Salamanca travel guide

Background

Salamanca’s history is tied to that of its university , but the town itself was founded in pre-Roman times. An Iberian settlement, it was taken by Hannibal (pre-elephants) in 218 BC. The Romans later took it over but, as with most cities in these parts, it was abandoned and only resettled during the Reconquista. The university was founded in AD 1218 and rapidly grew to become one of Europe’s principal centres of learning. Flourishing particularly under the Catholic Monarchs, the city became an emblem of Imperial Spain; the think-tank behind the monarchy that ruled half the world.

Salamanca’s decline in the 18th and 19th centuries mirrored that of its university and indeed the rest of Castilla. The city suffered grievously in the Napoleonic wars; the French general Marmont destroyed most of the university’s buildings before his defeat by Wellington just south of the city in 1812. In the 20th century, during the Civil War, Major Doval, a well-known butcher, cracked down fiercely on Republican sympathizers after the coup. The city was the conspirators’ command centre for a while, and Franco was declared caudillo in a cork grove just outside the town. In 2002 Salamanca revelled in its status as joint European Cultural Capital, and the city benefited from the success and structural improvements.

Best time to visit

If you visit in summer you are guaranteed heat, tourists and outdoor tables. In many ways this is the nicest time to come, but the students aren’t about (although there are always plenty of foreign language students) and the nightlife is correspondingly quieter. Like the rest of Castilla, Salamanca gets cold in winter, but never shuts down and accommodation is cheap.

Getting around

You won’t have much cause to stray from the old town, which is very walkable indeed. The bus and train stations are a 15-minute walk from the centre.

Ins and outs

Getting there

Salamanca is about 200 km west of Madrid. The bus station is west of town along Avenida Filiberto Villalobos. There are plenty of buses from Madrid, Valladolid and other Castilian cities. New motorways and the straight meseta roads make for easy driving access; it’s about an hour from Valladolid, for example, and forty minutes from Zamora. There are also several train connections.

Salamanca

Air

Salamanca’s airport is 15 km east of town on the Avila road. Its only flights at the time of writing were a domestic connection to Barcelona and 2 weekly flights to Paris. Airport buses (€3) link to the centre; a taxi to or from the airport to the centre costs €15.

Bus

The bus station is west of town along Av Filiberto Villalobos, T923 236 717. Within the province, there are buses roughly hourly to Alba de Tormes, Béjar and Ciudad Rodrigo, among other destinations.

Further-flung destinations include Avila 4-6 weekdays, 2 at weekends, Madrid hourly, Oviedo/Gijón 4-5 daily (4 hrs 30 mins-5 hrs), León 4 daily, Santiago 2 daily (6 hrs), Bilbao 3 daily (6 hrs), Zaragoza/Barcelona 2 daily, Zamora more than hourly, Valladolid 6 daily, and Cáceres 10 daily (3½ hrs). There’s also a daily bus to Porto in Portugal (5½ hrs) with a connection to Lisboa (9 hrs).

Taxi

For local taxis, call T923 250 000.

Train

The train station is northeast of town along Av de la Estación. There are 2 daily trains to Burgos (2½ hrs, €21.80), 7 to Avila (1 hr, €8.80), and 9 to Valladolid (1½ hrs, from €7.85). There are 7 daily trains to Madrid (2 hrs 45 mins, €17.30).

Internet

There seems to be an internet café on every corner in Salamanca. They come and go like summer breezes. Ciber Rana, C Francisco Vitoria 5, is not the fastest, but is handily close to the cathedral.

Language schools

Apart from the university itself, which has a highly regarded Spanish-language programme, there are several smaller schools: Letra Hispánica, C Librerías 28, http://www.letrahispanica.com, has a reasonable reputation.

Laundry

Coin Laundry, Pje Azafranal 18, is a self-service laundromat in an arcade.

Medical services

Hospital Clínico, Paseo de San Vicente 58, T923 291 100.

Police

Call T092 or T923 194 433. The handiest police station is on the Plaza Mayor.

Post office

Gran Vía 25 near Plaza de la Constitución.