Gandia operated as an important cultural and commercial centre in the 15th and 16th centuries: in the 15th century it had a university. It was home to several important people, including the poet Ausiàs March (1400-1459) and the novelist Joanot Martorell (1410-1465). It is perhaps best known for the Borja or Borgia, through their family title, Duke of Gandia (originally created in 1399).
As of 2020[update] Gandia is one of the largest coastal towns in Spain, with a population over 200,000 during summer, and a centre of commerce and tourism in its region. There are two main zones, Gandia City, which has all the historical monuments, commercial activity, and shopping, and Gandia beach, which has apartments and summer residences used during the summer season. The bars and nightclubs are concentrated in the beach area. As is normal for Spain, nightlife does not begin until well after midnight. The beach and town are actually some 2 km (1 mi) apart, which succeeds in separating summer tourism from day-to-day living.
With its long, wide, golden, sandy beaches Gandia 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, German and British.[2]
There are some popular Spanish restaurants around the beach.
For culture, there are literary contests, the Summer University (Universitat d'Estiu), the International Festival of Classical Music and art exhibitions; sports include water, golf, tennis and hiking. [citation needed] Gandia hosts the annual Cortoons Gandia animation festival in April, which celebrates international animation and short films.[4][5]
Geography
A lake in the marjal
Gandia has an important regional wetland with an extension above 1.2 square kilometres (0.46 sq mi) in the outskirts of the city, called Marjal de La Safor.[6] This natural area is home to several water plants such as Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, and specially many species of water lily plants, such as Nymphaea alba, Utricularia australis and Potamogeton fluitans. Underwater plants also exist, such as Myriophyllum and Ceratophyllum. Native land plants are mostly formed of various Phragmites species, Typha domingensis, various Scirpus and Cladium species.
Various species of palm trees are naturalised in the area, and they are also found widely in the marjal due to seed dispersion, either wind or animal dispersion. The most common naturalised palm trees in the area are Phoenix dactylifera (African date palm), Washingtonia robusta (Mexican fan palm) and Phoenix canariensis (Canary Island date palm). There are some specimens of the native palm tree Chamaerops humilis (European palmetto), although very few compared to the naturalised species.
The climate of Gandia is Mediterranean (Köppen climate classification: Csa) with mild winters, and hot summers. The annual average temperature is between 18-19 °C. Gandia receives about 600mm of rain per year, the majority falling from September to November. Autumn is the wettest season.
Gandia has an extensive bus network and two Renfe stations that connect the city with Valencia (despite the fact that one of them only has three daily services). Buses in the Gandia area are operated by the company La Marina Gandiense and L'Urbanet. There are two La Marina Gandiense lines: line 1 that connects Gandia with the nearby municipality of Real de Gandia (and sometimes with the University) and line 2, which connects Gandia to the beach, which is 5 km (3,107 miles) away from the city. In L’Urbanet, there are three lines, although one of them is divided, which would be counted as four. The following lines are:
Line 3: Circular. Starts and ends at the Renfe station in Gandia city
Line 4: Gandia train station - San Francisco de Borja hospital
Line 5: This line has the peculiarity that despite being the same line it makes two totally different routes, which are:
Referring to train services, Gandia has two train stations which connect Gandia with Valencia. Both of them are terminal of line C-1 from Cercanías Valencia. The following stations are:
Gandia
Platja i Grau de Gandia (this one gives service to Gandia’s beach, causing only three daily trains to reach this station)
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