Girona

Girona is a medium-sized city in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula, located on the confluence of the River Ter and its tributaries Onyar – with its tributary the Galligants– and Güell. The municipality covers an area of 38.61 km², and has a population of 100.266  inhabitants. With the surrounding 26 municipalities it forms the county of Gironès, with an area of 575.6 km² and a population of 190.786 inhabitants.

The local economy is based on the service sector. The number of wage earners working in the city accounts for 129% of the local registered active population. 60% of these people are employed in technological and knowledge-based service sectors. The University of Girona and the Scientific and Technological Park provide qualification, continuous learning, research and technology transfer.

As regards the Catalan language and culture, Girona has maintained its popular cultural traditions such as the Sardana (dance and concerts), giants and ‘capgros’ figures, the ‘fire-run’ and human towers, which take to the streets every year for the festival of Sant Narcís, the city’s patron saint, on 29 October. The city strives to highlight, promote and disseminate its cultural heritage, with representative actions such as visits to the Historic Quarter – Santa Maria cathedral, the church of Sant Feliu, the Jewish quarter– and Girona Municipal Archive’s custody of the Servants’ Union Book from 1448, inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

Girona is twinned with Reggio Emilia and Albi; it is a member of the Eurotowns network and actively participates in different EU programmes. Internationally, it is twinned with Bluefields and Farsia; it is a signatory of the Charter of Educating Cities and member of the International Association of Educating Cities. Its European and international cooperation activity has been recognised with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s Europe Prize.