La Rioja Day in Spain Date in the current year: June 9, 2024

La Rioja is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula and bordered by the Basque Country, Navarre, Aragón, and Castile and León. La Rioja is one of the few autonomous communities of Spain that consist of a single province, alongside Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, the Community of Madrid, the Region of Murcia, and Navarra. Until 1980, the province was named Logroño after its capital.

During the ancient times, the territory of what is now La Rioja was inhabited by pre-Roman Celtic tribes. Upon the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, is was part of Hispania Tarraconensis — one of the Roman provinces on the peninsula. After the fall of the Roman Empire, La Rioja was often disputed between local peoples and invading Germanic tribes.

In 711, La Rioja became one of the first regions of the Iberian Peninsula to be conquered by the Moors. In 923, most of the region was reconquered by King Sancho I of Pamplona with the support of the King of León and the Count of Castile.

During the following centuries, La Rioja was often a disputed territory between Castile and Pamplona (later Navarre). From 970 until the early 11th century, the Kingdom of Viguera was situated in the heart of the present-day La Rioja. Some time after 1005, it was absorbed by Pamplona.

Following the murder of Sancho IV of Pamplona in 1076, his kingdom was divided between Aragón and Castile. La Rioja was obtained by Castile. The first record of the name “La Rioja” dates back to 1099. The fortified site of Logroño was the heart of the territory.

In 1134, the Kingdom of Navarre was restored, and its kings subsequently fought for La Rioja with Castile. Castile finally annexed the region in 1177 due to the support of King Henry of England, whose daughter was married to the King of Castile. The importance of La Rioja lay in the fact that it was situated in the famous pilgrimage route Camino de Santiago.

Following the unification of Spain, the territory of La Rioja was divided between the provinces of Burgos and Soria. During the Napoleonic Wars, it was conquered by France and remained under French control until 1814.

La Rioja became a separate province for the first time in 1812, when the Cortes of Cádiz adopted the Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy. During the Liberal Triennium, Rafael del Riego created the province of Logroño as part of his administrative reform. However, King Ferdinand VII was restored to absolute power in 1823 and reversed Riego’s reform. The province was restored again after the king’s death in 1833.

Following the fall of Franco’s regime and Spain’s transition to democracy, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 was adopted. Among other things, it introduced autonomous communities. Two years after the adoption of the Constitution, the province of Logroño was renamed La Rioja. On June 9, 1982, the Statute of Autonomy of La Rioja was adopted, officially transforming it into an autonomous community. La Rioja Day has been celebrated on June 9 ever since.