Palencia is a Spanish municipality of the autonomous community of Castile-León, capital of the homonymous province. It is located in the plains of Tierra de Campos, in the riverside of the Carrión River.
This municipality have an area of 94.95km2 and a population of 78,629 inhabitants according the Spanish Statistical Office (INE) in 2018. This region, formed by ten municipalities, has more than 20,000 inhabitants that, added to the number of the inhabitants of the capital, are more than 100,000 in total. It represents a relevant industrial centre for Castile-León.
Valladolid and Palencia are the nearest capitals of province between each other since they are 47km apart.
The University of Salamanca was not the first one built in Spain. The first centre of superior studies considered and recognised as such was the Estudio General de Palencia (Palencia’s General Studio). In the 13th century, celebrated European teachers worked in the Studium Generale of Palencia, an educational centre recognised by its excellent superior studies.
Another curiosity is that there are certain peculiar words created and only employed in Palencia. Some of these are: “Chiguito” (child), “corito” (naked), “Arambol” (handrail), and “Escolingarse” (to slip). This is the origin of the sentence that every inhabitant or native Palencia knows: “El chiguito corito se escolingó por el arambol”, that is to say “the naked child slipped down the handrail”.
Another curious expression very typical of Palencia’s inhabitants is “¡si huele a café!” whose translation would be «it smells like coffee!”, expression that leads to everyone hearing it to be prepared with their umbrellas. Palencia’s people know when it is going to rain due to a strong smell of coffee that comes from the coffee industry situated in the outskirts invades the city some minutes after the rain.
There are several characters of historic importance that were born in Palencia. In the present section, some of them are introduced.
Sergio Asenjo: professional football player whose demarcation is goalkeeper. He has been playing in the Real Valladolid FC, Atlético de Madrid, Málaga FC, and he is currently playing for Villarreal FC. He also has been a representative of the Spain National Football team.
Sara Bayón: retired rhythmic gymnast and world champion at the 2 hoops and 3 ribbons modality in 1998. Nowadays, she is the coach of the Spanish team which obtained the silver medal at the Olympics celebrated in Rio in 2016. As a curiosity, she is the only Spanish person that has been the world champion as gymnast and, then, as coach.
Blanca of Castile: important character in the history of Europe. She is also known as Blanca of Borgoña. She was the French king Louis VIII’s wife and Louis IX’s mother.
Before travelling to Palencia, we recommend checking the meteorological situation in the city. No matter if it is on rainy, snowy, or sunny days, Palencia is a beautiful city for sightseeing; but it is more convenient to be prepared with the adequate clothing depending on the weather.
Normally, the business hours of the shops and services of Palencia are from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00. On Saturday afternoon, only a small number of shops are open. On Sundays and public holidays, in most of the cases, the shops in Palencia are closed.
Palencia has only one shopping mall, which is open from Monday to Saturday and from 10:00 to 22:00. On Sundays and public holidays, it is usually closed. However, by clicking on the following link you can check the business hours in 2019 (in Spanish).
Urgency Services: 112
National Police: 091
Guardia Civil (Spanish military police): 062
Information of Palencia’s City Hall: 979 71 81 00
Palencia’s code: 979
