2021-06-09 Wed

The Spanish autonomous community of La Rioja celebrates La Rioja Day on June 9. On this day in 1982, the Statute of Autonomy of La Rioja was adopted.

During 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, it became a 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.

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. In 1978 the Spanish Constitution was adopted which 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.

Spain issued a number of coins featuring the name of the community. The above five Pesetas coin is one of them depicting Porch of Revellín and tower of the church of Santa María de Palacio of Logroño with the country name on the obverse and a dancer on stilts and grapes with the mintmark to the left and the mintmark to the upper right.

Image Courtesy: vcoins.com