Navarre, Spain Investment Guide

The Puente la Reina over the Arga River is a 15 century-old legacy of the Roman Empire. The Roman general Pompey gave his name to Navarre's capital of Pamplona.

A Touch of the Past
Navarre's colorful, romantic past inspired some of the world's best poets and authors to recite its charisma. Said Shakespeare in Love's Labor Lost: "Navarre shall be the wonder of the world." Dante cited Navarre in The Divine Comedy, and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe was sidetracked in the province. And, if after visiting Navarre, you think the place would make a great background for a good book, it was. Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises recounts in detail Pamplona's annual bull-running ritual.

For centuries, Navarre has held a prominent place in European history.

A short review of the past suggests why Navarrans, occupying today such a small piece of the earth, are so tough, intense and big-spirited.

In terms of land size, Navarre today is a sliver of its former self. In the Middle Ages, it was a powerful kingdom that once claimed much of northern Spain and southwestern France. Its royalty had linkages to royal families in France and Scotland.

Upon the death of Sancho VII el Fuerte (Sancho the Strong) in 1234, the Navarrese dynasty of kings came to an end and the kingdom subsequently came under the influence of the French monarchy and rule by the crown of Castile.

Photo: Miguel Indurain

Navarre's legendary cycling champion Miguel Indurain has registered repeated victories in the Tour de France and the Giro de Italia.

Navarre was governed by a viceroy under the authority of the Spanish king for centuries, but the institutions of the old kingdom survived, especially the Parliament. Also surviving well into the 19th century was its title, Kingdom of Navarre.

The Diputacion (Assembly) of the Kingdom was set up in 1576 as a permanent government body and remained the core of public administration in Navarre for four centuries. It lives on in the form of the Government of Navarre (also officially called the Diputacion Foral de Navarre).

The political and institutional balance of the kindom deteriorated in the second half of the 19th century as a result of the centralist policies of the Bourbons. Increasing tension exploded into war. The eventual armistice was formalized in the Lay Paccionada (Pacted Law). Under this arrangment, the Kingdom of Navarre became part of the Liberal State as a province. However, it maintained the institutions and laws of its chartered regime and its status as an independent monarchy, a kingdom incorporated into the Spanish Crown.

This peculiar situation was maintained during the Restoration, the Second Republic and throughout General Franco's regime. When the Spanish Constitution was installed in 1978, the foral system of Navarre became part of Spain's new democratic system. The Chartered Community of Navarre became one of Spain's Autonomous Communities.

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