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Albacete
Flag Seal
Albacete Location in Spain
Coordinates: 38°59′44″N 1°51′21″W / 38.99556°N 1.85583°W / 38.99556; -1.85583
Country	Spain
Province	Albacete
Government
• Mayor	Carmen Bayod Guinalio (PP)
Area
• Total	1,141.41 km2 (440.70 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	170,475
• Density	150/km2 (390/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	albacete.com

Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid and 127 km northwest of Murcia, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009.

The city has been known as a center for the manufacture of fine daggers, scissors, and knives. An assembly plant of Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS, began operation in 2007.

Although Albacete has never been considered a city with an industrial tradition, the industrial area in the city, known as Polígono de Campollano, has recently been expanded as it is one of the biggest industrial parks in Spain. The local government is pushing to make Albacete a logistic center in the southeastern part of Spain.

Albacete, together with Ciudad Real, has one of the main campuses of the University of Castilla la Mancha. It is estimated that between 9,000 and 10,000 students study at any of the schools that the regional university currently has in the city.

Albacete is not known as a tourist destination, but its sights include the cathedral and the Museo de Albacete.

During the Spanish Civil War, it was the headquarters and training camp of the International Brigades, whose political commissar was André Marty, also known as the "Butcher of Albacete".

Albacete is home to the soccer team Albacete Balompié.

History[link]

Cathedral of Albacete.

The earliest information is from 1269, when Albacete was only a small village, dependent on the borough of Chinchilla. Before that, it had been a small Moorish village. Its name is derived from the Arabic البسيط Al-Basīṭ, "the plain". It was taken by Christian troops in 1241 and was under the dominion of Alarcon.

Around the first quarter of the 14th century, in the time of the famous writer Don Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, who was the governor of Murcia and, therefore the Lord of these lands, which were to become later the Marquisate of Villena, the village began to develop and its population to increase. In 1375 it was considered a borough and became independent of Chinchilla, and a century later, in 1476, the Catholic Monarchs rewarded Albacete for supporting the Crown by granting it a licence to hold a market once a week.

During the Revolt of the Comuneros (1520–22), after initial protests, Albacete supported the new emperor Charles V who, in 1526, granted the feudal estate of the town to his wife, the Empress Isabella of Portugal. During this period, building started on the church of San Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist), which was later to become a cathedral.

Albacete in the 18th century.

Albacete is located in a strategic position between Madrid and the east coast of Spain and its agricultural wealth led to the growth of the borough during the next few centuries until Philip V granted permission for an annual fair (1710). This fair was later held in an enclosure built by Charles III (1783).

The railway reached Albacete in 1855, and the Madrid‑Alicante route passed through the town. Later, Albacete was also connected by rail to Cartagena. In 1862, Isabel II granted Albacete the title of town. Street electric lighting was inaugurated in 1888, thus being the first capital of a province in Spain with electric lighting in its streets.

Throughout the 19th century, the population of the town doubled from the 10,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the century to around 21,000 by the beginning of the 20th century. During this period, Albacete defended Queen Isabel II against the Carlists (the supporters of Charles, the pretender to the Spanish throne), supported Espartero and, just like other Spanish cities, constituted a revolutionary junta. During the long period of the Restoration (1875–1923), symptoms of caciquismo (or "boss politics," a system of dominance by a local party leader) invaded the political and social life of Albacete.

Between 1900 and the end of the Spanish Civil War (1939), the population tripled. A number of basic public works date back to that time: the water supply and sewer system (1905), the Abelardo Sanchez Park (1910–23), Tesifonte Gallego Street and the Industrial area of the town. During the Spanish Civil War (1935–39), after a brief lapse in the power of the troops who had rebelled against the Republican government, the town fell back into the hands of Madrid. For most of the war, the airbase at Los Llanos was the main headquarters of the Republican air force. It was also the headquarters of the International Brigades (supporters of the Republican cause from other countries who fought in the Spanish Civil war) and a monument has been built recently to commemorate the sixty years' anniversary of those events.

Aerial view of the Recinto Ferial, at night.

La Cuchillería. (currently a museum)

The first volume of Peter Weiss' novel The Aesthetics of Resistance is located in Albacete's Civil War days hospital “Cueva La Potita“.

In the time of the transition to democracy, the two most significant events were the establishment in Albacete in 1982 of the High Court of Justice of Castile-La Mancha, and the consolidation of the University, which brought new life to the town in 1985.

Modern age[link]

Albacete has become the most important town in the Castile-la Mancha region, with unparalleled services and industrial activity, due to its position on the excellent train and highway communications that link Madrid to the eastern coast of Spain.

The university has 10,000 students that feed a lot of clubs, bars and tapas restaurants. During summer nights, thousands of people visit Tascas de la Feria to eat regional dishes.

In September, the Feria de Albacete (town festival) transforms the city for ten days. A great many visitors fill the city streets, and the population increase fivefold.

Climate[link]

Albacete's Fair[link]

Albacete Fair is declared of International Tourist Interest, takes place from September 7 to September 17.In these 10 days, the population of Albacete triples.

Airport[link]

Albacete is served by Los Llanos Airport, which is served by Air Nostrum (an Iberia Airlines franchise), with a flight to Barcelona. Additionally, the 10-nation Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) has resided on the military side of the airport/airbase since it moved from Florennes Belgium in July 2009.

See also[link]

• List of municipalities in Albacete

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Albacete

References[link]

External links[link]

• Albacete events & tourism Guide
• Albacete City Hall
• Albacete Guide
• Monuments in 3d - Cathedral Albacete 3D
• Albacete Images
• Landmarks in the City of Albacete
• La Realidad de Albacete

v t e Municipalities in the province of Albacete Abengibre Alatoz Albacete Albatana Alborea Alcadozo Alcalá del Júcar Alcaraz Almansa Alpera Ayna Balazote Balsa de Ves Barrax Bienservida Bogarra Bonete Carcelén Casas de Juan Núñez Casas de Lázaro Casas de Ves Casas-Ibáñez Caudete Cenizate Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón Corral-Rubio Cotillas El Ballestero El Bonillo Elche de la Sierra Férez Fuensanta Fuente-Álamo Fuentealbilla Golosalvo Hellín Higueruela Hoya-Gonzalo Jorquera La Gineta La Herrera La Recueja La Roda Letur Lezuza Liétor Madrigueras Mahora Masegoso Minaya Molinicos Montalvos Montealegre del Castillo Motilleja Munera Navas de Jorquera Nerpio Ontur Ossa de Montiel Paterna del Madera Peñas de San Pedro Peñascosa Pétrola Povedilla Pozo Cañada Pozo-Lorente Pozohondo Pozuelo Riópar Robledo Salobre San Pedro Socovos Tarazona de la Mancha Tobarra Valdeganga Vianos Villa de Ves Villalgordo del Júcar Villamalea Villapalacios Villarrobledo Villatoya Villavaliente Villaverde de Guadalimar Viveros Yeste

v t e Capitals of provinces of Spain A Coruña Albacete Alicante Almería Ávila Badajoz Barcelona Bilbao Burgos Cáceres Cádiz Castellón de la Plana Ciudad Real Córdoba Cuenca Donostia-San Sebastián Girona Granada Guadalajara Huelva Huesca Jaén Logroño Las Palmas León Lleida Lugo Madrid Málaga Murcia Ourense Oviedo Palencia Palma Pamplona Pontevedra Salamanca Santander Santa Cruz Segovia Seville Soria Tarragona Teruel Toledo Valencia Valladolid Vitoria-Gasteiz Zamora Zaragoza