Ateca is a municipality located in the

province of Zaragoza Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is the city of Zaragoza, whic ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. At the time of the 2015

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

( INE), the municipality had a population of 1,969. The River Jalón is joined by the River Piedra and the River Manubles at Ateca. The town was home to a

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

factory, until it closed down in 2013. Ateca is twinned with

Lézat-sur-Lèze Lézat-sur-Lèze (, literally ''Lézat on Lèze''; Languedocien: ''Lesat'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Geography The Lèze forms part of the commune's southern border, flows north through the commune, th ...

in France. The

Seat Ateca The SEAT Ateca is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) manufactured by Spanish automaker SEAT. The brand's first SUV offering, the Ateca is built on the Volkswagen Group MQB A1 platform and sits in the C-SUV segment, between the Arona and Tarr ...

SUV takes its name from this area.

Location

Ateca is found in the central

Iberian System Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to the fo ...

, southwest of the province at the confluence of the Jalón and Manubles rivers. It is located to 100 km of

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, 220 to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and 15 to the southwest of

Calatayud Calatayud (; 2014 pop. 20,658) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Province of Zaragoza, within Aragón, Spain, lying on the river Jalón (river), Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest ...

. Its concrete location - at 647 masl - is the left bank of the Jalon River, just inside the confluence with the Manubles. In addition to these two rivers, the Monegrillo waters its municipal term.

Climate

Its average temperature throughout the year is 13.5 °C and has an annual rainfall of 380 mm.

Place names

During the Muslim rule of the peninsula the conquerors renamed it with the name from the Arabic عتيقة `Atīqa, which means "ancient". which can give idea of the remote at the time of this settlement.

Demography

Since 1860, when Ateca had a population of 3786 inhabitants, the population of the municipality has been gradually decreasing. Emigration has been accentuated since 1950, leading to an aging population, which, if it was 25 years old on average in 1860, in 1970 it exceeded 36; in this last year, 18% of the population had more than sixty years. However, emigration has slowed in the 21st century. In 2016, Ateca had 1856 inhabitants.

Economy

The commercial and services function is diminished by the proximity of Calatayud, and with the passage of time its area of influence has been losing entity. In the nineteenth century the town counted on stores of cloths, quincalla, canvases and fabrics; in 1842 he was awarded an annual fair. Historically Ateca has always been an important center of

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

, with its peculiar characteristics that distinguished it from the rest of the zone. At present, the main industrial activity is the manufacture of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

. There are two factories: Valor Chocolates, Ancient Chocolates Hueso, and Atienza Chocolates, a smaller family business. The first, founded in 1862, has a national network for the distribution of Huesitos chocolate bars. On July 15, 2013, Mondelēz announced the sale of the factory, along with the Huesito and Tokke brands, to the Spanish company Chocolates Valor, thus avoiding the relocation of the factory planned by the North American company. In addition, in the municipality there is a wood industry, a furniture factory (Sémper Furniture) and a new call center of the GSS Group with more than one hundred posts. Agriculture continues to play an important role in Ateca, since the Vega del Jalon is one of the main fruit-growing areas of the peninsula. We must highlight the production of

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

of excellent quality and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s, as well as grapes of the different varieties that can be produced in the area according to the regulatory board. The Cooperativa Virgen de la Peana field produces

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

s within the

Denominación de Origen In Spain and Latin America, the (; )In other languages of Spain: * Catalan: (). * (). * (). is part of a regulatory geographical indication system used primarily for foodstuffs such as cheeses, condiments, honey, and meats, among others. ...

Calatayud (DO) Calatayud is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines located in the southwestern corner of the province of Zaragoza ( Aragón, Spain) about 90 km from Zaragoza and covers over 5,600 ha, extending over 46 different muni ...

, mainly obtained from the variety of

Grenache Grenache (; ) or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry condi ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

of the zone.

Services

The locality counts on municipal

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

, fronton and San Blas

soccer field A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural turf or artifici ...

of artificial grass where its quarrel the C.D. Ateca who plays for Primera Regional Aragón. There are several educational centers; The EEI La Solana, the CEIP Virgen de la Peana and the IES Zaurín, which cover the teaching needs of the municipality of nearby villages. It also has

community health center A healthcare center, health center, or community health center is one of a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area. Typical services covered are family pr ...

, community pharmacy,

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, clean point,

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard (; ) is one of the two national law enforcement agencies of Spain. As a national gendarmerie, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Minis ...

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

, multi-purpose pavilion.

Main sights

* The town is a place of passage of the

Camino del Cid The Way of El Cid () is a cultural and tourist route that crosses Spain from the northwest to the southeast, from Castilla to the Mediterranean coast. It follows the history and the legend of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid Campeador, a medieval kn ...

br>
* Castle of Alcocer * Torrecid * Castle of Ateca *

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

Church of Santa María (Ateca) Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

* Church of San Francisco (Ateca) * Clock Tower of Ateca

Gallery

File:20080820-Ateca Iglesia de Santa María y San Francisco.jpg, Church of Santa María File:Ateca3.JPG, Tower of the church File:Ayuntamiento, Ateca, Zaragoza, España, 2013-01-07, DD 01.JPG, Town Hall File:20080820-Ateca.jpg, Ateca 2008 File:Iglesia de Santa María, Ateca, Zaragoza, España, 2013-01-07, DD 02.JPG, view of the town in 2013 File:Church of San Francisco (Ateca).jpeg, Church of San Francisco File:Seat Ateca 2016 in Hertfordshire.jpg, SEAT Ateca

References

External links

Información de la Federación Aragonesa de Montañismo

Patrimonio Cultural de Aragón

Maps

Publicaciones de la Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza

Web del Ayuntamiento de Ateca

Ateca
(

Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa The ''Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa'' (''Great Aragonese Encyclopedia'', commonly abbreviated ''GEA'') is a Spanish language, Aragon-themed, encyclopedia. It was first published in 1981, under the direction of Eloy Fernández Clemente. In 1999, Pren ...

)

Sources

*''The information in this article is based on that in its :es:Ateca, Spanish equivalent''. {{Authority control Populated places in the Province of Zaragoza