Gandia

Infobox City Spain
official_name=Gandia


image_coat_of_arms=Escudo GANDIA2.jpg
native_name=Gandia
native_language=Valencian
community=Valencian Community
community_link=Valencia (autonomous community)
province=Valencia
province_link=Valencia (province)
comarca=Safor
comarca_link=Safor
time_zone=CET (GMT +1)
time_zone_summer=CEST (GMT +2)
area=60.83
population=74,827
date-population=2006
density=1,230
date-density=2006
lat_long=coord|38|58|0|N|0|10|56|W|region:ES_type:city
altitude=22

Gandia (the official name, as in Valencian), with population over 77,000, is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar, 65 km south of Valencia and 96 km north of Alicante.

It was an important cultural and commercial centre during the 15th and 16th centuries: in the 15th it had a university. It has several important poets including Ausiàs March, and produced the novelist Joanot Martorell, but it is perhaps better known for the Borgias, through their family title, Duke of Gandia.

Today, Gandia is one of the largest coastal towns and a thriving center of commerce and tourism in the region. There are two main zones, Gandia City, which has all the historical monuments, commercial activity, and shopping, and Gandia beach, where all the apartments and summer residences used during the summer season are to be found. The bars and nightclubs are concentrated in the beach area. As is normal for Spain, nightlife does not take off until well after midnight. The beach and town are actually some 2 km apart which succeeds in separating summer tourism from day-to-day living.

Tourism

With its long wide golden sandy beaches, it is one of the major tourist destinations in Spain. Traditionally Gandia's tourism has a domestic base, with the majority coming from Madrid, although in recent years it has been an increasingly popular destination for international tourists, mainly French and British.

For culture, there are literary contests, the Summer University (Universitat d'Estiu), the International Festival of Classical Music, and art exhibitions, and sports include water, golf, tennis and hiking.

There are some popular Spanish restaurants around the beach, like the famous [http://www.gambamarisqueria.com "La Gamba"] , which created Fideuàfix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed, (paella, with noodles instead of rice), the "Restaurante Emilio", "Cerveceria Grau" and "La Tarta Dorada". It is doubtful that La Gamba created Fideuà, since La Gamba claims to have been open for 35 years (the 1970s) and your Fideuà link says the dish began in Gandia in the 1960s.

For more tourist info: [http://www.gandia.it/en/turismo.asp "Tourism in Gandia"]

Sports

Gandia, and the whole Safor comarca, is said to be the center of the Raspall variant of the Valencian pilota autochthonous sport. Nonetheless, Gandia held the "Trinquet El Zurdo" courtfield (it was demolished in 2007 to build an apartment block).

Politics

As of 2006, the mayor of Gandia is José Manuel Orengo (PSPV-PSOE).