The story
Early modern Universitas Tarraconensis (1572-1717)
University education in the Tarragona area goes back to the 16th century, when Cardinal Gaspar Cervantes de Gaeta founded a university to teach Grammar, the Arts, and Theology, called "Universitas Tarraconensis" (Tarragona University).
Similar to other teaching centres in Catalonia, this institution was practically wiped out by the reprisals of Philip V after the War of Succession and the Nueva Planta decrees.
Learning centres
University education did not return to the Tarragona area until the second half of the 20th century, when different different paths converged to form the premises of what would later become the URV.
In 1956, the technical college "Universidad Laboral" was created by the francoist Ministry of Employment, starting its teachings in 1961–62 with specialties in mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering. It depended on the Terrassa School of Engineering. In 1972, the title of "Engineer" was changed to "Technical Engineer", and the Universitat Laboral ceased to depend on Terrassa and dropped its mechanical and engineering courses; and in 1973, the institution became part of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya as its "University School of Industrial Engineering."
Delegations of the Universidad de Barcelona
In 1971, the Universitat de Barcelona set up local branches of its faculties of Philosophy & Letters, and of Sciences in the city of Tarragona. As early as 1972, a request was made to convert these branches into a university college so that they could provide complete first-cycle courses. In 1977, medical courses began in Reus, and in 1983 the Spanish Parliament established the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts and the Faculty of Chemistry in Tarragona.
Creation of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Finally, in 1991, the Catalan Parliament created the Universitat Rovira I Virgili from the university centers already existing in Reus and Tarragona and which depended on the Universitat de Barcelona. Since then, the university has gradually increased the number of courses on offer by creating such new campuses as Sescelades and Catalunya in Tarragona, and Bellissens in Reus.
From Wikipedia’s article on University of Rovira i Virgili, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4