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Salou - History |
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In
1766 the Santa Maria del Mar Church was consecrated and shortly thereafter
the road from Reus to Salou was build. In 1858 the lighthouse on Cape
Salou was inaugurated. Beach huts were authorized 1863 and in 1865 the
train station began operating. The well known Reus-Salou Carrilet local
train was inaugurated in 1887 and brought the first summer tourist to the
town. From the early 20th century to the 1960's Salou grew sharply as a result of tourism, making Salou what it is today: a beautiful and cosmopolitan summer town. |
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Salauris,
as the Romans originally called it, has a great deal of history behind it.
After the Romana and the Saracens, Salou was considered part of the
Tarragona religious heritage. King James I was the first to sing the
praises of its excellent port and decided to bring his entire fleet here.
He disembarked from the Port of Salou to conquer Majorca an 6 September
1229. The inhabitants of Salou have always commemorated this event and
that's why the main promenade is named after him.
But
pirates and privateers didn't take long to discover this port as well and
they turned it into one of the principal sites of their looting. As a
result, the area became less inhabited and in 1530 the Archbishop of
Tarragona, Pere Cardona ordered that a defence tower, now called Torre
Vella or Old tower be build.
