Spanish Town — known locally as The Valley — is the only settlement on Virgin Gorda of any size. About 2,000 of the island's 4,000 residents live in or near it. The name dates from the 16th century when the Spanish briefly held the area; almost nothing of that period survives, but the name has stuck. The town stretches along a flat valley between two ridges on the south-west coast, with the ferry dock and Yacht Harbour at one end and the airport about a mile inland.
There is no real town centre to speak of — Spanish Town is more a collection of low-rise buildings spread along the road than a walkable village. The Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour is the local hub: a marina with a small shopping centre, the main supermarket, a hardware store, several restaurants and the ferry terminal for Tortola, North Sound and St Thomas. St. Ursula's Church, the simple white-painted Anglican parish church, is on the inland road. The British naval administrator's offices, also white-painted and modest, are nearby.
For visitors, Spanish Town is mostly somewhere to provision, collect a rental car or jeep, and start the journey south to The Baths or north along the spine of the island. Allow an hour for the marina and a meal. It is the obvious place to stay if you do not have your own boat.