Maresme

Maresme
Comarca
Coat of arms
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Catalonia
Province	Barcelona
Capital	Mataró
Municipalities	List Alella, Arenys de Mar, Arenys de Munt, Argentona, Cabrera de Mar, Cabrils, Caldes d'Estrac, Calella, Canet de Mar, Dosrius, Malgrat de Mar, El Masnou, Mataró, Montgat, Òrrius, Palafolls, Pineda de Mar, Premià de Dalt, Premià de Mar, Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, Sant Cebrià de Vallalta, Sant Iscle de Vallalta, Sant Pol de Mar, Sant Vicenç de Montalt, Santa Susanna, Catalonia, Teià, Tiana, Tordera, Vilassar de Dalt, Vilassar de Mar
Area
• Total	398.6 km2 (153.9 sq mi)
Population (2014)
• Total	437,919
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	maresmenc (m.) maresmenca (f.)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Largest municipality	Mataró

Maresme (Catalan pronunciation: [məˈɾɛzmə]) is a comarca (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the comarques of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west).

Its capital and largest city is Mataró (pop. 119,035 in 2007).

Maresme's territory occupies a long and narrow area between the Mediterranean Sea and the hills of Serralada Litoral (Catalonia's coastal mountains), and specifically Montnegre's and Corredor's hills in the northern half and Sant Mateu's hills in the southern half. This particular shape has conditioned both the geography and the history of this comarca. Probably the main distinct elements of its geography are the characteristic rieres (torrents). These short, intermittent water streams, which cross the comarca transversally almost every hundred meters, produce powerful and dangerous floods when it rains.

Maresme has been historically very well connected with the rest of the comarca as well as with Barcelona thanks to old Camí Ral (Royal Way) (actual N-II main road) and railroad (The Barcelona–Mataró railroad route, finished in 1848, was the first ever in all the Iberian Peninsula). Communications were enhanced in recent years with the construction of the C-32's Barcelona–Mataró section (1969), which was the first autopista (highway) ever in Spain, and its subsequent enlargement, the Mataró-Palafolls's section (1995).

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Wikipedia