Melide, A Coruña
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- For the municipality in Switzerland, see Melide, Switzerland.
Melide is a municipality in the Province of A Coruña in the autonomous region of Galicia, northwest Spain. It has an area of 101 km2 and a population of 9,000 inhabitants mostly spread among its 26 parishes. Coordinates: 42° 55' N - 8° 01' W. Elevation: 456 m.
[edit] History
The history of this village, since its foundation by the 10th century, is deeply linked with the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela as it is on the path of the Camino de Santiago.
In 1320 Melide obtained from the Archbishop of Santiago, Berenguel de Landoira, the privilege of building up a castle, fortressing the village, and charging taxes. In 1467 "os irmandiños" opposed the Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca and started a series of fights against its power. During this riot the walls of the village were destroyed as well as the castle. After this, the Catholic Monarchs banned the cosntruction of any fortress in the village.
During the last few centuries, like many villages in inner Galicia, it has suffered from a vast emigration of its people to Cuba and Argentina up to 1950s, and then to Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and to other cities of Spain such as Barcelona, Bilbao and A Coruña.
Currently its economy is based on agriculture, meat processing, and, more recently, tourism.
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