Logroño is a city in northern Spain, on the Ebro River. It is the capital of the autonomous community La Rioja, formerly known as Logroño Province.
Logroño was an old settlement, first of the Romans, under the name of Vareia, a commercial port, and then of the Celts. From the 10th century, possession of Logroño was disputed between the kings of Navarre and those of Castile; the region was finally annexed to Castile. Alfonso VI of Castile granted Logroño in 1095 a charter of rights that served as a model for other Spanish cities. In 1609 and 1610 Logroño was the main seat of the Basque witch trials.
The population of Logroño in 2008 was 153,736 and a metropolitan population of nearly 197,000 inhabitans. The city is a centre of the trade in Rioja wine, for which the area is noted.
Calle del Laurel, known as "the path of the elephants" and Calle San Juan are typical streets where various restaurants and tapas-bars offer the best pinchos and tapas in northern Spain. Calle Portales is the main street in the old town, where people like to walk and sit in the terraces to have a meal or good wine.
