Alicante
| Alicante Alacant |
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  Alicante
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country |  Spain |
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| Autonomous Community | .svg.png){kind=small} Valencian Community |
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| Province | Alicante | ||
| Comarca | Alacantí | ||
| Founded | 324 BC | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Sonia Castedo Ramos (PP) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 201.27 km2 (77.7 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation(AMSL) | 3 m (10 ft) | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| - Total | 334,757 | ||
| - Rank | 11 | ||
| - Density | 1,663.2/km2 (4,307.7/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 03000 - 03016 | ||
| Area code(s) | +34 (Spain) + 96 (Alicante) | ||
| Administrative Divisions | 8 | ||
| Neighborhoods | 42 | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
Alacant or Alicante (Spanish: Alicante, Valencian: Alacant) is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,757, estimated as of 2009[update], ranking as the second-largest Valencian city.[1] Including nearby municipalities, Alicante conurbation was populated by 458,843 residents. Population of the metropolitan area (including Elche and satellite towns) was 795,034 as of 2009[update] estimates, ranking as the eighth-largest metropolitan area of Spain.
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History
The area around Alicante has been inhabited for over 7000 years, with the first tribes of hunter gatherers moving down gradually from Central Europe between 5000 and 3000 BC. Some of the earliest settlements were made on the slopes of Mount Benacantil. By 1000 BC Greek and Phoenician traders had begun to visit the eastern coast of Spain, establishing small trading ports and introducing the native Iberian tribes to the alphabet, iron and the pottery wheel. By the sixth century BC, the rival armies of Carthage and Rome began to invade and fight for control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca established the fortified settlement of Akra Leuka (Greek: Aκρα Λευκa, meaning "White Mountain" or "White Point"), where Alicante stands today.
Although the Carthaginians conquered much of the land around Alicante, the Romans would eventually rule Hispania Tarraconensis for over 700 years. By the 5th century AD, Rome was in decline; the Roman predecessor town of Alicante, known as Lucentum (Latin), was more or less under the control of the Visigothic warlord Theudimer. However neither the Romans nor the Goths put up much resistance to the Arab conquest of Medina Laqant in the 8th century. The Moors ruled southern and eastern Spain until the 11th century reconquista (reconquest). Alicante was finally taken in 1246 by the Castilian king Alfonso X, but it passed soon and definitely to the Kingdom of Valencia in 1298 with the King James II of Aragon. It gained the status of Royal Village (Vila Reial) with representation in the medieval Valencian Parliament.
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After several decades of being the battlefield where Kingdom of Castile and the Crown of Aragón clashed, Alicante became a major Mediterranean trading station exporting rice, wine, olive oil, oranges and wool. But between 1609 and 1614 King Felipe III expelled thousands of moriscos who had remained in Valencia after the reconquista, due to their allegiance with Barbary pirates who continually attacked coastal cities and caused much harm to trade. This act cost the region dearly; with so many skilled artisans and agricultural labourers gone, the feudal nobility found itself sliding into bankruptcy. Things got worse in the early 18th century; after the War of Spanish Succession, Alicante went into a long, slow decline, surviving through the 18th and 19th centuries by making shoes and agricultural products such as oranges and almonds, and its fisheries. The end of the 19th century witnessed a sharp recovery of the local economy with increasing international trade and the growth of the city harbour leading to increased exports of several products (particularly during World War I when Spain was a neutral country).
During the early twentieth century, Alicante was a minor capital which enjoyed the benefit of Spain's neutrality during World War I, which provided new opportunities for the local industry and agriculture. The Rif War in the 1920s saw numerous alicantinos drafted to fight in the long and bloody campaigns at the former Spanish protectorate (Northern Morocco) against the Rif rebels. The political unrest of the late 1920s led to the victory of republican candidates in the local council elections throughout the country, and the abdication of King Alfonso XIII. The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic was much celebrated in the city on 14 April 1931. The Spanish Civil War broke out on 17 July 1936. Alicante was the last city loyal to the Republican government to be occupied by Dictator Franco's troops on 1 April 1939, and its harbour saw the last Republican government officials fleeing the country. Even if not as famous as the bombing of Guernica by the German Luftwaffe, Alicante was the target of some vicious air bombings during the three years of civil conflict, most remarkably the bombing by the Italian Aviazione Legionaria of the Mercado de Abastos in 25 May 1938 in which more than 300 civilians perished.
The next 20 years under Franco's dictatorship were difficult for Alicante as it was for the entire country. However, the late 1950s and early 1960s saw the onset of a lasting transformation of the city due to tourism. Large buildings and complexes rose in nearby Albufereta and Playa de San Juan, with the benign climate being the best tool to bring prospective buyers and tourists who kept hotels reasonably busy. The tourist development, aside from construction, also brought numerous businesses such as restaurants, bars and other businesses focused on visitors. Also, the old airfield at Rabasa was closed and air traffic moved to the new El Altet Airport, which made for a convenient facility for charter flights bringing tourists from northern European countries.
When dictator Franco died in 1975, his successor Juan Carlos I oversaw the transition of Spain to a democratic constitutional monarchy. Governments of nationalities and regions were given more autonomy, and the Valencian region was not an exception.
The port of Alicante has been reinventing itself since the industrial decline the city suffered in the 1980s (with most mercantile traffic lost in favour of Valencia's harbour). In recent years, the Port Authority has established it as one of the most important ports in Spain for cruises, with 72 calls to port made by cruises in 2007 bringing some 80,000 cruise passengers and 30,000 crew to the city each year.[2] The moves to develop the port for more tourism have been welcomed by the city and its residents, but the latest plans to develop an industrial estate in the port have caused great controversy.
Economy
Alicante is one of the fastest-growing cities in Spain. The local economy is based upon tourism to the beaches of the Costa Blanca and particularly the second residence construction boom which started in the 1960s and reinvigorated again by the late 1990s. Services and public administration also play a major role in the city's economy. The construction boom has raised many environmental concerns and both the local autonomous government and city council are under scrutiny by the European Union. The construction soar is the subject of hot debates among politicians and citizens alike. The latest of many public battles concerns the plans of the Port Authority of Alicante to construct an industrial estate on reclaimed land in front of the city's coastal strip, in breach of local, national and European regulations. (See Port of Alicante for the details).
The city is the headquarters of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market and a sizeable population of European public workers live here.
University of Alicante is located in San Vicente del Raspeig, right next to Alicante. More than 30,000 students attend the University.
Since 2005 Alicante hosts Ciudad de la Luz, one of the largest film studios in Europe. Spanish and international movies such as Asterix at the Olympic Games by Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann, Manolete by Menno Meyjes have been shot there.
Population
.PNG)
The official population of Alicante in 2009 was 334,7570 inhabitants and 795,034 in the metropolitan area "Alicante-Elche".[1] About 15% of the population is foreign, mostly those from Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia who have arrived in the previous 10 years as immigrants. There are also immigrants from other origins such as Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Morocco, many of which are under illegal alien status and therefore are not accounted for in official population figures. The real percentage of foreign population is higher, since the Alicante metropolitan area is home to many Northern European retired citizens, even if officially they are still residents of their own countries. In the same pattern, a sizable amount of permanent residents are Spanish nationals who officially still live in Madrid, the Basque provinces, or other areas of the country.
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Government
Sonia Castedo (1971) is the mayor of the city . She was elected for the post in an extraordinary plenary of the Alicante City Council on September 17, 2008, following resignation of Luis Díaz Alperi. She is the first woman ever to occupy this position.[5]
In the latest municipal elections of May 2007, Luis Díaz Alperi (1945) of the People's Party (Partido Popular) was reelected city mayor with an absolute majority for his fourth term, followed by the candidate of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista), Etelvina Andreu (1969).
At the foot of the main staircase of the City Hall Building (Ayuntamiento) is the zero point (cota cero), used as the point of reference for measuring the height above or below sea level of any point in Spain, due to the marginal tidal variations of the Mediterranean sea in Alicante.[6]
Climate
Alicante enjoys a Mediterranean climate with mild temperatures throughout the year and little rain, concentrated in equinoctial periods. On average the temperature ranges between 16.8° and 6.2° in January and 30.6° and 20.4° in August, with an average annual temperature of 17.8°. Daily oscillations in temperature are very small due to the influence of the sea, although occasional periods of Westerly wind can result in temperature ranges in excess of 15°C. Annual oscillations in temperature are also small meaning that winters are mild and summers are warm.
The average amount of rainfall is 336 mm per year. September and October are the wettest months due to torrential rain caused by the cold drop, which can reach over 200 mm in a single 24 hour period causing severe flooding. Because of this irregularity, only 37 rainy days are observed on average per year, and the annual number of sunshine hours is 2,864.
The record maximum temperature of 41.4° was observed in Alicante on 4 July 1994. The record minimum temperature of -4.6° was registered on 12 February 1956. The worst flooding in modern history occurred on 30 September 1997 when 270.2 mm of rainfall fell within six hours.
| Climate data for Observatory of Alicante (Ciudad Jardín, 1971-2000) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Source: Spanish State Meteorological Agency[7] | |||||||||||||
Transport
Alicante Airport outranks its Valencian counterpart, being among the busiest airports in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Málaga and keeps expanding. It is connected with Madrid and Barcelona by frequent Iberia and Spanair flights, and with many Western European cities through carriers such as Ryanair, Easyjet, Air Berlin, Monarch Airlines, and Jet2.com. From the airport there are also regular flights to Algeria and Russia.
Alicante railway station is used by cercanías linking Alicante with suburbs and Murcia.[8] Long-range RENFE trains run frequently to Madrid and Barcelona.[9]
Alicante Tram connects the city with outlying settlements along Costa Blanca. As of 2010, electric tram-trains run up to Benidorm, and diesel trains go further to Denia.[10]
The city has regular ferry services to the Balearic Islands and Algeria.[11] The city is strongly fortified, with a spacious harbour.
Main sights
Amongst the most notable features of the city are the Castle of Santa Bárbara, which sits high above the city, and the port of Alicante, which was the subject of bitter controversy in 2006-2007 as residents battled to keep it from being changed into an industrial estate.
The Santa Bárbara castle is situated on Mount Benacantil, overlooking the city. The promenade Explanada de España lined by palm trees consists of 6.5 million marble stones and is one of the most lovely promenades in Spain. For the people of Alicante it is the meeting point in the evenings and a place where many concerts take place. At the end of the promenade there is a Monument of the artist Mark Hersch, who still lives in Alicante. The main church of Alicante and the bishop seat is Concatedral de San Nicolás de Bari, which originates from the XVII century.
El Palmeral Park is one of favored parks of Alicante. It includes walking trails, children's playgrounds, lakes and brooks, picnic tables and an auditorium for concerts. El Ereta Park is located on Mount Benacantil. It runs from the Santa Bárbara castle down to the old part of Alicante.
Just a few kilometers from Alicante, on the Mediterranean Sea, lays Tabarca island. What was once a slip angle for pirates, is now a beautiful tourist attraction.
Other sights include:
- Basilica of Santa María (14th-16th centuries), built in Gothic style over the former main mosque. Other features include the high altar, in Rococo style, and the portal, in Baroque style, both from the 18th century.
- Co-cathedral of St. Nicholas of Bari (15th-18th centuries), also built over a mosque.
- Monastery of Santa Faz (15th century), located 5 km outside the city, in Baroque style.
- Defence towers of the Huerta de Alicante (15th-18th centuries), built to defend against the Barbary pirates. Today some 20 towers are still extant.
- Baroque Casa de La Asegurada (1685), the most ancient civil building in the city. (s. XVII). Today is home to the Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante.
- Casa consistorial de Alicante (18th century), also in Baroque style.
- Convent of the Canónigas de San Agustín (18th century).
- Gravina Palace (1748–1808), nowadays hosting Gravina Museum of Fine Arts.
- Castle of San Fernando.
There are a dozen of museums in Alicante. On exhibition in Archaeological Museum of Alicante there are local artifacts from 100,000 years ago up until 19th century. The archaeological museum won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2004. Gravina Museum of Fine Arts presents a number of painting and sculptures of Alicante from 16th century to 19th century. The Asegurada Museum of Contemporary Art is currently closed for renovation.
Festivals
The most important festival, the Bonfires of Saint John (Fogueres de Sant Joan), takes place during the summer solstice. This is followed a week later by seven nights of firework and pyrotechnic contests between companies on the urban beach Playa del Postiguet. Another well-known festival is Moros i Cristians in Altozano or San Blas district. Overall, the city boasts a year-round nightlife, helped by tourists, fun-loving residents, and a large student population of the University of Alicante. The nightlife social scene tends to shift to nearby Playa de San Juan (St. John's Beach) during the summer months.
Every summer in Alicante, a two-month-long programme of music, theatre and dance is staged in the Paseo del Puerto.[12]
Sport
The two largest Alicante football teams are Hércules CF which competes in the Spanish Primera División, and Alicante CF which plays in Segunda División B. They both host their home games at Estadio José Rico Pérez.
Famous citizens
- George Washington Montgomery (1804–1841), born in Alicante, United States diplomat and editor/publisher of the first Spanish language translation of the works of Washington Irving.[13]
- Carlos Arniches (1866–1943), novelist
- Rafael Altamira y Crevea (1866–1951), co-founder of Permanent Court of International Justice so-called the World Court, after 1945 International Court of Justice
- Francisco Javier de Balmis (1753–1819), physician who headed the Balmis expedition to vaccinate the Spanish-colonies population against smallpox.
- Gabriel Miró (1879–1930), novelist
- Antonio Gades (1936–2004), Flamenco dancer
- Juan Escarré (1969), field hockey player
- Belen Rueda, actress
- Miriam Blasco, judoka Olympic winner
- Isabel Fernández, judoka Olympic winner
- Vanessa Romero, model and actress
- Maria Jurado, model and actress
- Esther Cañadas, model and actress
- Pedro Ferrándiz, basketball coach
- Hannibal Laguna, fashion designer
- Francisco Rufete, footballer
- Miguel Hernández, poet
International relations
The city of Alicante has established sister-city relationship with the following towns:
Nice, France
Carloforte, Italy
Herzliya, Israel
León, Nicaragua
Matanzas, Cuba
Oran, Algeria
Riga, Latvia
Toyooka, Japan
Wenzhou, People's Republic of China
In 2009 a bid was made to twin Newcastle, United Kingdom with Alicante.[14]
References
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Instituto Nacional de Estadística Official population figures: Municipal Register.
- ↑ "El puerto de Alicante registrará 72 escalas de cruceros durante 2007" (in Spanish). Diariocrítico de la Comunidad Valenciana. 2007-05-16. http://www.panorama-actual.es/noticias/not226759.htm.
- ↑ Historical population data sources: 1250-1609: estimates by historians; 1646: Vecindario del archivo del Reino de Valencia; 1717-1803: various censuses prepared by the governments of Spain; from 1857: national census.
- ↑ Ayuntamiento de Alicante Sección de Estadística. La Población de Alicante (01-01-2009).
- ↑ Sonia Castedo toma posesión como alcaldesa de Alicante, la primera mujer en ocupar el cargo, y demanda inversiones eleconomista.es
- ↑ Ayuntamiento de Alicante, Edificios Singulares (Spanish)
- ↑ Spanish State Meteorological Agency
- ↑ RENFE Cercanías Murcia/Alicante (Spanish)
- ↑ RENFE destinations from ALACANT-TERMINAL
- ↑ TRAM Alicante Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana
- ↑ Alicante Ferry Port
- ↑ Alicante Festivals
- ↑ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
- ↑ "Alicante is "alreet" by US". newsguardian.co.uk. 2009-02-12. http://www.newsguardian.co.uk/video/Alicante-is-34alreet34-by-US.4974561.jp. "Big Brother 6 winner Anthony Hutton, former Newcastle United captain Les Ferdinand and winner of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, Jill Halfpenny are among a host of the city's celebrity supporters who are backing the move with easyJet."
External links
- Official website of Alicante
- Official website of the Diputación Provincial de Alicante (Spanish)
- Dates and numbers of the municipalities of Alicante Province. Diputación Provincial de Alicante, Area of Presidency, Documentation Unit (Spanish)
- Website of the University of Alicante
- Alicante travel guide from Wikitravel
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