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Valls Occidental Valls Occidental is a comarca (county) in Catalonia. It is unique among the comarcas in that the two cities Sabadell and Terrassa (which are of roughly equal size) share the role of comarcal capital. Along with Valls Oriental it forms the grand comarca of Valls. Physical geography Valls Occidental borders the comarques of Bages (to the north), Valls Oriental (to the north and east), Baix Llobregat (to the west), andBarcelons (to the south). It centers on the Catalan prelittoral depression, limited to the west by the River Llobregat and to the east by the River Caldes. The northern part of the comarca is mountainous. From west to east, it contains part of the Obac range (924m altitude at Castellsapera); the massifs of Sant Lloren de Munt (1095m at La Mola and 1053m at Montcau) and Puig de la Creu (664m); and the Sant Sadurn (954m) and Farell cliffs (789m). At the south of the comarca is the Collserola range (512m), which forms part of the Catalan Littoral. Between these various ranges is the valley that gives its name to the comarca. The valley actually composes two separate watersheds, the basins of the Llobregat and Bess. The Llobregat watershed lies to the west of the axis that runs from Obac to Tibidabo (culminating point of the Collserola range), passing through Matadepera, Sant Quirze del Valls, Bellaterra, and Sant Cugat del Valls. Tributaries of the Llobregat include the Canyamssos, the Rub and the Vallvidrera. East of that axis, the watershed of the Bess includes the rivers Ripoll and Caldes, (the latter forming the eastern border of the comarca). Major natural parks Hiking trails Valls Occidental has several notable official hiking trails, known as "senders de gran recorregut". Human and economic geography Industry is concentrated in the south, coinciding with the flattest land in the comarca. The principal industrial cities are the co-capitals (Sabadell and Terrassa), Rub and Cerdanyola del Valls. The most important industries are textiles, mecnica , metallurgy, machinery, material elctric , construction, chemicals, paper, and the processing of food products. An industrial crisis at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s led to a greater importance for the commercial and service sectors, especially computer-related work. The north remains primarily rural. Many of the residences there now function as second homes. Municipalities Populations are from 2000. - Barber del Valls -- pop. 26,681
- Castellar del Valls -- pop. 17,444
- Castellbisbal -- pop. 7,887
- Cerdanyola del Valls -- pop. 52,778
- Gallifa -- pop. 156
- Matadepera -- pop. 6,924
- Montcada i Reixac -- pop. 27,952
- Palau de Plegamans -- pop. 11,089
- Poliny -- pop. 4,657
- Rellinars -- pop. 378
- Ripollet -- pop. 29,877
- Rub -- pop. 58,646
- Sabadell -- pop. 183,727
- Sant Cugat del Valls -- pop. 52,654
- Sant Lloren Savall -- pop. 1,983
- Sant Quirze del Valls -- pop. 12,706
- Santa Perptua de Mogoda -- pop. 19,084
- Sentmenat -- pop. 5,675
- Terrassa -- pop. 171,794
- Ullastrell -- pop. 1,114
- Vacarisses -- pop. 2,687
- Viladecavalls del Valls -- pop. 5,755
Transportation Much of Catalonia's transportation network passes through Valls Occidental, with roads, railroads, etc. crossing the valley in various directions. Autopistes Autopistes are roughly equivalent to freeways or motorways. - Autopista A-7 crosses Valls in an east-west direction. Heading west, it connects Valls with Tarragona, Valncia and the southern part of the Iberian Peninusula, similarly to the autopista A-2/AP-2 (which connects Barcelona, Lleida, and Zaragoza). Heading east, it connects Valls with the province of Girona and with France.
- Autopista C-58 crosses the comarca south to north, connecting Barcelona with Manresa by wy of Montcada i Reixac, Ripollet, Cerdanyola del Valls, Sabadell, and Terrassa.
- Manresa, Terrassa, and Barcelona are also connected by autopista C-17 or the Vallvidrera Tunnels, by way of Sant Cugat del Valls and Rub.
- Autopista C-33 connects Montcada i Reixac and Mollet del Valls, connecting the northern part of Barcelona with autopista A-7 to the northeast.
Carreteres Carreteres are roughly equivalent to highways. Carretera N-150, the principal carretera of the comarca, crosses south to northe, connecting Barcelona to Terrassa by way of Montcada i Reixac, Ripollet, Cerdanyola del Valls, Barber del Valls, and Sabadell. Beyond Terrassa, various carreteres comarcals complete the comarca's network: - Carretera C-1413 starts at Molins de Rei, connects to the N-II and N-340 and the autopista A-2, and passes through Rub, Sabadell, and Sentmenat before connecting finally to the N-152 at the heights of Centelles.
- Carretera C-1415 connects Vilafranca del Peneds (N-340), Sant Sadurn d'Anoia, and Martorell (A-7, N-II) to Granollers and Matar (N-II, A-19) passing through Terrassa, Matadepera, Castellar del Valls, and Sentmenat.
- Carretera C-155 connects Sabadell to Granollers, passing through Poliny and Palau de Plegamans.
Railroads Both railroad companies that operate in Catalonia have lines in Valls Occidental. RENFE's Barcelona-Lleida line passes through Manresa. The Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya have the "Metro del Valls", connecting Barcelona to Sabadell and Terrassa. Airports Most air traffic for Valls Occidental comes through the Prat airport in neighboring Baix Llobregat. The airport at Sabadell is used for sport flying, as a base for firemen, and for air freight. External links
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