Baix Maestrat


Baix Maestrat is a coastal comarca located in the north of the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The capital of the comarca is Vinaròs.

Municipalities

The comarca is composed of 18 municipalities, listed below with their surface areas, their populations at the 2011 Census and according to the latest official estimates and their population density in 2019:
MunicipalitySurface
Area
in km2		Population
Population
Density
per km2
Vinaròs95.4628,26728,682300.46
Benicarló47.8626,35526,912562.31
Peniscola78.977,8227,61296.39
Alcalà de Xivert167.567,8266,68039.87
Sant Mateu64.622,0621,96330.38
Càlig27.472,1781,95070.99
Traiguera59.761,5861,37823.06
Sant Jordi/San Jorge36.491,00797226.64
Rossell74.931,13393712.51
Santa Magdalena de Polpís66.4984476811.55
La Salzadella49.9284670414.10
Xert82.518467018.50
La Jana19.5076667534.56
Canet lo Roig68.678286749.82
Cervera del Maestrat93.246865756.17
San Rafael del Río21.1552646922.17
La Pobla de Benifassà136.002882021.49
Castell de Cabres30.7220170.55

Data from National Institute of Statistics 2019

Geography

The comarca borders to the north-west with the province of Teruel, to the north-east with the province of Tarragona, to the east with the Mediterranean Sea, to the south with the comarca of Plana Alta and to the west with the comarcas of Alt Maestrat and Els Ports.
Within the comarca lies Serra d'Irta, an 18.8 km long mountain range and the largest undeveloped coastal area within the Valencian Community. The range includes the Natural Park of Serra d'Irta, which was declared a protected area by the Valencian Regional Government on July 16, 2002.

Economic activities

The area's traditional economic activities include agriculture and fishing. Artichokes from Benicarló are covered by a geographic designation of origin.

Historical delimitations

The current comarca of Baix Maestrat also includes the historical subcomarcas of Tinença de Benifassà and Plana de Vinaròs. The localities of Albocàsser and Tírig, and Les Coves de Vinromà, Sarratella, La Torre d'en Doménec, and Vilanova d'Alcolea, were also formerly part of the historic comarca.