Medinyà facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Medinyà
Town
Medinyà castle
Medinyà Location in Catalonia Show map of Catalonia Medinyà Location in Spain Show map of Spain
Country	Spain
Community	Catalonia
Province	Girona
Comarca	Gironès
Area
• Total	7.7 km2 (3.0 sq mi)
Population  (2014)
• Total	866
• Density	112.5/km2 (291.3/sq mi)

Medinyà is a small town in Catalonia, a region in Spain. It is part of the Gironès area. For a short time, from June 2015 to January 2018, Medinyà was its own separate town with its own local government. Now, it is part of the nearby town of Sant Julià de Ramis again.

Medinyà is easy to find because it's located where two roads meet: the N-II and the GI-514. In 2014, about 852 people lived there. One of the most interesting places in the town is the Medinyà Castle.

History of Medinyà

The town of Medinyà has a long and interesting history. People have known about it for over a thousand years!

Early Mentions of Medinyà

The first time Medinyà was written about was in the year 1017. This was in a letter from Pope Benedict VIII. The letter was sent to a monastery, which is a special building where monks live, in a place called Banyoles. The Pope's letter listed all the towns that the monastery was in charge of, and Medinyà was one of them.

Famous Visitors to Medinyà

A very famous writer named Hans Christian Andersen even wrote about Medinyà. He is known for his fairy tales like "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling." In 1862, he wrote a travel book called "I Spanien" (which means "In Spain"). In this book, he mentioned Medinyà, showing that it was a recognized place even then.

Changes in Town Status

For many years, Medinyà was its own independent town. But in 1972, it became part of Sant Julià de Ramis. This meant it was no longer a separate municipality.

However, on June 4, 2015, Medinyà became independent again! It got back its original area, which included smaller villages like Santa Fe de la Serra, Tomet, Lladrers, and Vall-llobera. This was a big moment for the town.

Medinyà's Return to Sant Julià de Ramis

Later, in September 2017, a court in Spain made a decision. The Spanish Constitutional Court said that Medinyà could not be an independent town anymore. They said it was because the town did not have enough people to be separate. This decision was made after the Spanish government, led by Mariano Rajoy, asked the court to look into it.

The local government in Catalonia at the time disagreed with this decision. They wanted Medinyà to stay independent. But after some big political changes in Spain in 2017 and 2018, it was decided that Medinyà would indeed go back to being part of Sant Julià de Ramis. This happened in January 2018.

See also

In Spanish: Mediñá para niños