Castilla-La Mancha

Castilla-La Mancha (English /kæˈstiːjə lɑː ˈmɑːntʃə/; Spanish: [kasˈtiʎa la ˈmantʃa]; sometimes written in English as Castile–La Mancha) is a south-western European region that was part of the Kingdom of Castile. Nowadays it is established as an autonomous community of Spain. Castilla-La Mancha is bordered by Castilla y León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities. Albacete is the largest and most populous city. Its capital city is Toledo, and its judicial capital city is Albacete.

Castilla-La Mancha was formerly grouped with the province of Madrid into New Castile (Castilla la Nueva), but with the advent of the modern Spanish system of autonomous regions (Estado de las autonomías), it was separated due to great demographic disparity between the capital and the remaining New-Castilian provinces. Also, distinct from the former New Castile, Castilla-La Mancha added the province of Albacete, which had been part of Murcia; adding Albacete placed all of the historic region of La Mancha within this single region.

La Mancha

La Mancha (Spanish pronunciation: [la ˈmantʃa]) is a natural and historical region located on an arid but fertile, elevated plateau (610 m or 2000 ft.) of central Spain, south of Madrid, from the mountains of Toledo to the western spurs of the hills of Cuenca, and bordered to the South by the Sierra Morena and to the North by the Alcarria region. La Mancha includes portions of the modern provinces of Cuenca, Toledo, and Albacete, and most of the Ciudad Real province. La Mancha historical comarca constitutes the southern portion of Castilla–La Mancha autonomous community and makes up most of the present-day administrative region.

Name

The name "La Mancha" is probably derived from the Arab word المنشا al-mansha, meaning "the dry land" or "wilderness". The name of the city of Almansa in Albacete also has the same origin. The word mancha in Spanish literally means spot, stain, or patch, but no apparent link exists between this word and the name of the region.

Geography

The largest plain in Spain, La Mancha is made up of a plateau averaging 500 to 600 metres in altitude (although it reaches 900 metres in Campo de Montiel and other parts), centering on the province of Ciudad Real. The region is watered by the Guadiana, Jabalón, Záncara, Cigüela, and Júcar rivers.

Lagunas de Ruidera

The Lagunas de Ruidera are a group of small lakes in the Campo de Montiel, between Albacete Province, and Ciudad Real Province, Spain. Most of the lakes are interconnected and their total water amount may reach 23.06 hm³, which is considerable by the standards of other lakes in the Iberian Peninsula.

The largest lakes are Laguna Colgada and Laguna del Rey. The area near the lakes is a tourist site, with small hotels, restaurants, camping sites and private villas, located mostly in or around Ruidera town. The area can be reached from Ossa de Montiel or Villahermosa.

List of lakes

There are now 15 small lakes in the group:

Albacete Province

Ciudad Real Province

Ecology

There are a variety of birds in the lake shores: ducks, like the red-crested pochard, common pochard, mallard and tufted duck, as well as the Eurasian coot, common moorhen, great reed warbler, bearded reedling, purple heron, little bittern and egrets. In the waters of the lakes there are also endemic Iberian fishes like the Rutilus lemmingii, Luciobarbus guiraonis, Iberian barbel, Luciobarbus microcephalus, Squalius pyrenaicus, as well as introduced species, like the common carp, northern pike, largemouth bass and Gambusia holbrooki. The Procambarus clarkii is an introduced species of crayfish that has caused great damage to the local aquatic fauna. Among the amphibians, the European tree frog, Mediterranean tree frog and the southern marbled newt are present along the shores of the lakes.