.52639, -6.68139	1268
Complute Spike	42°29′00′N 6°29′44′′O / 42.48333, -6.49556	29
Flowers of Sil	42°32′47′N 6°36′32′′O / 42.54639, -6.60889	8304
New sources	42°34′30′N 6°38′25′′O / 42.57500, -6.64028	2702
Lombillo de los Barrios	42°31′02′N 6°32′29′′O / 42.51722, -6.54139	53
Manzanedo de Valdueza	42°27′26′′N 6°31′′′O / 42.45722, -6.52528	9
Montes de Valdueza	42°26′47′N 6°34′12′′O / 42.44639, -6.57000	30
Otero	42°32′06′N 6°35′38′′O / 42.53500, -6.59389	91
Ozuela	42°30′05′N 6°37′30′′O / 42.50139, -6.62500	53
Compludo Palaces	42°27′20′N 6°27′58′′O / 42.45556, -6.46611	3
Peñalba de Santiago	42°25′37′N 6°32′26′′′O / 42.42694, -6.54056	15
The Plate	42°33′02′N 6°37′41′′O / 42.55056, -6.62806	1156
The Martina	42°32′19′N 6°38′57′′O / 42.53861, -6.64917	309
Rimor	42°30′22′N 6°38′54′′O / 42.50611, -6.64833	94
Halls of the Barrios	42°31′01′′N 6°33′20′′O / 42.51694, -6.55556	75
San Andrés de Montejos	42°35′11′N 6°35′56′′O / 42.58639, -6.59889	510
San Clemente de Valdueza	42°28′27′N 6°33′15′′O / 42.47417, -6.55417	44
San Cristobal de Valdueza	42°27′54′′N 6°31′17′′O / 42.46500, -6.52139	55
San Adrián de Valdueza	42°27′45′N 6°36′10′O / 42.46250, -6.60278	12
San Esteban de Valdueza	42°30′17′N 6°34′55′′O / 42.50472, -6.58194	53
Saint Lucia de Valdueza	42°28′24′N 6°37′52′′O / 42.47333, -6.63111	0
San Lorenzo del Bierzo	42°31′20′N 6°35′30′′O / 42.52222, -6.59167	240
St. Thomas of the Ollas	42°33′19′N 6°34′44′′O / 42.55528, -6.57889	288
Merayo Toral	42°31′30′N 6°38′04′′O / 42.52500, -6.63444	507
Valdea	42°30′09′N 6°36′34′′O / 42.50250, -6.60944	40
Valdefrancos	42°29′09′N 6°34′05′′O / 42.48583, -6.56806	33
Villanueva de Valdueza	42°29′23′′N 6°35′03′′O / 42.48972, -6.58417	96
Villar de los Barrios	42°30′27′N 6°33′10′O / 42.50750, -6.55278	161
Seminates		414
Total		63 747
Source: INE, 2022 and Google Earth

Neighborhoods and towns assimilated to the urban area

Barrio/village of Fuentesnuevas

Chapel Holy Christ (Year 2008) in Fuentesnuevas

On July 18th, Corpus Christi is celebrated, with a solemn mass in the Ermita del Cristo (located on the Camino de Santiago), in this party they usually have a snack with beef that is sold in the bar of the Campo de la fiesta.

On August 15, the Sardine Festival is celebrated. Where you can taste a good sardine tapa, accompanied by good wine and enlivened by an orchestra in the purest style of a festival. In honor of Our Lady and San Roque. Today the new festive activities have led to the most popular events being the Procession of Light (in the middle of the night and with candle lighting) and the round of Bodegas (a popular act to visit Calle Real, where the residents take their wineries on the same street offering free wine and food to all attendees. It has become fashionable among the young people of the town to make, among the group of colleagues, funny t-shirts to animate the act. It is expected that in coming years the commission of parties dedicate a small financial prize to the top 3). In this Ponferrada neighborhood are the Bierzo regional hospital, the largest in the region, an asprona center, an institute, a special education school and another public one -la cogolla- and a building of the Proyecto Hombre.

It is connected to Ponferrada by lines 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the SMT.

Compostilla district

Located northwest of Ponferrada, the neighborhood is divided by the Bajo del Bierzo canal, and is 2.5 km from the city center.

The creation of the neighborhood arises from the arrival of workers to work on the construction of the Endesa de Compostilla I Thermal Power Plant (now dismantled, CIUDEN headquarters and future headquarters of the Energy Museum) and also to work in she. Said neighborhood receives the definition of a residential neighborhood because most of its buildings are single-family.

It has private sports facilities, tennis courts, basketball courts, a soccer field (usually used by S.D.Ponferradina B) and paddle tennis courts. It also has some summer pools.

This neighborhood is undergoing changes with the construction of the new Fire Station in its surroundings. It also has the headquarters of the city's Red Cross and the new Vocational Training center next to the Fire Station.

We can highlight the great work for the city of Ponferrada that was the removal of the Coal Mountain that separated the center of the city from said neighborhood. In this space, the construction of a project for youth is planned, which will consist of a park, cultural areas and housing for young people, as well as the Energy Museum.

It is connected to Ponferrada by lines 3 and 7 of the SMT.

Neighborhood parties:

• June 23 - Hoguera of San Juan
• Autumn - Magosto

Barrio de Cuatrovientos

• 1 May: San José Obrero

This well-known neighborhood of Ponferrada at the beginning was nothing more than a row of houses bordering the first national road VI that was built, back in the fifties. The adjacent lands, which were basically brambles or free vegetation with some apple orchards, little by little were bought by emigrants, mainly from Galicia but also from many other towns in El Bierzo, who in many cases built their own houses. It currently has a health center on "Ponferrada IV" which has a staff of six family doctors, two physiotherapists, a dentist, an area midwife, a pediatrician, a dental hygienist and two nursing assistants and services such as Physiotherapy. The Jesús Maestro public school and the San José Obrero subsidized center are also located in this neighborhood, as well as a civic center and the Pablo Picasso park.

It is connected to Ponferrada by lines 2, 5 and 7 sel SMT.

Barrio de La Placa

In the beginning it was called San Dionisio. The current name is due to the location of the plate where the railway locomotives turned, since the RENFE workshops in Ponferrada were located in this neighborhood. It is currently an expanding neighborhood. The Ponferrada AVE station will be located in the future, in addition to moving the bus station here to set up an intermediary enclave between the various means of transport. It has its own school, the CP Virgen del Carmen, as well as private pools and a church, among other services.

• July 16 - Fiesta del Carmen.

La Placa is connected to Ponferrada by lines 4 and 7 of the SMT.

Barrio de Flores del Sil

It is a neighborhood that extends from the limits marked by the railroad track, to the east and north; the river Sil to the south and the hamlet of La Martina to the west. The first settlers settled in the neighborhood in the 1920s. Until then, the land where it is located was mostly cultivated fields, especially cereal, belonging to the residents of the nearby town of Toral de Merayo. The neighborhood was emerging around the National Highway 120, Logroño-Vigo, called in Ponferrada, Carretera de Orense. The festival is always held on the second Sunday of May in honor of Jesús Divino Obrero. The Bishop of Astorga chose this employer, on the advice of the people, in 1936 since most of the population was workers. The first temple in the neighborhood, however, is dedicated to Santiago Apóstol. In 2006 the population of this populous neighborhood of Ponferrada was 9072 inhabitants.

Currently it has the Ponferrada III Health Center and the IES Europa, located in the Temple area, which is located to the east of the neighborhood; Bounded to the north and east by the railway lines of the Palencia - La Coruña line, to the south by the Sil river and to the west by La Cemba avenue, it is considered a neighborhood within Flores del Sil, where the services mentioned above as well as a residence for the elderly in the old mining camp, managed by the Junta de Castilla y León, a day center for Alzheimer's patients, and the homonymous park, one of the largest in the city and where Among other activities, the so-called Ciudad Mágica CIMA takes place in the Holm oak festivals, consisting of inflatable attractions, games and workshops for children, or areas dedicated to practicing petanque.

It is worth mentioning that the other large park in Flores del Sil was acquired in the 70s by the residents themselves, at "cuestación" popular. For this they bought part of the land of the Trinitario farm. There is a civic center located on Avenida de la Martina. As educational centers it has the Ponferrada XII school that was born from the merger of the 2 previous existing schools and the concerted bilingual school La Asunción, belonging to the nuns of the Assumption.

The neighborhood is connected to Ponferrada by lines 1, 2, 4 and 7 of the SMT.

Barrio del Puente Boeza

Its name is due to the medieval bridge (nearby there are remains of an earlier one of Roman construction) that crosses the Boeza River as it passes through this neighborhood.

The medieval bridge, which also served the circulation of motor vehicles, became pedestrianized when another new-build bridge was built a short distance away.

This neighborhood divided in two by the Boeza river, leads to the southern part of the municipality of Ponferrada and the traditional region of Valle del Oza or Valdueza, as well as the exit to Montes Aquilanos, El Morredero and the easternmost part from La Cabrera.

The Sanabria road starts from it, designed in 1919 to communicate El Bierzo with La Cabrera (Ponferrada-Santalavilla-Puebla de Sanabria) and which was left unfinished at the top of the Aquiana peak in the so-called Campo de las Danzas.

It is connected to Ponferrada by line 5 of the SMT.

The cooperative Cepas del Bierzo is located in the neighborhood and has a large meadow where a multi-purpose football and rugby field is delimited. In the north there is a sports center, popularly known as JT, and whose official name is Polideportivo Antonio Vecino.

The festive events in this neighborhood are:

• Mid-June: popular party with their orchestra dances in the prado of the neighborhood.
• October - November: popular magician with chestnuts, chorizos and wine

Barrio de la Rosaleda

It is a neighborhood in the city of Ponferrada that has the tallest civil building in Castilla y León, La Torre de la Rosaleda with 30 floors, the El Rosal shopping center, a music conservatory and a commercial district with the Boulevard Juan Carlos I as base. In it is located the Parque del Oeste, which is the largest park in the city. It also has a designer church, the Buen Pastor parish, on Juan Carlos I Boulevard, and a private residence for the elderly.

Line C of the SMT passes through the center of the neighborhood. In addition, from the different ends of La Rosaleda you can take other lines such as 2 and 5 on Avenida Galicia and 4 on Avenida de Asturias.

The Martina

Neighborhood linked to the old road to Orense, located between the neighborhood of Flores del Sil and Dehesas. Within its limits are numerous industrial buildings. The houses that make it up are usually single-family or low-rise.

It is linked to Ponferrada by line 1 of the SMT.

Transportation and communications

Vehicle fleet

In 2022, Ponferrada had a total of 46,127 motor vehicles, which is 723 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.

Urban transport

Urban Bus (SMT)

Currently, the city of Ponferrada has an urban transport service with 8 lines, of which we can highlight the Circular line. On weekdays and Saturday mornings there are 8 lines, 7 of which are diametrical and connect the different neighborhoods of Ponferrada. They have a frequency of 1 hour:

• 1: University - Dehesas

• 2: Toral de Merayo - Fuentesnuevas

• 3: Barrio de San Antonio - Bárcena

• 4: The Plate - Columbrians

• 5: Puente Boeza - Fuentesnuevas

• 6: University - Fuentesnuevas (He arrives until the end of the municipal term with Camponaraya)

• 7: La Placa - Fuentesnuevas (Por Compostilla)

There is also the Circular line that connects the upper area of the city with different administrative points or points of interest such as the El Rosal Shopping Center, the Rosaleda neighborhood, the bus station, Hospital de la Reina, the town hall or the Courts. It has a frequency of approximately 15 minutes.

On weekends and holidays, due to less use of the bus, only 4 lines run: 1, 3, 5 and 7. These lines have a frequency of 1 hour and run on Saturday afternoons, Sundays and holidays. On Sundays and holidays the service starts at 11:00.

It should be noted that all the lines pass through the Interchange stop, to allow greater intermodality between them and a greater variety of destinations.

The SMT can be accessed with the Ponferrada citizen card. In 2021, a single SMT ticket costs €1.10 and entitles you to transfer to other lines for 45 minutes.

The company Pelines, together with AUPSA, handles the Transport to the Demand in the area of Ponferrada

Urban mobility

In addition to the urban bus service (SMT), there are sections of bike lanes in some areas of Ponferrada, either integrated into the sidewalk or into existing roads, as well as limiting the speed of some streets in the urban center in order to make it compatible the use of the bike by them. Bike racks have also been distributed next to public or sports places to leave the bike in them.

Ponferrada has three areas where access to traffic is restricted, which are the Old Town, Avenida de España and the commercial area of the city center that is bounded by Gómez Núñez, Camino de Santiago and Ramón y Cajal, which only residents can enter, remaining as semi-pedestrian areas, promoting tourism and commerce, establishing several dissuasive car parks located on Avenida de la Libertad, the Railway Museum and the Pilgrims' Hostel to park vehicles. There are also three underground car parks in the city. The first is located under Pérez Colino avenue, the second, under the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, and the third, on Avenida de Compostilla. Together they have a total of more than 800 parking spaces.

Due to the orography of Ponferradina, since 2003 to access the upper part of the city from General Vives street, a panoramic public elevator has been installed for free use and in operation 24 hours a day, which facilitates access to the old town and the popular Ancha street, one of the main arteries of the upper area of Ponferrada. In 2011, and with the endorsement of the massive use that the first elevator had, the second public elevator was inaugurated with similar characteristics to the first, and allows a better union of the Jewish Quarter with the upper area and the park of the plantation

Intercity transport

Road

Ponferrada has been an outstanding communications hub since the first half of the XII century, forming part of the Camino de Santiago. Since the beginning of the XX century, in which the first roads were paved, it has been part of the itinerary of the N-VI, one of the six radial national highways that structure Spain. Currently, the city is fully integrated into the high-capacity network via the A-6 motorway, which is the main entrance to Galicia.

Railroad

Ponferrada has a railway station, managed by Adif, which maintains lines with Vigo, La Coruña, Zaragoza, Madrid and Barcelona.

It is located in the Barrio de la Estación and provides Renfe Operadora service, through various trains for long-distance routes, such as Alvia, Arco or Trenhotel, or oriented towards Medium Distance connections, in this case, Intercity or Regional Express.

It allows numerous connections at a national level, since it connects daily with communities such as Navarra, the Basque Country, Aragon, and Catalonia, with several trains throughout the day.

In addition to this station, mainly intended for passenger transport, in the Bierzo Industrial Estate (PIB), there is a terminal for rail freight transport, managed by Adif and located between Ponferrada, Cuatrovientos and Flores del Sil. It is mainly used to unload coal trains from the ports of La Coruña, Avilés or Gijón. Trains loaded with the ash produced by the Compostilla II plant also leave it. It has 4 tracks that are electrified at its head, of which two have access to the loading and unloading dock of the terminal.

Ponferrada was the origin of the metric-gauge Ponferrada - Villablino Railway that connected the Laciana mines with the Ponferrada thermal power plants and the RENFE line to transfer the coal to its trains, the Ponferradina station currently being the headquarters of the Ponferrada Railway Museum. In it there are several restored locomotives and wagons that served on the line. In the municipality there are still some remains of this railway that today leaves from Cubillos del Sil, being able to see the rails of the track in some areas.

Interurban Bus

The bus station is located on Avenida de la Libertad, and buses depart from it with regional destinations such as Toral de los Vados, Carracedelo, Bembibre, Villafranca...; regional destinations such as León or Salamanca and national destinations such as Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña...

The vast majority of regional and national destinations are operated by Alsa, while the regional ones are provided by local companies (Aupsa, Pelines and González de la Riva) in addition to Alsa

Transport to the Demand of the Ponferrada area

Ponferrada is a very large municipality, with a complicated orography, where maintaining a regular line in some towns is unfeasible. To alleviate these deficiencies, Transport on Demand was launched years ago. It is a public transport service of the Junta de Castilla y León, with reserved seats. It is not a regular line, it only works if requested. It allows you to easily and very economically approach towns with an undoubted tourist value such as Peñalba, the towns of La Valdueza or Los Barrios de Salas. In addition, 3 school transport routes can be used by the general public: Ponferrada to Fresnedo, Ponferrada to San Clemente de Valdueza and Ponferrada to Onamio. Companies that provide the service in the Ponferrada area: AUPSA and Pelines.

Air transportation

León Airport, which came into service in 1999, is the closest airport, being 102 kilometers from Ponferrada.

Economy

Agriculture and livestock

High-quality wines (Bierzo Denomination of Origin) are produced throughout the region, exported to various places such as Germany or the United States, in the municipality of Ponferrada, specifically in the Puente Boeza neighborhood, where the Cepas Wine Cooperative is based del Bierzo the one with the highest production in terms of Bierzo grape tonnage, which collects the grapes from the vineyards of the towns around the city such as San Lorenzo, Otero or Campo, so the last weekends of September or on the first of October, depending on the rainfall and weather conditions during the summer, the harvest is carried out, in which the grapes are harvested from the vineyards of these towns located in the south and southeast of Ponferrada.

Fruit and vegetables also have a very prominent place in Ponferradina and Bercian agriculture (Denomination of Origin Manzana Reineta del Bierzo or Pimiento del Bierzo); chestnuts, Conference pear, cherries.

Numerous orchards are still exploited, either for family consumption or for later sale at the Ponferrada food market or local greengrocers. These orchards can still be found in the city, in the Ribera del Sil area in the Jewish neighborhood, which are the vestige of the Las Huertas del Sacramento area, located where the homonymous avenue currently stands, and where numerous ponferradinos they had land where they grew different types of vegetables. Other places that are still close to the urban area are the orchard areas between the neighborhoods of Flores del Sil and La Placa, or between Cuatrovientos and Columbrianos, as well as in rural areas. In September, the families that have planted peppers in their orchards still carry on the tradition of roasting peppers, begun in the 18th century by the Bercian housewives, known as pimenteras, and which consists of collecting the peppers, storing them and after a few days, they are roasted, and later they are peeled and the seeds are removed, passing to pack them in small glass jars.

Livestock, although it has suffered a setback in the municipality due to the growth of the city, continues to have a certain importance both at the level of family farms in the towns of the municipality, and in the breeding of different species for slaughter. Until 2009 Ponferrada had a municipal slaughterhouse located in the La Martina area, awaiting the construction of a regional slaughterhouse.

Industry

Headquarters of CUPA GROUP, world leader in the production and marketing of slates for roofs, with more than 2,000 workers and subsidiaries in 11 countries. It has the largest production plant for blades (LM Wind Power) and shafts (Grupo Comonor) for electric wind turbines in Europe, which once employed some 1,500 workers, thus fitting within the large industry, although activity has currently ceased in the second and the staff has been reduced in the first. A steel company, Aceros Roldán S.A., which owns a medium-sized plant within the Acerinox group and various small companies. Another company to highlight in the region is Vitro Cristalglass (glass transformation) who employed more than 600 workers and whose facilities are the largest insulating glass manufacturing on the peninsula. Currently, due to the economic crisis, this company is in bankruptcy. Likewise, it is the cradle of both the Minero Siderúrgica de Ponferrada, converted into a Cantabrian Mining Reserve, the largest private mining company in Spain, and ENDESA, the National Electricity Company, founded in 1947, privatized in 2000 and which is the largest electricity company in Spain and Latin America. Compostilla I was its first production plant, inaugurated at the beginning of the 1950s. In the 1960s, the Compostilla II thermal power plant was created in the nearby municipality of Cubillos del Sil (León). The great growth of Ponferrada in the XX century is mainly due to these two industries, the MSP and ENDESA..

Compostilla I (now CIUDEN headquarters)

Different companies dedicated to the manufacture of meat products with large production and sales volume have their headquarters within the municipality, as is the case of Embutidos Pajariel. Its area of influence also has agri-food industries and companies that are dedicated to the production of cement and also, of great importance, the manufacture of slate.

The Ciudad de la Energía Foundation (CIUDEN) has its headquarters in the old Compostilla I Thermal Power Plant. At the end of 2008, the project that will convert the old MSP Thermal Power Plant and part of the Compostilla I Thermal Power Plant into the National Energy Museum was approved.

Industrial assets

In Ponferrada there are several industrial estates:

• The largest is the Polígono Industrial El Bayo, which has more than 2 million m2 of surface, and which is located between Ponferrada and Cubillos del Sil. One of the most outstanding companies in this polygon is TVITEC, dedicated to the transformation of the glass.

• The Polygon of La Llanada is located in the Montearenas area, has the presence of LM Wind Power as its most important company.

• Polígono industrial del Bierzo (P.I.B), is between Ponferrada and Cuatrovientos. It is based on different companies, mostly linked to automotive (car dealerships or repair workshops).

• In addition, other industrial polygons in Ponferrada are the Polígono de Cantalobos, Polígono de La Martina, Polígono de la Barca, Polígono de Dehesas and the industrial area of Montearenas

The Cylog is currently under construction, a logistics center located in the dock area, near Cuatrovientos, and which will act as a dry port with rail and road access. There are agreements to transport goods from the ports of La Coruña and Vigo.

Tertiary sector

The services sector, which continues to grow as in the rest of Europe, currently represents probably the most booming sector and the one that produces the highest income, although it is focused on trade, generating zero added value and employment with little demand for qualifications, like the rest of the country.

Symbols

Design similar to that used by the Town Hall of Ponferrada

Shield

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality follows the following coat of arms or written description:

"Azur Shield with a golden bridge, sable-painted with two towers on its ends, and placed on silver and sugar waves. Open royal crown, in gold».

Official Gazette of Castilla y León No. 118 of 20 June 1996

Anthem

The traditional song I'm going to Ponferrada has been popularly accepted as the hymn of Ponferrada, being one of the best-known and most popular songs.^{[citation required]} In 1950, the Ponferrada anthem composed by Pedro Fernández Matachana was released: In El Bierzo, garden of love, this beautiful city flourished, Ponferrada, noble and stately.....

Administration and politics

Currently, the Municipal Corporation of Ponferrada is made up of 25 councilors, according to the provisions of the General Electoral Regime Law, which establishes the number of eligible councilors based on the population of the municipality.

Municipal elections in Ponferrada between 1979 and 1999

Political party	1979		1983		1987		1991		1995		1999
	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors
PSOE	29.16	8	67.41	20	44,88	13	40,52	11	35,61	9	30.98	8
UCD	27,27	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
AVI	17.97	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
PCE	10.15	2	3,74	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
IB	8,53	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
CD	3.62	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
FN	2.81	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
PTE	0.5	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
P (AP through 1989)	-	-	18,98	5	22,48	6	32.4	9	44.2	12	57.34	16
PB	-	-	4.3	0	12,53	3	9,19	2	8.7	2	5.3	1
PDL	-	-	4.21	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
CDS	-	-	1.36	0	10.17	3	6.84	2	-	-	-	-
PDP	-	-	-	-	4.55	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
IU	-	-	-	-	4.34	0	5,08	1	7.61	2	4.6	0
IB	-	-	-	-	-	-	3.11	0	-	-	-	-

Municipal elections in Ponferrada since 2003

Political party	2003		2007		2011		2015		2019
	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors	% votes	councillors
P	48.5	15	49.16	14	38.96	12	23,28	7	22,96	6
PSOE	32,95	10	29,77	9	24.4	8	20,91	6	32.13	9
PB	4.68	0	4.69	0	4.24	0	-	-	-	-
UPL	4,11	0	6.68	2	0.83	0	-	-	-	-
IU	4.04	0	4.99	0	4.91	0	-	-	2.39	0
PRB	2.46	0	2.95	0	2.62	0	5,22	1	7.40	2
IAP	-	-	-	-	16,53	5	-	-	-	-
MASS	-	-	-	-	3,59	0	-	-	-	-
UPyD	-	-	-	-	0.98	0	1.23	0	-	-
USE Bierzo	-	-	-	-	-	-	18,58	5	7.79	2
Cs	-	-	-	-	-	-	9,27	2	8,24	2
CB	-	-	-	-	-	-	8,95	2	9,23	2
We can.	-	-	-	-	-	-	7.89	2	7.20	2

City Hall

To date, all the mayors of the city of Ponferrada have belonged to the Popular Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), except between 2013 and 2015, when a coalition of other parties governed. In May 2002, Mayor Ismael Álvarez, of the PP, was forced to resign due to the so-called Nevenka Case, in which he was sentenced by the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León for the crime of sexual harassment. On March 8, 2013, there was a motion of no confidence presented by the PSOE-IAP, which ousted Carlos López Riesco to place Samuel Folgueral Arias, of the PSOE, in the mayor's office. PSOE or leave his new position as mayor if he did not break the pact with IAP, a party led by Ismael Álvarez. On March 10, Folgueral and the other seven PSOE councilors chose to leave the party. For his part, Álvarez (IAP) resigned from office.

Justice

Ponferrada is the head of the judicial district of Ponferrada. It is number 4 of the seven judicial districts in the province of León and its demarcation includes the municipality of Ponferrada and the rest of the municipalities of Bierzo with the exception of the municipality of Palacios del Sil. The set of judicial bodies is as follows:

• Judgements:
  • Courts of first instance and instruction: 8.
  • Social Courts: 2.
  • Criminal Court: 1

Commonwealth

Scudo de la Mancomunidad de Municipals del Agua del Bierzo

The Commonwealth of Municipalities of Agua del Bierzo is a public entity made up of the municipalities of Arganza, Cabañas Raras, Cacabelos, Camponaraya, Carracedelo, Cubillos del Sil, and Sancedo (a large part of the municipalities that comprise Bierzo Bajo except Villafranca del Bierzo, Toral de los Vados, Priaranza del Bierzo and Borrenes), other municipalities may join in accordance with the provisions of their Statutes and the procedure indicated in Law 1/1998, of June 4 of the Local Regime of Castilla y León.

In 2008 the municipality of Ponferrada showed its willingness to leave the Commonwealth, a decision that was finally carried out, proceeding to change the name of the entity (founded as the Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Ponferrada region). Despite this decision, the headquarters of this entity have been maintained in Ponferrada, located in the Fuentesnuevas neighborhood, Avenida de Galicia number 369.

Municipality

Shield of the reign of Charles II on the façade of the ponferradino consistory

View of the city of Ponferrada and from the Lower Bierzo from Lombillo de Los Barrios

The municipality of Ponferrada includes, in addition to the city of Ponferrada, 33 other unique population entities. Some of them, 17 in total, are, in turn, smaller local entities. The municipality annexed the municipalities of San Esteban de Valdueza in 1974 and Los Barrios de Salas in 1980, both made up of many towns.

The population centers that form part of the municipality of Ponferrada are the following:

Facilities and services

Education

Ponferrada has the following schools:

University campus

Created, according to the words of the rector Ángel Penas of the university, as a «bet for the future», the Ponferrada Campus dependent on the University of León began teaching in the 1996/1997 academic year after years of demands for Ponferrada to endow itself with university institutions (see: UNED). For this, the building of the old Hospital "Camino de Santiago", empty after its transfer to a new building, was reused.

Activity on the Ponferradino Campus began with only 149 students; today, it exceeds 1,500, after years in which the campus has been increasing its range of degrees, while providing new and more modern infrastructures; among them, new buildings for services, research institutes, cafeteria, university library, heated swimming pool...

Currently, the range of degrees taught in Ponferrada are as follows:

• Technical Engineer in Topography, Technical Forestry Engineering
• Agricultural Technical Engineer: Specialty Agricultural and Food Industries
• Physical therapy
• Tourism (closed)
• Nursing
• Title Propio en Cinematografía y Artes Visuales, today wrapped in a certain polemic by the possibility of conversion in the title of Vocational Training with the entry into force of the European Higher Education Area, but that years ago it was one of the most attractive of the academic institution, which had the master lessons of filmmakers of the size of Woody Allen or Alejandro Amenábar, among others.

Health

Public health

Health care in Ponferradina is managed by the autonomous entity Sacyl (Castilla y León Health). Law 1/1993, of April 6, on the Organization of the Health System, divides health care into three levels of care: primary, specialized and continuous.

Primary care is managed from the Bierzo Health Area. Ponferrada has 4 health centers:

In addition to these centers, there are medical offices in some districts to bring medical care closer to the towns. In these centers a specialist doctor belonging generally to a health center comes a few days a week to provide consultation. Currently, the towns of San Esteban de Valdueza, Campo, Fuentesnuevas, Dehesas, San Lorenzo, Toral de Merayo, Villanueva de Valdueza and San Andrés de Montejos have medical offices.

As for specialized care, the El Bierzo University Hospital is located in Fuentesnuevas, which provides services to all the towns of Bierzo as well as the neighboring region of Laciana. The center has a total of 450 beds and numerous specialties are taught there. Currently, in some specific queries it presents saturation indices. This hospital was inaugurated in 1994 to replace the old Hospital Camino de Santiago located in the upper area, which due to the increase in population had become too small to meet all the demand.

Private health

In addition to the numerous private specialist offices that are distributed throughout the city (dental clinics, ophthalmology clinics, analysis laboratories, dermatologists, cardiologists, podiatrists, physiotherapists...) there are two large private health centers in Ponferrada:

• Clínica Ponferrada, opened in 1996 and located in the avenue of Galicia, in the area of Aldama - La Rosaleda. It has sections of external consultations, radiology, surgery, hospitalization, emergencies and different means of diagnosis and care services. has more than 60 doctors and 46 rooms as well as concerts with the Sacyl to reduce the waiting lists of the El Bierzo University Hospital
• Hospital de la Reina, located in the upper part of the city, is managed by the Royal Hospital de la Reina Foundation, and created by the Catholic Kings to attend the pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago in 1492. The current building has a modern structure and has sections of external consultations, surgery, radiology, rehabilitation center and also with religious community. He has concerts with the Sacyl to divert patients to this hospital from El Bierzo University Hospital.

Pharmacies

Currently, Ponferrada has a wide network of pharmacies to bring people from Ponferrada closer to buying medicines. The distribution of pharmacies is as follows:

• Centro Ciudad (Zona baja - La Puebla): 11 pharmacies
• Station district: 1 pharmacy
• Cuatrovientos: 1 pharmacy
• Flowers of Sil: 2 pharmacies
• Temple: 1 pharmacy
• La Rosaleda: 2 pharmacies
• High Zone: 6 pharmacies
• Boeza Bridge: 1 pharmacy
• New sources: 1 pharmacy
• Dehesas: 1 pharmacy
• Columbrians: 1 pharmacy
• Compostilla: 1 pharmacy

At night, there is a pharmacy on duty in the city on a rotating basis, that is, every night it is the turn of a pharmacy in Ponferrada to open at night. In addition to this rotating duty pharmacy, there are two pharmacies, one located in the El Rosal shopping center and another in the city center, which are open 24 hours

Shopping areas

The Rosal

Ponferrada has a large shopping center (C.C. El Rosal), inaugurated in October 2007, which includes a Carrefour hypermarket, 147 stores (Zara and other stores from the Inditex group, Cortefiel, Mango, Desigual, H&M, Benetton or The Phone House, Arenal among others), more than 15 restaurants and a 7-screen multiplex.

Parque Comercial La Herrería

Located in the Avenida de los Escritores/Aldama area and close to the Railway Museum, it is made up of large-scale establishments such as Decathlon Easy, Star Center, Sprinter, Lidl, Mercadona or the McDonalds restaurant.

In this location were also the 'Cinemas la Dehesa', transferred in 2007 to the El Rosal Shopping Center.

Other commercial areas

Plaza de Lazúrtegui, one of the most active points in the city

Another important center of commerce is the Mercado de Abastos for food, with native products such as meat, fruit and vegetables, as well as fish. Currently it is intended to promote with the opening of gastrobars in the disused areas of the same. 5 gastrobars stand out: Deleites Gourmet, Er Pescaíto, La crepería, Rosquilla Berciana and SaboreArte.

To this offer we must add the large commercial offer that is mainly concentrated in the surroundings of Plaza de Lazúrtegui where there are large firms such as the presence of the El Corte Inglés group with Sfera stores or El Corte Inglés trips

With the opening of the C.C. El Rosal in 2007 created an association of merchants, hoteliers, leisure services and professionals from Ponferrada who have decided to join forces to be able to compete with large stores. Among other initiatives, they hold a sales fair at the end of the winter sales period to sell store stock at very affordable prices.

The upper area of the city could be said to have specialized more as a wine and bar area, specifically those around the Plaza del Ayuntamiento or the Plaza de la Encina.

Heritage

Ponferrada Castle

Castle of the Templars

The Templar Castle of Ponferrada is located on a hill at the confluence of the Boeza and Sil rivers. It is located in what was probably originally a Celtic castro, in a position similar to that of others in the region. Later it is believed that it was a Roman and Visigoth site.

Around 1178 Ferdinand II allowed the Templars to establish an encomienda in present-day Ponferrada. In 1180 the king issued a charter for the repopulation of the town that had arisen a century earlier, documenting the first fortification in 1187. The fortress was rebuilt on numerous occasions throughout the Middle and Modern Ages. Currently, the entire palace area and certain towers of its enclosure from the XV century have been renovated in order to install a cultural center.

Currently, the castle has the permanent exhibition templum libri, which exhibits facsimile books from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the new Templar Library, which has 1,380 volumes related to the Order of the Temple and that make it the greatest of its characteristics in the whole world.

Basilica of La Encina

Renaissance in style, construction began in 1572, under the direction of the architect Juan de Alvear, who made the head of the temple, thus disappearing the medieval church. The slender tower that tops the basilica was built in 1614. It houses the image of the Virgin of La Encina, patron saint of El Bierzo.

An attempt was made to convert it into a collegiate church, but the petition was denied on May 6, 1720, and a new petition was later denied on October 21, 1725.

Church of Santiago de Peñalba

Portada Mozárabe Church of Santiago de Peñalba

Church of the Monastery of San Pedro de Montes

It is one of the architectural jewels of Mozarabic Art next to the Monastery of San Miguel de Escalada, also from Leon. It is located in the heart of the Oza Valley, 14 kilometers from Ponferrada, in the mountain village of Peñalba de Santiago. The area, full of monasteries and hermitage churches since the VIII century, earned the nickname of the Leonese Thebaid in its time. Its location in the center of the Aquilanos Mountains facilitated the isolation sought by the ascetic saints of the IX and centuries. ="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">X, like San Fructuoso and San Gennadio.

It was built in the first half of the X century by Abbot Solomon, specifically in the reign of Ramiro II, Ramiro II made multiple donations to the local church and monastery. Among them was the so-called Cruz de Peñalba, symbol of El Bierzo. In this cross you can see the strong influence of Visigothic goldsmithing on Mozarabic models.

Monastery of San Pedro de Montes

Located in Valdueza, together with the Monastery of Santa María de Carracedo, it was the most powerful of the monasteries in terms of domains in the region. Founded by San Fructuoso around the year 635, today only ruins and the church of the Monastery remain due to a fire in the XIX century, the confiscation of Mendizábal and the neglect of the patrimonial authorities.

Currently, it includes different styles: pre-Romanesque, present in some of the preserved capitals; the Romanesque of the tower, the cloister and the façade of the church, belonging to the 18th century.

Church of Santo Tomas de las Ollas

Located in the town of Santo Tomas de las Ollas built in the X century, it is one of the best examples of the Mozarabic style. To highlight its beautiful arched chapel. The name of the hermitage, taken from the town of Santo Tomás de las Ollas, comes from the main trade of that town: pottery. They provided goods to the Oza Valley area. The hermitage was donated by the Bishop of Astorga to the community of the Monastery of San Pedro de Montes. Its original construction dates from the X century, after which various modifications were made, the last being the Sacristy, from the XIX. The hermitage consists of a rectangular nave with only one apse which, despite having an oval plan, continues the rectangular line of the nave on its outer walls. The roof is gabled, made of slate, and based on a wooden frame.

Santa Maria de Vizbayo Church

Located in the town of Otero de Ponferrada. It consists of a single ship. It was built in the XI century, being the oldest church in Romanesque style, Mozarabic influences can also be observed. Its horseshoe arches and the beautiful front wall stand out, in which there is a mullioned window of great beauty.

Other monuments

Medieval wall of Ponferrada

Clock Street and Clock Tower

Radio Museum, Ponferrada

• The street of the Clock, which communicates the square of the Basilica with that of the City Council.
• The Clock Tower (old gate of the city). Unique tower with free watch in Spain. It was built in the centuryXVIduring the reign of Charles I, on one of the arches of the ancient medieval wall.
• The Consistorial House (1692) of baroque style.
• Church of San Andrés, near the castle.
• Hermitage El Salvador in Toral de Merayo, centuryXVIIINeoclassic.
• Roman fountain in Campo.
• Complute hardware, in the town of Compludo. It is an example of a popular medieval industry, and it is formed by a hydraulic system to perform forging activities.
• Historical helmet of the village of Peñalba de Santiago, declared artistic ensemble.
• Bierzo Museum: Museum of Art and General Archaeology of El Bierzo. Located in the Palace of the Counts of Toreno, later former prison of Ponferrada in the Modern Age, next to the Tower of the Clock. With two floors for permanent exposure, and one for temporary.
• Railway Museum: Museum dedicated to the railway, which was the Ponferrada station in the times of the Ponferrada Railway - Villablino. It has steam machines of several sizes, most of them from this railroad, which have been completely restored, as well as with wagons, either from RENFE or this mining railway, road control centers, a train simulator, scale rail models, etc. It also has an annex called StationArtewhere temporary exhibitions are located, and especially linked to young people, so that they can show their works.
• Museo de la Radio: Promoted by journalist Luis del Olmo, it has numerous unique radios.
• Energy Museum: It is a museum that consists of three phases, whose first phase, inaugurated in July 2011 consisted of the rehabilitation of the former thermal power plant of the MSP of Ponferrada, in which all the instruments used for the production of electricity through coal are shown, because the plant kept in its interior all the machinery used for it and that has been restored. This has allowed this ancient thermal plant to be valued where many ponferradinos and Bercianos worked. This first phase is called the Light Factory. In the year 2023, the second phase of the museum, the Compostilla I centre, known as the Museo de la Energía such as La Térmica Cultural, is expected to be inaugurated, just 100 metres from the MSP headquarters, where a conference hall, three permanent exhibitions and a gallon will be located. The third phase will be the construction of the Carboniferous Forest, which will be unique in the world and will try to recreate the existing climate and environment at the time of formation of the Coal. This whole project is called Ene.Museo, which is developed by the Ciuden.
• In the vicinity of the municipality are also the ruins of the Roman mines of Las Médulas, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, which belonged to Astur territory at the time of its exploitation.

Urban sculptures

Urban sculptures of Ponferrada

Name	Year	Author	Description	Image
Statue of the Templar	2003	Venancio Blanco	The sculpture represents the moment in which a temporary monk discovers, in the hollow of a holm oak, the image of a Virgin, moment considered a historical milestone of the city of Ponferrada, passing the image to take the name and advocation of the Virgin of the Encina, being considered the patron of Ponferrada and, therefore, of El Bierzo.	Statue of the Templar - Plaza Virgen de la Encina (Pulse for omnioramic vision or environment)
Statue of the barquillero	2001	Oscar Alvariño	The sculpture depicts Pepe Cortés, an inward character of the city, remembered by several generations of boys and girls, his family, known under the nickname of El Barquillero, who was many years a street vendor of boats in the environment in which today is this statue.	Estatua del barquillero - Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Pulse for omnioramic vision or environment)
The Carrasca	2001	Design: Arturo González Nieto sculptor: José Juan González Assembly: master cantero Manuel Vilas	The sculpture is a tribute to the writer Enrique Gil and Carrasco, author of “El Señor de Bembibre”, through which his muse, La Carrasca, is considered. The monument was donated by the Casa del Bierzo de Buenos Aires and opened on October 10, 1926 in its first location, the Plaza de la Encina. Since then he has had other locations, to the present, still assuming the loss of part of his basement.	La Carrasca - Glorieta de La Carrasca (Pulse for omnioramic vision or environment)
D. Severo Gómez Núñez	1968	José Juan González	I look for a tribute to Severo Gómez Núñez in the park of the Plantío, inaugurated in the Festival of the Encina of 1968. The City Council Ponferrada a D. Severo Gómez Núñez son of Cubillos (1859-1938) promoter of the regadíos of the Bierzo Bierzo Day 1968	Busto de D. Severo Gómez Núñez - El Plantío (Pulse for omnioramic vision or environment)

Urban sculptures in Ponferrada – Click icon top right for dynamic map

Parks and gardens

In recent years the number of green areas in the city has increased notably. The green lung of Ponferrada is Mount Pajariel, although it has recently suffered several forest fires, and there is a project to convert it into a forest park. All neighborhoods in Ponferrada have some green area. The main parks in the city are El Plantío, Parque del Temple, Parque de la Concordia and Parque del Oeste.

Parque del Plantío

This park is located in the upper area of the city, close to the university, with an access path from the Jewish neighborhood. It is also called Parque Gil y Carrasco. The predominant species in the park's trees is pine, although there are also other species of garden trees. Among the different services available in the park is a cement sports field where you can practice soccer or basketball, a cafeteria, a day center and a large area for children's games, there is another space for exercises called Zones of 1 100 years old, which is also found in other parks in Ponferrada. It also has a pond where there are ducks, geese and swans, a covered enclosure where peacocks and parrots are found among other species, and a kiosk or bandstand. Previously, the statue of La Carrasca, the character from the novel El Señor de Bembibre by Gil y Carrasco, was located in the park, but it has now been moved to the homonymous gazebo, which is located next to one of the park entrances.

Temple Park

This park is located between the downtown area of the city and the Flores del Sil neighborhood, surrounded on the north by the temple neighborhood, on the east by the station neighborhood, on the south by the municipal auditorium and the banks of the Sil, and in the west by the neighborhood of Flores del Sil. It is one of the largest parks in the city. It is also known as the Parque del Belga because until a few years ago this park was owned by the MSP, since it was a private farm, which was fenced, and where the first general director resided, and later vice president of the MSP, the engineer Marcelo Jorissen, a native of Brussels.

This park, perfectly integrated into the city, housed the Ponferrada conservatory, although due to its transfer to a new building in La Rosaleda, in November 2014 the local police headquarters were transferred to this building, the municipal auditorium where concerts and shows are offered during the holm oak festivities, and also held in the park a few days before the start of the festivities, the so-called magical city, more popularly known as CIMA in which numerous activities are carried out for the smallest, with craft workshops, theater, crafts, inflatables..., there is the CIMA youth information point in one of the buildings in the park.

Most of the trees are made up of pine. In the park there is, in addition to the services exposed above, a cafeteria, a space for the practice of petanque, eventually holding tournaments of the same; cement sports fields for playing sports such as football and basketball, and a circuit for learning road safety, where the municipal police give road safety classes to students from Ponferrada schools. There are also several areas for children's games and attractions, as well as a fountain and a pond.

The park is fully linked to the Flores del Sil neighborhood, raising the surface to 60,000 m².

Concordia Park

Located in the Huertas del Sacramento area, in the lower part of Ponferrada, it is a park that develops next to a part of the Sil riverbank, from the Ramón Martínez soccer fields to the well-known Cubelos Bridge. A few years ago a major reform was undertaken in the park. It has all paved roads, and the two old kiosks have been restored, one of them housing a room for interpretation of the Sil river. It has a pond, a children's area, and another area for gymnastics exercises. The predominant species is poplar. Next to the park are the courts, the Ramón Martínez soccer fields, the Ponferrada language school, the Peñalba school and the Álvaro de Mendaña institute. The park is crossed by the avenue Gran Vía del Reino de León.

West Park

It is the last park built in Ponferrada, located next to the new neighborhood of La Rosaleda, and which joins this neighborhood with Cuatrovientos. It is an important green space, in which grass predominates. In it is the new music conservatory of Ponferrada. It has a bike lane that runs along the entire park, and has several picnic areas, as well as a children's play area.

Other green areas

In addition to these parks, there are more green areas distributed throughout the city:

• In Flores del Sil, the homonymous park, and an area next to the civic center.
• In Cuatrovientos, Pablo Picasso Park
• In Fuentesnuevas, green area of the town of Fuentesnuevas
• In Compostilla, park in the center of the neighborhood
• In the neighborhood of the station, there is a small green area with children's games.
• In the center of the city, there are several green areas located next to Valdés Avenue, Avenue of the castle and Angel Barja Street. In addition there is the shore of the Sil, which forms a large green column that begins in the vicinity of Ene. Thermal, and crosses the whole city to the railroad bridge.

Culture

Languages

Ponferrada is a trilingual municipality, since, in addition to Spanish, the Leonese and Galician languages are preserved in its municipal area. In this sense, the traditional language of most of the municipality is Leonese, although the predominant language of four districts in the extreme west of the same (Fuentesnuevas, Dehesas, Toral de Merayo and Rimor) is Galician, very mixed, however, with Leonese (especially in the case of the local languages of Toral de Merayo and Rimor). On the other hand, linguistically the historical toponymy of these four currently Galician-speaking towns would be typical of Astur-Leonese, from which it could be deduced that the The predominant linguistic element in the entire municipality was initially Asturian-Leonese, which would later have been displaced by Galician in the westernmost districts of the municipality. However, in the rest of the municipality the Leonese linguistic element has remained predominant, both in speech and in place names, although it has suffered an increasing Castilianization.

Parties and events

Fiestas de La Encina

Carrozas de las fiestas de La Encina 2013

The Virgen de la Encina is the patron saint of Ponferrada, del Bierzo. The Bierzo Regional Council intends to make it a labor holiday in El Bierzo.

The day of the Holm Oak is on September 8, the Holm Oak is celebrated on the 9th. The two local holidays established by decree of the mayor's office. Moving to a different date if it coincided on Saturday or Sunday. There is also a youth and children's party from September 1 to 6 called Cima in the Temple Park, in which inflatables and a train that runs through the park are installed as well as craft and adventure workshops, representation of plays and dance performances etc... for children.

The festivities take place in the first days of September, between the 5th and 9th, according to the program established by the Festival Board, chaired by the Councilor for Culture. According to tradition, the carving of the Virgin was located inside an oak by the Templars in the Middle Ages, where it would have been deposited to protect it from the Muslims. As a curiosity, it is one of the few black virgins that exist, which is why she is also popularly known as La Morenica.

At these festivities, a ceramics fair is held in the courtyard of the CEIP Campo de la Cruz, which has the representation of numerous artists and in which courses on the handling of ceramics are also given; exhibitions of local painters located in the old town and numerous gastronomic tastings, whether local or national.

Other activities carried out during these festivities are the Bercian Song Festival, in which choral groups from the entire Bierzo region participate, as well as different sports competitions and concerts in the Municipal Auditorium, in the so-called Nights of the Encina, which has brought important artists of a national level. On September 8 in the afternoon, the already traditional parade of floats is celebrated that closes the queen of the festivities with her bridesmaids. In 2012, due to the economic crisis, the election of this

In the esplanade located between Avenida de la Libertad and Avenida de la Lealtad, tents are set up where gastronomic tastings are held, and it is also in that place where the orchestras that liven up the festival nights are installed.

Early night

Held on the first full moon of July, Templar Night recreates a medieval event full of fantasy.

This is the representation of how Frey Guido de Garda, Master of the Order of the Knights Templar, returns to the city of the Iron Bridge to seal a pact of eternal friendship with it and give it custody of the symbols found in the holy land of Jerusalem: the holy Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. The Templar entourage is received by thousands of people from Ponferrada dressed in medieval clothing who, in parade and guarding the Ark of the Alliance and the Holy Grail, head towards the Castle.

At this point, a Trial is held against the Templar Order. I, Guido de Garda, Master of the Pons Ferrata fortress, commit the entire town of Ponferrada to come back every year to renew this festive commitment to its history and legend until time erases the horizon line.

The Templar Night is one of the liveliest summer festivals in Ponferrada, all enlivened with music, fireworks, gastronomic tastings (the medieval dinner consolidating with great popularity) or street entertainment, among other things, as well as a great parade templar.

Holy Week

The pain in the procession of pains, passing by the city hall

Pass of Jesus Nazarene of Silence, in the procession of silence

In Ponferrada, Holy Week is also celebrated, as in all of Spain. It is one of the main religious events in the city throughout the year, and Holy Week in Ponferradina has been declared of Regional Tourist Interest, and since 2015 also of National Tourist Interest, requested in 2012. It has four sororities:

• Brotherhood of Jesus Nazareth, which is the main one.
• Confraternity of Jesus the Nazarene of Silence.
• Brotherhood of the Christ of Redemption and Our Lady of Carmen.
• Costume of James Apostle.

Different processional acts are carried out on the days of Holy Week between Friday of Sorrows and Easter Sunday

In addition to the processions, another typical character of Ponferradina's Holy Week is the Nazareno Lambrión chupacandiles, who goes out through the streets of Ponferrada the day before the proclamation of Holy Week announcing the arrival of it.

Other peculiarities of Holy Week in Ponferrada are the custody of the key to the Basílica de la Encina by the Mayor of Ponferrada on Good Thursday and Good Friday or the so-called timbales and clarinets ritual at dawn on Good Friday.

Carnival

It is celebrated from the Sunday to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. On Sunday afternoon the Children's Carnival is celebrated, a parade that takes place through the city center and ends in the Flores del Sil park organized by the AMPAS of the Ponferrada schools, each school dressing up with a different theme. Monday is the Youth Carnival, in which a puzzle is organized by Cima in which the participants integrated into costumed groups have to look for clues distributed throughout the city. On Tuesday the traditional carnival parade is held, in which both clubs and groups participate, who opt for an economic prize by category. This parade begins in Flores del Sil, crosses the center of the city and reaches the upper area ending in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where a popular dance is performed by an orchestra.

Media

TV channels

• The 8th Bierzo

Radio stations

Newspapers

• Diario de León (edición Bierzo)

Digital journals

• BierzoDiario
• Bierzotv
• El Bierzo Digital
• TheBierzonotics
• Infobierzo
• NewsBierzo

Sports

Football

La Ponferradina in 2010, contesting the phase of its second ascent to the Second Division

Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina was founded on June 7, 1922. It currently plays in the Second Division National League Championship and plays its home games at the El Toralín Stadium, municipally owned, with a capacity of 8,800 spectators and inaugurated in 2000.

La Deportiva has played six seasons in the Second Division, to which it has been promoted four times: in 2006 at Rico Pérez against Alicante, in 2010 in Ponferrada against Sant Andreu de Barcelona, in 2012 at Heliodoro against Tenerife and in 2019 in Ponferrada against Hércules de Alicante.

La Ponferradina has participated in forty editions of the national cup competition (Copa del Rey since 1976), facing historical national footballers such as Zaragoza in 1990, Sevilla in 2008 or Real Madrid in the round of 32 of the edition 2011/12, with the presence in the first leg of the tie played in Ponferrada, of players from José Mourinho's team such as Sergio Ramos or Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of the second Real Madrid goal (0-2).

Basketball

The Ciudad de Ponferrada Basketball Club was founded on June 22, 2002. It currently plays for LEB Plata, the third category of national basketball, and it plays its home games at the “Lydia Valentín Pavilion”, municipally owned, with a capacity of 3,500 spectators and opened in 2001.

Ciudad de Ponferrada is the successor club to the historic Club Jóvenes Trabajadores, J.T. Ponferrada (1975–2000), who played their matches in the "Pabellón de la Borreca", municipally owned, with a capacity of 700 spectators and inaugurated in 1980.

Cycling

Cycling competition on male elite route during the 2014 Ponferrada World Championship

2014 World Cycling Championship

The city was the venue for the World Road Cycling Championship in its 2014 edition. The World Cup, which was held between September 20 and 28, 2014, is the greatest sporting milestone in the history of the region for its national and international projection, and for the repercussion not only in image but also economic and social for the city and El Bierzo, since it moved thousands of visitors during the time the event lasted.

The UCI World Championship in figures: 350,000 spectators in situ throughout the competition week, 1,500 athletes, 70 nations, 6,000 official accreditations, 73 television channels, 400 hours of television broadcasts, 216 hours of live broadcast, a cumulative television audience of 300 to 400 million viewers.

The organization of the World Cup meant preparing the city to host the event, with investments from the different administrations. Until now in Spain the Road Cycling World Championship had been held in Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián and Benidorm.

Sports facilities

The Bitten

The Morredero. Chair of the mare and Pico Tuerto. Montes Aquilanos. The Bierzo

In the foothills of the municipality, within the Aquilanos Mountains, is the Morredero ski resort. Created in 2002, the failure of its main ski lift in 2008 caused its forced closure.

Twinned cities

The city of Ponferrada participates in the town twinning initiative promoted, among other institutions, by the European Union. From this initiative, ties have been established with the following locality:

	Country	Locality
	Mexico	Pachuca de Soto

Zip Code

• Central number: 24401 to 24404
  • District 01; El Plantío, Zona Alta: 24401
  • District 02; La Puebla, Plaza Lazúrtegui: 24402
  • District 03; The Temple – Flowers of Sil:- La Placa 24403
  • District 04; La Rosaleda – Cuatrovientos: 24404
• Areas of the periphery: 244xx
  • New sources: 24411
  • Columbrians: 24490
  • Compostilla: 24492

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