Santa Magdalena de Polpís (, ) is a town and

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' ...

in the

Baix Maestrat Baix Maestrat (; ) is a coastal Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' located in the north of the Provinces of Spain, province of Castellón (province), Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The capital of the ''comarca'' is Vinarò ...

comarca, province of Castelló,

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

, Spain. The town is located inland in a flat valley between the two mountain ranges of

Serra d'Irta Serra d'Irta (, ) is an 18.8 km long mountain range in the Baix Maestrat comarca, Valencian Community, Spain. Its highest point is Pico Campanelles (573 m). Location The Serra d'Irta stretches in a northeast-southwest direction south of ...

and Serra de les Talaies. It is a rural

dryland farming Drylands are defined by a scarcity of water. Drylands are zones where precipitation is balanced by evaporation from surfaces and by transpiration by plants (evapotranspiration). The United Nations Environment Program defines drylands as tropical ...

town with only marginal industrial activity, where the main cultivation is

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

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 ...

and

carob tree The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit, which takes the form of seed pods, and as an ornament ...

s, as well as some

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

trees in irrigated patches. There is no river in the valley, instead the water emerges in natural ponds known as ''basses''. The main celebration in Santa Magdalena de Polpís is the Festes patronals in honor of

Saint Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

History

Like neighboring Alcalà de Xivert its castle was an important bulwark in

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

times and a village developed at the feet of the castle, eventually giving origin to the present-day town. Santa Magdalena de Polpís suffered much during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

(1936–1939) when the

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

troops tried to split the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

an government territory in two and reach the Mediterranean coast cutting across the Talaies. At the same time, under the influence of

anarcho-communist Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and ser ...

ideas, the town completely abolished money. "Everyone works and everyone has the right to get what one needs for free. One just goes to the store where all the foodstuffs and other necessities are supplied" - says a local resident. Everything was distributed for free, with only a record of who took what, allowing the community to distribute resources equally in times of scarcity and generally ensuring transparency.

References

External links

Web de Santa Magdalena de Polpís

Polpís, terra cremada - The Civil War in Santa Magdalena de Polpís, political, social and historical context

Institut Valencià d'Estadística

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Magdalena de Polpis Municipalities in the Province of Castellón Baix Maestrat