Valencia is a city.
Valencia ( [ vəˈlɛnsiə ] [ baˈlenθja ] ) , officially València ( [ vaˈlensia ] ) , is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona , with around 800,000 inhabitants in the administrative centre . The city is ranked at Gamma in the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . In 714 Moroccan and Arab Moors occupied the city , introducing their language , religion and customs ; they implemented improved irrigation systems and the cultivation of new crops as well , being capital of the Taifa of Valencia . In 1238 the Christian king James I of Aragon reconquered the city and divided the land among the nobles who helped him conquer it , as witnessed in the Llibre del Repartiment . The city is situated on the banks of the Turia , on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula , fronting the Gulf of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea .