Culture and Sports
| Old City of Salamanca | |
|---|---|
| Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List | |
| Country | Spain |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iv |
| Reference | 381 |
| UNESCO region | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1988 |
In 2002 Salamanca shared the title of European Capital of Culture with Bruges. Salamanca is a popular tourist destination, especially in the summer. Tourism is the primary economic activity in the city, along with the revenue generated from a constant influx of foreign university students learning Spanish.
Salamanca offers the amenities of a larger city while retaining an intimate small town atmosphere. Since 1923, "Los Charros", formally the Union Deportiva Salamanca, have been the Salamanca football team.
Salamanca was the setting for the 2008 political thriller Vantage Point, although the movie was almost exclusively filmed in Mexico.
The classic dish of the Salamancan, known as Charreria ("peasant lands"), is a cocido, a slow-cooked casserole including chickpeas.
A traditional Salmantinian celebration is the Lunes de Aguas, "Water Monday", the Monday after the Sunday following Easter. Originally this served to celebrate the official allowance of the authorities for the prostitutes to return to the city after Lent and Easter. All the shops closed and Salmantinos picnic in the countryside to eat a kind of meat pie called "hornazo".
Salamanca is also famous throughout Spain and the rest of Europe for its celebrations of "Nochevieja Universitaria," loosely translated as "University New Year". It is usually held on the Thursday of the last week of school in December and two weeks before the real New Year's Eve. On this day, students congregate in the Plaza Mayor, Salamanca to watch free performances and take part in the countdown to midnight. This tradition was started spontaneously by a few college students who wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve with their friends first before spending the real one with their families at home. Since then, students from all around Spain have been flocking to Salamanca to enjoy the festivities with their friends, making it one of the largest annual events in Salamanca.
Read more about this topic: Salamanca
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