El Ferrol

/el ferdd rddawl"/

a seaport in NW Spain: naval arsenal and dockyard. 87,736. Also called Ferrol.

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▪ Spain

      city, La Coruña provincia (province), in the northern section of the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Galicia, in extreme northwestern Spain. It is located on the Ferrol Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Named for a farol (lighthouse) that marked the entrance to its harbour, the then fishing village of El Ferrol was chosen in 1726 by King Philip V as the site for a naval base. Ferdinand VI set up (1746–59) shipbuilding yards there; and between 1769 and 1774 Charles III added the royal naval arsenal and erected fortifications. After 1939 the city's name became El Ferrol del Caudillo because it was the birthplace of General Francisco Franco, who had become caudillo (leader) of Spain; in the 1980s, however, the longer name was abolished.

      Now one of the principal Spanish naval stations, El Ferrol's natural harbour, protected from the sea by rocky hills, is the third largest in Spain. It did not develop commercially, however, because of competition from La Coruña, 12 miles (19 km) to the southwest by sea, and because it had no railway until 1904. The port has shipbuilding yards and a large arsenal basin, with workshops and foundries, as well as a naval academy and several dry docks. Exports are insignificant, and imports are mostly materials for use in the shipbuilding industry. Nearby are the Atlantic submarine base La Graña and the notable 10th-century Chamorro church surrounded by Celtic megalithic ruins. Pop. (2005) 77,155.

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