Mataró, Coastal municipality in Maresme, Spain
Mataró is a coastal municipality in Maresme, Spain, and sits directly on the Mediterranean between Barcelona and Girona. The town area extends from sandy beaches to the inland hills that mark the western edge of the urban center.
The settlement began as a Roman town called Iluro in the first century BC and served as a junction on the Via Augusta road. After centuries under Moorish rule, it gained municipal privileges in the Middle Ages and grew into a center for textile production during industrialization.
The town's current name may derive from a medieval variation of the Latin term for slaughterhouse or marketplace. Locals still follow the traditions of Maresme cuisine, preparing regional dishes with fresh fish and vegetables from nearby gardens.
The town is easily reached by commuter trains from Barcelona in under an hour of travel along the coastline. Visitors can walk through the center on foot and find parking areas on the town edges and near the harbor zone.
This town saw the first steam locomotive on the Iberian Peninsula in 1848, linking it to Barcelona by a short railway line. That pioneering connection transformed transport along the Catalan coast and ushered in the railway age in Spain.
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