Abanilla (river)
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Abanilla is a Spanish
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
located in the Comarca Oriental (composed by
Fortuna Fortuna (, equivalent to the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular thr ...
and Abanilla) in the
Autonomous Community of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a population of 1,511,251 as at the start of 2020. About a ...
. It lies close to the border of the province of
Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
in the
Autonomous Community of Valencia The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with more than five million inhabitants.Instituto Nacional de Estadí ...
.


Geography

Abanilla occupies a surface area of 236.6 km2 and is situated 222 metres above sea level. It lies on a natural foundation which has been degraded by a number of aggregate and
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...
.


Paleontological Significance

A
karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
ic paleontological site is located on the southeast slope of the Sierra de Quibas in an abandoned limestone quarry. Researchers have discovered vertebrate and invertebrate fossils at this site. They collected rodent fossils and used dental patterns to identify these to be of the Muroidea subfamily
Arvicolinae The Arvicolinae are a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the Cricetidae (comprising the hamsters and New World rats and mice). Some authorities plac ...
. Using stratigraphic and sedimentological features in the limestone, the scientists were able to date these fossils to the
Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial epoch (geology), sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently esti ...
subepoch.


Points of interest

Points of interest in Abanilla include the Old Town (containing the monument to the Corazón de Jesús), the Fuente de Algarrobo (Fountain of the carob tree), the ''Santuario de Mahoya'' (Sanctuary of Mahoya), and the ''Iglesia Parroquial de San José'' (Parochial Church of St. Joseph). Other sights worth visiting include the source of the
River Chícamo A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it run ...
and the mountains of Abanilla and Quibas.


Monuments

Buildings of monumental significance in Abanilla include the ''La Iglesia de San José'' (the Church of San José) (18th century), ''El Sagrado Corazón'' (
Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...
) in Abanilla Town and Barinas, ''La Casa de la Encomienda'', ''La Casa Cabrera'', ''La Casa Pintada'', ''El Monumento a las Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos'' (the Monument to the Festivals of the Moors and Christians) and ''La casa del francés'' (the French's house). There is a destroyed
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
enceinte Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...
in Abanilla.


Local communities

Local communities within the Abanilla municipality include the following. * Barinas, a rural town located 11 km from Abanilla town, at an elevation of 379 m. * Macisvenda, located 10 km from Abanilla town, a crossroads of the roads to La Algueña, El Cantón,
Hondón de los Frailes Hondón de los Frailes () is a municipality and village in the province of Alicante and autonomous community of Valencia, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories ...
and Hondón de las Nieves. * Other communities include Mahoya, El Cantón, Cañada de la Leña, El Partidor, El Tollé, Los Baños de Fortuna, Casa Cabrera, Casa Pintada, Los Carrillos, La Umbría, Collado de los Gabrieles, Ricabacica, El Algarrobo, Campules, Balonga, Mafraque and El Olivar.


History

There has been presence of human beings since the Paleolithic. Lithic workplaces corresponding to that era were found in the Southern half of the municipality. This current municipality was also inhabited by people during the first centuries of the Ancient Era (from the 5th century to the 3rd in this case) by Iberians. There is a former settlement in the Northwest end it also occurs in Fortuna and Jumilla and another one in the south. There were also people inhabitance and structures corresponding to the period when Romans ruled the Iberian Peninsula. A Roman road (''via romana'') traversed Abanilla and there are remains of it. Another site dating back from that era is a former Roman villa. A war with conquer purposes begin in the Iberian Peninsula in 711. Muslim peoples intended to rule the peninsula and conquered large part of it from the starting year to 726. The nobleman Theodemir did an agreement with the governor Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa in 713 which name is Treaty of Orihuela. The treaty lead Abd al-Aziz to rule territory between Vinalopó and Segura rivers. Consequently, Abanilla had dependency on Orihuela during the Muslim Iberian Peninsula era. A structure that originated in that period is the alcazaba (Arab fortification) of the town. The king of the
Taifa of Murcia The Taifa of Murcia () was an Arab ''taifa'' of medieval Al-Andalus, in what is now southern Spain. It became independent as a ''taifa'' centered on the Moorish city of Murcia after the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba (11th century). ...
signed the
Treaty of Alcaraz The Treaty of Alcaraz was an agreement signed in Alcaraz, Albacete, Alcaraz around April 2, 1243, between Alfonso X of Castile, Alfonso of Castile – the future Alfonso X – acting on behalf of Ferdinand III of Castile, and several representativ ...
, which consisted in conferring
vassalage A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...
to the
Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...
, in 1243. Muslims were allowed to stay, and keep their religion, customs, organisations, etc. provided they paid extra taxes. In this era, Abanilla ceases being part of Orihuela because the first one belonged to Castile and the second one to Aragon. In 1613, the king Ferdinand III of Castile ruled the expulsion of the Muslims. As there were rather many of them in Abanilla (over 1,000), the town turned out not to have enough workers for land labouring and that caused an economic downturn, which lasted for a century. There had been an increase in population in the 18th century and there were over 7,000 inhabitants in that century. New dwellings and buildings were necessarily built beyond the town-surrounding wall. Many important buildings of the municipality were constructed during this century. In the third quarter of the 20th century, water canals were built in Abanilla and drinking water supply begin to exist in the municipality.


Politics

The mayor of Abanilla was Álvaro Gaona (Partido Independiente) from 1979 to 1983, José Luís Cutillas Rivera (
Partido Socialista Obrero Español The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...
) from 1983 to 1987, Fernando Molina Parra ( Partido Popular) from 1987 to 2015 and Ezequiel Alonso Gaona (
Partido Socialista Obrero Español The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...
) from 2015.


Demographics

The population of Abanilla is 6,510 as of 2011.


Economy

Agriculture has a high weight in the municipality. 28.8% of the territory is used as crops lands. The most wide grown products are the citrus, the almonds and the grapes. Almost 55.2% of the agreements were made for agriculture and fishing activities in 2019 and 30.15% of the workers signed agreements for work as labourers. 29.6% of the agreements were written for posts in the tertiary sector and 9.73% were signed by waiters. 10% were signed by fabrication labourers.


Culture


Gastronomy

Typical local dishes include home-made sausages,
paella Paella (, , , , ; ) is a rice dish originally from the Valencian Community. ''Paella'' is regarded as one of the community's identifying symbols. It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine. The dish takes its name from the wide, sha ...
with rabbit and snails, ''gachasmigas''. In particular, desserts include fruit from the fertile orchards, such as the region's renowned
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
apricots. Traditional confectionery includes doughnuts, sweetbreads, muffins and typical Christmas sweets. All this is enhanced by the high quality oil pressed in local mills in the ancient custom.


Festivals

The International Folklore Festival is an important event which takes place in the first week of August. Between 23 April and 9 May, the festivals of Santa Cruz take place, featuring parades of
Moors and Christians ''Moros y Cristianos'' () or ''Moros i Cristians'' (), literally in English Moors and Christians, is a set of festival activities which are celebrated in many towns and cities of Spain, mainly in the southern Valencian Community. According ...
. In addition, from June through to the middle of September, the various communities celebrate their own individual festivals.


See also

*
List of municipalities in the Region of Murcia This is a list of the 45 municipalities in the province and autonomous community of Murcia, Spain, with their land areas and their populations at the Censuses of 2001, 2011 and 2021. List See also *Geography of Spain *List of cities in Spain R ...


References


External links


Official website of Abanilla

Discussion forum for Abanilla

Unofficial website for Abanilla



International Folklore Festival in Abanilla

Knights and Damsels of Calatrava

Cabila Al'BayadaViva Murcia
Photos & Information for the Murcia Province
News and Information about Abanilla
{{authority control Municipalities in the Region of Murcia