San Roque, Cádiz

San Roque
View of San Roque at dusk showing Gibraltar in the background.
Flag Coat of Arms
"Muy Noble y Muy Leal ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar" ("Very Noble and Very Loyal city of San Roque, where Gibraltar lives on")
Location
Location of San Roque
Coordinates :
Administration
Country	Spain
Autonomous Community	Andalusia
Province	Cádiz
Comarca	Campo de Gibraltar
Geography
Land Area	140 km2
Altitude	109 m AMSL
Population
Population	25,548 (2007)
Density	182.5 hab./km2 (2007)
General information
Native name	San Roque (Spanish)
Spanish name	San Roque
Demonym	sanroqueño/a
Founded	1706
Postal code	11360
Website	safe SanRoque.es

San Roque is a small town and municipality in the south of Spain. It is part of the province of Cádiz, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. San Roque is situated a short way inland of the north side of the Bay of Gibraltar, just to the north of the Gibraltar peninsula. The municipality has a total surface of 145 km² with a population of approximately 25,500 people, as of 2005. Its name is Spanish for Saint Roch, a Christian saint who was revered in a shrine dating back to 1508 that predates the foundation of the town.

History

The area around San Roque has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The oldest known settlement within the municipality is the ruined town of Carteia, founded by the Turdetani (the later name for the diminished Tartessan empire). It became a Phoenician tradepost and evolved into a Carthaginian town by 228 BCE. Its major trade was in local wine and garum or salazón, a fish-based sauce^[1].

Carteia was captured by Rome in 206 BCE. A few years later, in 171 BCE, Iberian-born children of Roman soldiers appeared before the Roman Senate to request a town to live in, and were given Carteia, named Colonia Libertinorum Carteia.

Roman baths, Carteia

After the fall of Rome, the Vandals briefly established themselves in the area until 428 before they embarked on the conquest of North Africa, via an invasion fleet across the Strait of Gibraltar. The Visigoths replaced them around the 6th century. The Byzantine Empire made incursions into Andalusia between 554 and 626, occupying Carteia for a number of years, before finally being ejected by the Visigoths.

In 711, Carteia and the surrounding area became the beachhead for the Ummayad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula led by Tariq ibn Ziyad. Alfonso XI of Castile took control of the territory by defeating a Muslim Merinid army in the 14th century. Over the next few centuries, the population was gradually Hispanicised and Christianised.^{[citation needed]}

In 1649 a quarter of the Gibraltar population perished from endemic disease, a number of residents retreated to the area of San Roque, and survived the outbreak, believed to be typhoid.^[2]

The town of San Roque was founded by the former Spanish inhabitants of Gibraltar in 1706, after the majority left following the takeover by Anglo-Dutch forces during the War of the Spanish Succession.

On 1 August, 1704, the Anglo-Dutch Navy began a siege on Gibraltar. They demanded that the inhabitants surrender unconditionally and swear loyalty to the Archduke Charles, one of the contenders for the Spanish crown. The Gibraltar City Council refused the ultimatum. During the nights of 3rd and 4th of August, heavy shelling took place, targeting the castle and the town itself. The next day the Spaniards surrendered the town to the Prince of Hesse, one of the fleet commanders. The inhabitants, soldiers and officers were allowed to stay in the town, provided that they took an oath of fidelity to Charles as their new king. However very few decided to remain in the town.

Many believed that they would be able to return soon. Fortresses changed hands quite frequently in the 17th and 18th centuries. Anglo-Dutch rule over Gibraltar would be probably temporary, until the fortunes of war changed. Moreover, English atrocities in the Battle of Cádiz in 1702 and the behaviour of sailors in the first days after the surrender of the town might have made the Gibraltar inhabitants think that the escape was the only way to save their lives. Churches and places of worship (except the Cathedral) had been desecrated and women insulted and outraged. British and Dutch sailors were murdered by the residents after the cease fire was agreed. Although Hesse and Rooke restored discipline, few of the inhabitants wished or dared to remain.^[3][4]

Of the 1,200 registered families, only 22 stayed. Among the things the Spanish took with them were a statue of the Holy Crowned Virgin Mary, and the historical documents signed by Catholic Monarchs in 1502 for which the coat of arms of Gibraltar was granted.^[5][6] This event is known as the exodus of Gibraltar^[7]. Most of the refugees encamped around the Chapel of Saint Roch (Ermita de San Roque). The establishment became a new town in 1706, addressed by King Philip V of Spain as "My city of Gibraltar resident in its Campo" and "My well beloved", because it remained loyal to his cause during the War of Succession. Gibraltar's City Council, banner and records were moved there and thus San Roque become the Spanish Gibraltar. San Roque official motto is "Very Noble and Very Loyal city of San Roque, where Gibraltar lives on" (Spanish: Muy Noble y Muy Leal ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar).

In 1873, during the Spanish First Republic, the town declared its independence as the Canton of San Roque for a few months.

Demographics

Source: INE (Spain)

Local sights

The New Saint Roch's Chapel (Sp.: Ermita de San Roque) was erected in 1801. Its style is neoclassical. The shrine houses a statue of Saint Roch. In the fourth week of April every year, a procession is held on the saint's honour, with people carrying his image on a float. The statue is then taken from the temple to the Pinar del Rey pinewoods nearby and back. During the Spanish War of Independence, Saint Roch's Chapel was ransacked by the Napoleonic troops and the historic statue of the saint was destroyed. The image was replaced in 1833 by a new one donated by an army captain from San Roque called Juan Rojas, who was stationed in Seville. At the time this city was suffering from cholera epidemics, so Captain Rojas vowed to make the effigy himself if he and his family recovered from the disease. This happened indeed and the new image of Saint Roch was donated to the church by Rojas.

The parish church is consecrated to Saint Mary the Crowned. It dates from the 18th century and features Spanish-Tuscan architecture and Baroque artwork. Once the new town has been established, work began in 1735 on the construction of a church over the foundations of the original Chapel of Saint Roch, built in 1508. In the interior of the building, the most remarkable feature is the main altar, where the statue of the Patron Saint, Saint Mary the Crowned, is venerated alongside images of Saint Sebastian and Saint Joseph. These statues were brought to San Roque from Gibraltar in 1704 following the Exodus of Gibraltar and date back to the 15th century. Other religious items brought from Gibraltar are The Holy Burial and The Most Holy Christ of Humbleness and Patience statues, each placed on its own side chapel. The image of the Most Holy Christ of the Happy Death is the work of San Roque-born sculptor Luis Ortega Brú. José Cadalso, a local poet and soldier, killed during the Great Siege of 1782, is buried in one of the side chapels. The church records feature the parish records from Gibraltar, from 1556 until 1704. Saint Mary the Crowned's Church was declared a listed building in 1974.

The Governor's Palace (Sp.: Palacio de los Gobernadores), which houses the municipal art gallery "Luis Ortega Brú", is also located in the same square.

The oldest bar in the town is the Bar Torres, adjacent to the central square.

Economy and industry

The main economic activities are tourism and manufacturing.

The CEPSA Refinery "Gibraltar-San Roque"

CEPSA oil refinery (Sp.:Refinería de Gibraltar-San Roque), built in 1967, is situated in Guadarranque Industrial Estate. It is the largest in the Iberian Peninsula, with a crude oil daily processing capacity of 240,000 barrels per day.^[8]

Local San Roque Club is an important source of tourism. Sotogrande is an exclusive beach and golf resort located in the municipality.

The beaches of Campamento and Puente Mayorga, although no longer so popular as in the sixties due to adjacent industrial activity, are close to San Roque town, facing the Bay of Gibraltar.

Famous inhabitants

• Jose Cadalso, poet
• Alberto Casañal Shakery, poet.
• Carlos Castilla del Pino, psychiatrist.
• Carlos Pacheco, comic-book artist.
• Juan Luis Galiardo, actor.
• Luis de Lacy Goutier, liberal army officer.
• Luis Ortega Brú, sculptor

Sister cities

• Tako, Chiba, Japan.^[9]

See also

• La Línea de la Concepción
• Algeciras

References

Images

Saint Roch's chapel

Saint Mary the Crowned Parish Church

Governor's Palace

Bar Torres, the oldest bar

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: San Roque, Cádiz

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Terms of surrender of the Spanish authorities of Gibraltar in 1704

• San Roque City Council
• San Roque in Google Maps
• The Resident - English language newspaper serving San Roque and surrounding area
• Pictures of the "Gibraltar-San Roque" Refinery.

Coordinates: 36°12′N 5°23′W / 36.2°N 5.383°W / 36.2; -5.383