Mancomunitat de la Ribera Alta
Mancomunitat de la Ribera Alta
Institution information
It is a local entity made up of 35 municipalities of the Ribera Alta region. It has 211.414 inhabitants and it is located in a territory of 979,5 km².
It manages several services of interest to the member municipalities.
It is a regional entity, where the different municipalities can debate the subjects that affect them.
The Mancomunitat:
It promotes services to improve social welfare.
It promotes actions before institutions and public or private entities to improve services.
It organizes and collaborates on regional events, as well as on those events whose objective is making a well-known region.
It cooperates in the popularization of our region's study materials, which are written in our language (Valencian).
It represents the best regional entity to promote initiatives, as well as to be part of several European programmes, whose main object is the Ribera region.
In order to carry out its activities, the Mancomunitat receives contributions from the member towns and several public organisms.
The Plenary is the supreme governmental and administrative body of the Mancomunitat. It is made up of the representatives of the member towns (all the mayors and a certain number of councillors from each town council).
The presidency, the Vice presidency, the Government Commission and some informative commissions complete the spectrum of the Mancomunitat governmental bodies. Moreover, it has a Social and Economic Council, which has advisory functions.
Greeting from the President
Rosa Sebastià Asensi
The Ribera is a region of the Valencian Community with deep regional feelings. Its inhabitants are proud of belonging to a dynamic community and it is made up of a group of municipalities that, as time goes by, have created some solid relationships to live a common live. It all has been possible thanks to a large number of unifying elements which have made a cohesive Region. Because of the fact of being so closed, there is a cooperation among the different municipalities of the Ribera to face several projects together and to try to solve our problems. So this is our main purpose and we are working very hard to achieve it by offering some services focused on helping our member municipalities on their daily life. From the Mancomunitat de la Ribera Alta we invite you, whether you are inhabitant of the Ribera or not, to visit us and see what we do everyday to satisfy the needs of our region municipalities.
The region
Some interesting information about the Ribera Alta region
La Ribera Alta is an inland region which is located in the Valencian Community. With an area of 979.5 km² and a total population of 211,414, the Valencian Community yields a density of 204 people per square kilometer. The Valencian Community has an average density of almost 173 people per square kilometer, so La Ribera Alta is above the community average.
It is located 35 kilometers southwest of the city of Valencia and it has good connections with the A-7 motorway. Therefore, La Ribera Alta is located in an important place regarding the main communication axis with the European Union. On the other hand, the N-340 dual carriageway crosses the region and provides a link between Valencia, the peninsular southeast (Murcia) and Albacete (an inland city).
The local administrative unit of La Ribera Alta has 35 municipalities: Alberic, Alcàntera de Xúquer, l'Alcúdia, Alfarp, Algemesí, Alginet, Alzira, Antella, Beneixida, Benifaió, Benimodo, Benimuslem, Carcaixent, Càrcer, Carlet, Castelló de la Ribera, Catadau, Cotes, l'Ènova, Gavarda, Guadassuar, Llombai, Manuel, Massalavés, Montserrat, Montroy, Pobla Llarga, Rafelguaraf, Real de Montroi, San Juan de Énova, Sellent, Senyera, Sumacàrcer, Tous and Turís. Alzira is the capital of the region. It is very well-known and it has a total population of 39,668.
This region is made up of La Ribera Alta and La Ribera Baixa and it is located to the east of the Iberian Peninsula, in the heart of the Valencian Community. With an area of 1,120 km², it borders on L’Horta and L’Albufera at north and on the Mediterranean Sea at east. In the west side there is a mountain range which separates La Ribera from other regions like La Foia de Bunyol and La Canal de Navarrés. Finally, it borders on La Costera and La Safor at south.
Its orography consists of a wide and plain valley from Antella to the sea. Moreover, the Xúquer river and its affluents cross the region. There are two areas in La Ribera: a western one made up of mountains and some mountain ranges which compress from north to south, and a central area made up of a wide valley with some small hills and a river crossing it. The Eastern area is made up of mountain ranges to the south and a large delta area made up of hills and some mountain ranges.
The main hydrographical resource is the Xúquer river, a 497 kilometers long river, which goes deep into La Ribera through a deep valley from the west side. There it has a flow of 60 cubic metres per second. First, it arrives at the Tous Marsh and then it continues towards the south and gives rise to the Séquia Reial. Furthermore, it receives water from Sellent, Albaida, Verde and Magro rivers. Next, it goes to the east and becomes more and more slower and, finally, it flows into the sea, having a flow of 10 cubic metres per second. Historically, there have been lots of floods from this river all over the region, mainly in Carcaixent and Alzira.
The climate is a Mediterranean climate and the annual average temperature is about 16 and 17ºC. This climate is characterized by hot summers (25ºC) and soft winters (9 or 10ºC). Yearly rainfall are about 500mm³. Areas with this climate receive almost of their rainfall during the autumn and spring seasons. The combination between the relief, the hydrography, the climatology and the human action has made up four main landscapes in the region: the irrigated land to the central area, the marsh to the east, the seaside strip and the dry land to the west and the south of La Ribera.
If we take in conjunction the 46 municipalities of La Ribera, it has a total population of 270,000 and an average density of 250 people per square kilometre. Most of the people live on the main routes of communication which cross its territory. From major to minor, Alzira is the most populated city. It has 40,000 inhabitants. Algemesí and Sueca are the next ones. They have 25,000. And finally, there are Cullera and Carcaixent which have 20,000 inhabitants.
Nowadays, its economy is evenly distributed between the productive sectors. It is very important our intensive agriculture thanks to the irrigation of the Xúquer river, its affluents and some wells. The main products we cultivate are citrus fruits. This activity is increasing. However, those that are linked to rice crops and other fruit crops have diminished.
Cattle farming has a great importance too. Here, there are lots of farms, mainly those where we can find cows, goats, sheeps, fowls and bees, in La Vall dels Alcalans.
With the exception of the Ford factory in Almussafes, the main sort of industry in this region are small and medium industries. These type of industries are mainly dedicated to agricultural, textile, construction equipment, furniture and wood transformations. Although these activities take place mainly in Alzira, Almussafes, Benifaió and L’Alcúdia, there are secondary centers in Algemesí, Alberic, Alginet, Carcaixent, La Pobla Llarga, Sollana and Sueca. The services are very important on the biggest municipalities, specially Cullera which is a really important tourist place.
Population's economy has changed in the last thirty years. First, there was a clear predominance of agriculture over the other sectors, and then there was a balance between primary and secondary sector and a slight construction increase. Meanwhile, services have become the main sector.
The language is one of the best unifying factors in the region, because here there is a mainly Valencian speaking population.
Accesses to this region are considerable, mainly in those areas where there is higher population density. There are lots of roads crossing this region from north to south as the N-340 to the West, the CV-41 to the center and the N-332 and the A-7 motorway to the east. On the other hand, the CV-51 road communicates La Ribera from northwest to southeast.
In La Ribera there are two RENFE local railway tracks. One of them to the centre area and the other one to the west area. Moreover, it is important the Generalitat Valenciana railway track which crosses the region from the east area to Castelló de la Ribera.
