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San Roque (Cádiz)

San Roque
Municipality
View of San Roque at dusk showing Gibraltar in the background.
View of San Roque at dusk showing Gibraltar in the background.
Flag of San Roque
Flag
Coat of arms of San Roque
Coat of arms
Motto: "Muy Noble y Muy Leal ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar"
(Very Noble and Very Loyal city of San Roque, where Gibraltar lives on)
Location of San Roque
Location of San Roque
San Roque is located in Spain
San Roque
San Roque
Location in Spain
Coordinates: 36°12′35″N 5°23′4″W / 36.20972°N 5.38444°W / 36.20972; -5.38444Coordinates: 36°12′35″N 5°23′4″W / 36.20972°N 5.38444°W / 36.20972; -5.38444
Country  Spain
Autonomous community  Andalusia
Province Cádiz
Comarca Campo de Gibraltar
Judicial district San Roque
Founded 21 May 1706
Government
 • Alcalde Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix (PSOE)
Area
 • Total 146.88 km2 (56.71 sq mi)
Elevation 108 m (354 ft)
Population (2009)
 • Total 29,249
 • Density 200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Sanroqueño/a
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 11360 (San Roque casco) 11310 (Sotogrande) 11311 (Guadiaro y Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro) 11312 (Torreguadiaro, San Diego y San Enrique de Guadiaro) 11313 (Puente Mayorga) 11314 (Campamento) 11368 (Estación de San Roque) 11369 (Carteia, Guadarranque, Miraflores y Taraguilla)
Dialing code (+34) 956 78 XX XX
Official language(s) Spanish
Website www.sanroque.es

San Roque is a small town and municipality in the south of Spain. It is part of the province of Cádiz, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. San Roque is situated a short way inland of the north side of the Bay of Gibraltar, just to the north of the Gibraltar peninsula. The municipality has a total surface of 145 km² with a population of approximately 25,500 people, as of 2005. Its name is Spanish for Saint Roch, a Christian saint who was revered in a shrine dating back to 1508 that predates the foundation of the town.

The area around San Roque has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The oldest known settlement within the municipality is the ruined town of Carteia, founded by the Phoenicians. It became a Phoenician tradepost and evolved into a Carthaginian town by 228 BCE. Its major trade was in local wine and garum or salazón, a fish-based sauce.

Carteia was captured by Rome in 206 BCE. A few years later, in 171 BCE, Iberian-born children of Roman soldiers appeared before the Roman Senate to request a town to live in, and were given Carteia, named Colonia Libertinorum Carteia.

After the fall of Rome, the Vandals briefly established themselves in the area until 428 before they embarked on the conquest of North Africa, via an invasion fleet across the Strait of Gibraltar. The Visigoths replaced them around the 6th century. The Byzantine Empire made incursions into Andalusia between 554 and 626, occupying Carteia for a number of years, before finally being ejected by the Visigoths.


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