City Info
Spain | Valencia

Valencia is the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia and its province. It is the third largest city in Spain and the fifteenth largest in the European Union. It forms part of an industrial area on the Costa del Azahar. The estimated population of the city of Valencia proper is over 810,000. Population of the metropolitan area (urban area plus satellite towns) is approximately 1,738,690.

The city is beautifully situated directly on the Mediterranean and surrounded by orange and lemon groves, fruit orchards, and rice fields in the Albufeira. Excellent climate conditions allow for bathing in the sea and hiking in the hinterland until late fall. At the same time, Valencia offers architectural and cultural highlights like the silk market, La Lonja, from the 15th century or the Museum of Modern Arts, El Ivam. Valencia also offers culinary highlights, as it is the hometown of the ‘paella’.

For language students, Valencia is especially interesting. It is an exciting, pleasant, and sometimes chaotic city, not yet overly crowded with tourists. Valencia’s nightlife is legendary: The wildest Spanish festivals take place here including the ‘Falls’ in March and ‘St. John’s Night’ in June, both with beautiful fireworks.

The coastline of the Spanish province Valencia is called Costa del Azahar, at the same longitude as the Balearic Island of Mallorca. South of Valencia the Costa Brava begins, which is at about the same longitude as the island of Ibiza.

The largest square is the Plaça de l'Ajuntament, which contains the town hall (ajuntament), a cinema which shows classic movies (La Filmoteca), and many restaurants and bars. This is where the noisy fireworks of the mascletà can be heard every afternoon during the Las Fallas. The Plaça de la Verge contains the Basilica of the Virgin and the Turia fountain, and is a popular spot for locals and tourists. Around the corner is the Plaça de la Reina, with the Cathedral, orange trees, and many bars and restaurants. The Turia River was diverted in the 1960s, after severe flooding, and the old river bed is now the Turia gardens, which contain a children’s playground, a fountain, and sports fields. The Palau de la Música is adjacent to the Turia gardens and the City of Arts and Sciences lies at one end. Other gardens in Valencia include the Real, Monforte, and Botanical gardens.

Valencia’s port is the biggest on the Mediterranean Western coast and the second of Spain, handling 20% of Spain’s exports. The main exports are food and drink (the Valencian region is famous for its oranges), furniture, ceramic tiles, fans, textiles and iron products. Valencia’s manufacturing sector focuses on metallurgy, chemicals, textiles, shipbuilding and brewing. Small and medium sized industries are an important part of the local economy.

As you can see there are a wide variety of industries in which we could arrange an internship for you in Valencia.