The University of Salamanca is a public university based in the city of Salamanca, with centres in the cities of Zamora, Ávila, Béjar and Villamayor. It is the oldest operating university in Spain and the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in Europe. Alfonso IX of León created the ‘scholas Salamanticae’ in 1218. USAL was the first European educational institution to obtain the title of University, by the royal decree of Alfonso X the Wise in 1252.