Region of Murcia
Encyclopedia
The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community
of Spain
located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia
and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean
coast.
The autonomous community consists of a single province
, unlike most autonomous communities, which have several provinces within the same territory. Because of this, the autonomous community and the province are operated as one unit of government. The city of Murcia
is the capital of the region and seat of government organs, except for the parliament (Regional Assembly), which is located in Cartagena
. The autonomous community and province is subdivided in municipalities.
The Region of Murcia is bordered by Andalusia
(the provinces of Almería
and Granada); Castile-La Mancha
(the province of Albacete, which was historically connected to Murcia until 1980); the Valencian Community (province of Alicante); and the Mediterranean Sea
. The community measures 11,313 km² and has a population of 1.4 million, of whom one-third live in the capital. The highest mountain is Los Obispos (2,015 m).
The region is a major producer of fruit
s, vegetable
s, and flower
s for Spain and the rest of Europe. Wineries have developed near the towns of Bullas
, Yecla
, and Jumilla
, as well as olive oil
near Moratalla
. Murcia is mainly a warm region which has made it very suitable for agriculture. However the precipitation level is low and water supply is a hot subject today since, in addition to the traditional water demand for crops, there is now also a demand of water for the booming tourist developments which take advantage of the mild weather and beaches. Water is supplied by the Segura River and, ever since the 70's, by the Tajo transvasement, a major civil engineering which, under some environmental and sustainability restraints, brings water from the Tajo into the Segura.
mountain ranges (from north to the south).
Traditionally it has been considered that the peak of Revolcadores
, pertaining to the bulk of the same name, was the highest point in the Region of Murcia, with a height of 2,027 meters; but in measurements of the most recent maps of the SNIG (National Service of Geographic Information of Spain), Revolcadores appears with a height of 1,999 m, and there is a mountain, Los Obispos ("The Bishops"), located slightly further north, which is more elevated (2,015 m).
Approximately 27% of the Murcian territory can be described as mountainous, 38% as intramountainous depressions and running valleys, and the remaining 35% as flat lands and plateaux.
of semi-arid
type, with mild winters (an average of 11C in December and January) and warm summers (where the daily maximum regularly exceeds 40°C). The average annual temperature is 18°C.
With little precipitation of about 300 to 350 mm per year, the region has between 120 and 150 days in the year where the sky is totally clear. April and October are the months with the most precipitation, there being frequent heavy downpours in a single day.
The distance to the sea and the relief causes a thermal difference between the coast and the interior, specially in winter, when the temperature rarely descends below 10º on the coast, while in the interior regions the minimum does not usually rise above 6º and the precipitation level is higher (up to 600 mm).
The city of Murcia holds the record temperature of the 20th century in Spain. It reached 46.1° Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 4, 1994. The winter of 2005 was the coldest in a long time, with snow even falling on the Murcian coast. http://www1.laverdad.es/interactivo/imagenes_galerias/nevadacostaene05/imagenes.htm
river and its affluents:
Due to the water supplying incapacity of the Segura river basin, contributions to this river basin are made, originated from the basin of the Tajo river, by means of the Tajo-Segura trasvasement.
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The greatest natural lake
of Spain
can be found in the region: the Mar Menor
(Small Sea) lagoon. It is a salt water
lagoon, adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea
. Its special ecological and natural characteristics make the Mar Menor a unique natural place and the largest saltwater lake in Europe. With a semicircular shape, it is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a sand strip 22 km in length and between 100 and 1200 m wide, known as La Manga del Mar Menor (the Minor Sea's Sandbar). The lagoon has been designated by the United Nations as a Specially Protected Zone of Importance for the Mediterranean. Its coastal perimeter accounts for 73 km of coast in which beaches follow one another with crystal clear shallow water (the maximum depth does not exceed 7m). The lake has an area of 170 square kilometers.
The Carthaginians established a permanent trading
port on the coast at Cartagena
, which the Romans
called Carthago Nova. For the Carthaginian traders, the mountainous territory was merely the Iberian
hinterland of their seacoast empire
. During The Roman period Murcia did not exist but its actual borders could have been inside of the province
of Hispania Carthaginensis
. Under the Moors
, who introduced the large-scale irrigation
on which Murcian agriculture
depends, the province was known as Todmir; it included, according to Idrisi
, the 11th century Arab
cartographer based in Sicily
, the cities of Orihuela
, Lorca
, Mula and Chinchilla, Spain
.
The Kingdom of Murcia became independent as a taifa
centered on the Moorish city of Murcia after the fall of the Umayyad
Caliphate of Córdoba (11th century). Moorish Taifa of Murcia included Albacete
and part of Almería
as well. After the battle of Sagrajas in 1086 the Almoravid dynasty swallowed up the taifas and reunited Islamic Spain. Ferdinand III of Castile
received the submission of the Moorish king of Murcia in 1243.
In the usual way, the Muslims were evicted from the cities, and Ferdinand's heir Alfonso X of Castile
, who benefited from rule over a largely depopulated Murcia, divided the border kingdom in three regions for administrative purposes, entrusted respectively to the concejos de realengo, to the ecclesiastical señores seculares, as a reward for their contributions to the Reconquista
and to the Military Orders founded in the 11th century. Alfonso annexed the Taifa of Murcia as King of Murcia and Señorio de Cartagena outright in 1266, and it remained technically a vassal kingdom of Spain until the reforms in the liberal constitution of 1812. Murcia became an autonomous region in 1982.
The Castilian conquest of Murcia was significant because it gave the former access to the Mediterranean for the first time and ended the expansion of the Kingdom of Aragon
which had been moving south along the coast.
), of which almost a third (30.7%) live in the municipality of Murcia. It makes up 3.0% of the Spanish population. In addition, after Ceuta
and Melilla
, Murcia has the highest vegetative growth (5.52 by thousand inhabitants) and also the highest birth rate of the country.
In the 1991-2005 period the Murcian population grew at by 26.06%, as opposed to the national average of 11.85%. 12.35% of the inhabitants are of foreign origin, according to the INE 2005 census, which is 4% more than the Spanish average. The most notable groups of immigrants are Ecuadorians (33.71% of the total of foreigners), Moroccans (27.13%), Britons (5.95%), Bolivians (4.57%) and Colombians (3.95%).
The Region of Murcia comprises 46 municipalities, the most populated being Murcia
, Cartagena
, Lorca
, and Molina de Segura
.
dialect tends to eliminate many syllable-final consonants and to emphasize regional vocabulary, much of which is derived from Aragonese
and old Arabic
words. The general intonation and some of the distinctive vocabulary of the Spanish dialect spoken in Murcia share several traits with the one spoken in the neighboring province of Almería
, in Andalusia
, and the Vega Baja del Segura
in the Alicante province
.
Valencian
(Catalan
) is spoken in a small area of the region known as El Carche
.
(Warm Coast) have attracted tourists for decades.
The region is also being promoted as a cultural destination with a lot of highlits for visitors: monuments, gastronomy, cultural events, museums, historic remains, festivals etc. The Region of Murcia is one of the Spanish autonomous communities that has grown the most in the last years, and it has conferred it the character of an ideal destination of services, shopping and for the organization of cultural events and conventions.
.jpg)
the interior of the region of Murcia has plenty of castles and fortifications showing the importance of these frontier lands between the Christian Castile
and the Muslim Andalusia
. They include:
have been declared of International Tourist Interest, together the Murcia's "Bando de la Huerta" and "Burial of the Sardine", included in its Spring Festivities. Murcia’s Holy Week is also interesting since its processions include Murcian sculptor Francisco Salzillo
's statues.
Cartagena’s main festivities are the Carthagineses y Romanos, re-enacting the Punic Wars. They have been declared of National Tourist Interest.
The Águila’s Carnival
is one of the most important and colourful of Spain.
This is the most developed tourist resource in Murcia. The Costa Cálida has 250 km of beaches, from el Mojón at the North near Alicante to Águilas
, South West Murcia, near Almería.
One of the major destinations of Murcia is the Mar Menor
or Small Sea, the largest natural lake of Spain and the largest salty lagoon in Europe
, located by the Mediterranean. It is separated from the mediterranean by a 22 km narrow sandy strip known as La Manga del Mar Menor or simply La Manga. It is probably the most developed and overcrowded holiday area of Murcia, despite being declared a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance
(SPAMIs) by the United Nations
.
Mar Menor's muds are famous for its therapeutic properties. Apart from Mar Menor, the Murcian coast from the historical city of Cartagena to the frontier with Andalusia
, that corresponds to the Mediterranean Sea alternates wild and unspoilt rocky areas with large sandy beaches, with the towns of Mazarrón
and Águilas
standing out.
The tourism needs have forced the area to add all kinds of facilities and services. The construction boom shows the huge amount of estates, including the controversial holiday resorts of Polaris World
and second residences, as well as numerous malls.
Thanks to the orography
and climate of the region of Murcia, these lands are suitable for golf courses, a fact that has been very controversial because of the need for water, which Murcia lacks being a very dry region.
Other services includes charter nautical, yacht facilities, golf courses, adventure tourism companies, sports federations, tourist routes, guided visits, excursions by sea.
Inner lands of the region, near the historical towns of Caravaca de la Cruz
and Moratalla, offer a number of rural accommodations and facilities: cottages, farmhouses, country houses and camp sites. Visitors can engage in activities related to excursions, day trips, sports, sightseeing.
Portal de la Región de Murcia Digital (Official Cultural Site of Autonomous Community of Murcia) Official Tourism Site of Murcia, Spain La Opinión - local newspaper La Verdad - local newspaper Murcia.com - local newspaper
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
coast.
The autonomous community consists of a single province
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...
, unlike most autonomous communities, which have several provinces within the same territory. Because of this, the autonomous community and the province are operated as one unit of government. The city of Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
is the capital of the region and seat of government organs, except for the parliament (Regional Assembly), which is located in Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
. The autonomous community and province is subdivided in municipalities.
The Region of Murcia is bordered by Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
(the provinces of Almería
Almería (province)
-History:The rich customs and Fiestas of the denizens retain links deep into the past, unto the Moors, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Phoenicians.During the taifa era, it was ruled by the Moor Banu al-Amiri from 1012 to 1038, briefly annexed by Valencia , then given by Zaragoza to the Banu Sumadih...
and Granada); Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain. Castile-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities...
(the province of Albacete, which was historically connected to Murcia until 1980); the Valencian Community (province of Alicante); and the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. The community measures 11,313 km² and has a population of 1.4 million, of whom one-third live in the capital. The highest mountain is Los Obispos (2,015 m).
The region is a major producer of fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s, vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s, and flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s for Spain and the rest of Europe. Wineries have developed near the towns of Bullas
Bullas
Bullas is a municipality and town in the Region of Murcia, southeast Spain, located 53 km from the provincial capital, Murcia. it is the highest municipality in the Region of Murcia after Moratalla.The surrounding area is noted for the production of wine....
, Yecla
Yecla
Yecla is a town and municipality in eastern Spain, in the extreme north of the autonomous community of Murcia, located 96 km from the capital of the region, Murcia....
, and Jumilla
Jumilla
Jumilla is a municipality in southeastern Spain. It is located in the province of Murcia, close to the town of Yecla.-Economy:Jumilla is home to the world's largest photovoltaic solar power farm, with an installed peak power capacity of 20 megawatts. The solar farm consists of 120,000 solar...
, as well as olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
near Moratalla
Moratalla, Murcia
Moratalla is a small town and the center of a large municipality of the same name in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia in southeastern Spain...
. Murcia is mainly a warm region which has made it very suitable for agriculture. However the precipitation level is low and water supply is a hot subject today since, in addition to the traditional water demand for crops, there is now also a demand of water for the booming tourist developments which take advantage of the mild weather and beaches. Water is supplied by the Segura River and, ever since the 70's, by the Tajo transvasement, a major civil engineering which, under some environmental and sustainability restraints, brings water from the Tajo into the Segura.
Relief
The region is located in the eastern part of the Cordilleras Béticas mountains and it is influenced by their orography. These mountain ranges are divided as well in the Prebética, Subbética and PenibéticaCordillera Penibética
The Cordillera Penibética mountain range is the most southerly of the Baetic Cordillera; it runs along the south coast of Andalusia, from the province of Cádiz, across the province of Almería, into the Region of Murcia...
mountain ranges (from north to the south).
Moratalla, Murcia
Moratalla is a small town and the center of a large municipality of the same name in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia in southeastern Spain...
, pertaining to the bulk of the same name, was the highest point in the Region of Murcia, with a height of 2,027 meters; but in measurements of the most recent maps of the SNIG (National Service of Geographic Information of Spain), Revolcadores appears with a height of 1,999 m, and there is a mountain, Los Obispos ("The Bishops"), located slightly further north, which is more elevated (2,015 m).
Approximately 27% of the Murcian territory can be described as mountainous, 38% as intramountainous depressions and running valleys, and the remaining 35% as flat lands and plateaux.
Climatology
The Region of Murcia enjoys a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
of semi-arid
Semi-arid
A semi-arid climate or steppe climate describes climatic regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not extremely...
type, with mild winters (an average of 11C in December and January) and warm summers (where the daily maximum regularly exceeds 40°C). The average annual temperature is 18°C.
With little precipitation of about 300 to 350 mm per year, the region has between 120 and 150 days in the year where the sky is totally clear. April and October are the months with the most precipitation, there being frequent heavy downpours in a single day.
The distance to the sea and the relief causes a thermal difference between the coast and the interior, specially in winter, when the temperature rarely descends below 10º on the coast, while in the interior regions the minimum does not usually rise above 6º and the precipitation level is higher (up to 600 mm).
The city of Murcia holds the record temperature of the 20th century in Spain. It reached 46.1° Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 4, 1994. The winter of 2005 was the coldest in a long time, with snow even falling on the Murcian coast. http://www1.laverdad.es/interactivo/imagenes_galerias/nevadacostaene05/imagenes.htm
Rivers
The hydrographic network of the region is made up of the SeguraSegura
Segura is a medium-sized river in southeastern Spain.It starts at Santiago Pontones , passes Calasparra, Cieza, Murcia, Beniaján, Orihuela, Rojales and ends in the Mediterranean Sea near Guardamar del Segura in the province of Alicante...
river and its affluents:
- Mundo (which is born in AlbaceteAlbaceteAlbacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, 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....
), it is the one that contributes to the Segura with the greatest volume. - Alhárabe and its affluent, the Benamor.
- Mula river.
- Guadalentín, Sangonera or Reguerón (which is born upper before LorcaLorcaLorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
).
Due to the water supplying incapacity of the Segura river basin, contributions to this river basin are made, originated from the basin of the Tajo river, by means of the Tajo-Segura trasvasement.
Seas
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
can be found in the region: the Mar Menor
Mar Menor
Mar Menor is a salty lagoon, in the south-east of the autonomous Community of Murcia, in Spain, separated from the Mediterranean sea by La Manga, a sandbar 22km in length and with a variable width from 100 to 1200m....
(Small Sea) lagoon. It is a salt water
Seawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...
lagoon, adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. Its special ecological and natural characteristics make the Mar Menor a unique natural place and the largest saltwater lake in Europe. With a semicircular shape, it is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a sand strip 22 km in length and between 100 and 1200 m wide, known as La Manga del Mar Menor (the Minor Sea's Sandbar). The lagoon has been designated by the United Nations as a Specially Protected Zone of Importance for the Mediterranean. Its coastal perimeter accounts for 73 km of coast in which beaches follow one another with crystal clear shallow water (the maximum depth does not exceed 7m). The lake has an area of 170 square kilometers.
History
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
port on the coast at Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
, which the Romans
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
called Carthago Nova. For the Carthaginian traders, the mountainous territory was merely the Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
hinterland of their seacoast empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
. During The Roman period Murcia did not exist but its actual borders could have been inside of the province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Hispania Carthaginensis
Hispania Carthaginensis
Hispania Carthaginensis was a Roman province segregated from Hispania Tarraconensis in the new division of Hispania by emperor Diocletian in 298.The capital of the new province was settled in Carthago Nova, now Cartagena....
. Under the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
, who introduced the large-scale irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
on which Murcian agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
depends, the province was known as Todmir; it included, according to Idrisi
Idrisi
Idrisi may refer to:*Muhammad al-Idrisi, a 12th century explorer, geographer and writer*Idris I of Libya, a 20th century Libyan king*IDRISI, a GIS computer program*İdrisqışlaq, Azerbaijan*The former ruling family of the Emirate of Asir...
, the 11th century Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
cartographer based in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, the cities of Orihuela
Orihuela
Orihuela is a city and municipality located at the feet of the Sierra de Orihuela mountains in the province of Alicante, Spain. The city of Orihuela had a population of 32,472 inhabitants in the beginning of 2006...
, Lorca
Lorca
Lorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
, Mula and Chinchilla, Spain
Chinchilla
Chinchillas are crepuscular rodents, slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae....
.
The Kingdom of Murcia became independent as a taifa
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
centered on the Moorish city of Murcia after the fall of the Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
Caliphate of Córdoba (11th century). Moorish Taifa of Murcia included Albacete
Albacete
Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, 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....
and part of Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
as well. After the battle of Sagrajas in 1086 the Almoravid dynasty swallowed up the taifas and reunited Islamic Spain. Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...
received the submission of the Moorish king of Murcia in 1243.
In the usual way, the Muslims were evicted from the cities, and Ferdinand's heir Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...
, who benefited from rule over a largely depopulated Murcia, divided the border kingdom in three regions for administrative purposes, entrusted respectively to the concejos de realengo, to the ecclesiastical señores seculares, as a reward for their contributions to the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
and to the Military Orders founded in the 11th century. Alfonso annexed the Taifa of Murcia as King of Murcia and Señorio de Cartagena outright in 1266, and it remained technically a vassal kingdom of Spain until the reforms in the liberal constitution of 1812. Murcia became an autonomous region in 1982.
The Castilian conquest of Murcia was significant because it gave the former access to the Mediterranean for the first time and ended the expansion of the Kingdom of Aragon
Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...
which had been moving south along the coast.
Demography
The Region of Murcia has a population of 1,424,063 inhabitants (INE 2008, National Statistic Institute of SpainInstituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)
The National Institute of Statistics is the official organisation in Spain that collects statistics about demography, economy, and Spanish society. Every 10 years, this organisation conducts a national census. The last census took place in 2001....
), of which almost a third (30.7%) live in the municipality of Murcia. It makes up 3.0% of the Spanish population. In addition, after Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
, Murcia has the highest vegetative growth (5.52 by thousand inhabitants) and also the highest birth rate of the country.
- Birth rate (2004): 13.00 per 1,000
- Mortality rate (2004): 7.48 per 1,000
- Life expectancy (2002):
- Men: 76.01 years
- Women: 82.00 years
In the 1991-2005 period the Murcian population grew at by 26.06%, as opposed to the national average of 11.85%. 12.35% of the inhabitants are of foreign origin, according to the INE 2005 census, which is 4% more than the Spanish average. The most notable groups of immigrants are Ecuadorians (33.71% of the total of foreigners), Moroccans (27.13%), Britons (5.95%), Bolivians (4.57%) and Colombians (3.95%).
Municipalities
The Region of Murcia comprises 46 municipalities, the most populated being Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
, Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
, Lorca
Lorca
Lorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
, and Molina de Segura
Molina de Segura
Molina de Segura is a municipality of Spain in the autonomous community and province of Murcia. It is located 10 km from the provincial capital, Murcia.The town has a line of walls dating to the Almohad era ....
.
Language
The Spanish spoken in the region has its own accent and local words. The MurcianMurcian Spanish
Murciano, more popularly known as panocho, is a variant of the Peninsular Spanish, spoken mainly in autonomous region of Murcia and the adjacent Comarca of Vega Baja del Segura in the province of Alicante on the Mediterranean coast.It is considered a southern dialect of the Spanish language,...
dialect tends to eliminate many syllable-final consonants and to emphasize regional vocabulary, much of which is derived from Aragonese
Aragonese language
Aragonese is a Romance language now spoken in a number of local varieties by between 10,000 and 30,000 people over the valleys of the Aragón River, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in Aragon, Spain...
and old Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
words. The general intonation and some of the distinctive vocabulary of the Spanish dialect spoken in Murcia share several traits with the one spoken in the neighboring province of Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, in Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, and the Vega Baja del Segura
Vega Baja del Segura
Vega Baja del Segura is a comarca in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain.To the North its neighbouring comarcas are the Baix Vinalopó and Vinalopó Mitjà...
in the Alicante province
Alicante (province)
Alicante or Alacant is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Murcia on the southwest, Albacete on the west, Valencia on the north, and the Mediterranean Sea on the east...
.
Valencian
Valencian
Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...
(Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
) is spoken in a small area of the region known as El Carche
Carche
El Carche is a mountainous, sparsely populated area in Region of Murcia, Spain, lying between the municipalities Jumilla and Yecla. The mountains reach an altitude of 1,371 metres at the Pico de la Madama and part of the region has the status of regional park...
.
Tourism
Despite the famous seaside resorts, the overall region keeps being notably unknown even within Spain, so it continues to be relatively unspoilt compared to other more overcrowded areas of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Nevertheless its more than 300 sunny days a year with an average temperature of 21 degrees, and the 250 km of beaches of the so-called Costa CálidaCosta Cálida
The Costa Cálida is the approximately 250 km stretch of Mediterranean coastline of the Spanish province of Murcia. This region has a micro-climate which features comparatively hot mean annual temperatures and a relative degree of aridity .-Geography and location :The Costa Cálida extends from El...
(Warm Coast) have attracted tourists for decades.
The region is also being promoted as a cultural destination with a lot of highlits for visitors: monuments, gastronomy, cultural events, museums, historic remains, festivals etc. The Region of Murcia is one of the Spanish autonomous communities that has grown the most in the last years, and it has conferred it the character of an ideal destination of services, shopping and for the organization of cultural events and conventions.
Major tourist destinations
- MurciaMurcia-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
, the capital city offers the facilities, equipment and services of a large city. It is the seventh largest Spanish city by population with approximately 440,000 inhabitants in 2009. Murcia's sights include a very tall belfry and its famous CathedralCathedral of MurciaThe Cathedral Church of Saint Mary in Murcia , commonly called the Cathedral of Murcia, is a church the city of Murcia, Spain...
. Murcia is also a large University town with more than 30,000 students per year. It has more than 2 million km2 of parks and gardens. Murcia has a rich history tied to the Jewish community. - Cartagena, is the region's second largest city and one of the main Spanish naval bases. Sights include its recently restored Roman Theatre (among its numerous other Roman remains), a number of modernist buildings made for its military fortifications
- LorcaLorcaLorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
is a large medieval town at the foothills of where its famous castle stands. It is the second largest municipality of Spain by area. - Caravaca de la CruzCaravaca de la CruzCaravaca de la Cruz is a town and municipality of southeastern Spain in the province of Murcia, near the left bank of the River Argos, a tributary of the Segura. This city is the capital of the northwest Region of Murcia. It has a population of 26,449 as of 2010...
, or simply Caravaca, is one of the five official Holy cities for Catholicism since it is claimed to house of part of the Lignum Crucis, the Holy Cross.
The castles itinerary
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
and the Muslim Andalusia
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
. They include:
- Castle of JumillaJumillaJumilla is a municipality in southeastern Spain. It is located in the province of Murcia, close to the town of Yecla.-Economy:Jumilla is home to the world's largest photovoltaic solar power farm, with an installed peak power capacity of 20 megawatts. The solar farm consists of 120,000 solar...
, a former Roman fortification turned by the Moors into an AlcazabaAlcazabaAn alcazaba , alcáçova or alcassaba is a Moorish fortification in Spain and Portugal. The word derives from the Arabic word القصبة , a walled-fortification in a city....
. The Castilian Kings and the marquis of Villena gave it its appearance of Gothic royal residence. - Castle of Moratalla, one of the largest castles of the province, built to defend the town of Moratalla from the invaders from the nearby Muslim Kingdom of Granada.
- Castle of MulaMula, SpainMula is a municipality in the center of the autonomous community of Region of Murcia in southeastern Spain, with nearly 17,076 inhabitants . It is best-known for the tamboradas held during the Holy Week...
, of Muslim origin, but as many castles, eventually restored and renovated. - Real Alcázar of Caravaca de la CruzCaravaca de la CruzCaravaca de la Cruz is a town and municipality of southeastern Spain in the province of Murcia, near the left bank of the River Argos, a tributary of the Segura. This city is the capital of the northwest Region of Murcia. It has a population of 26,449 as of 2010...
, where the Holy sanctuary was built, also of Moorish origin, conquered by the Christians and finally home of several noble families. - Concepción Castle, in Cartagena, built on one of the five hills of the old Carthagena, following the Roman taste. Now is home of the Centre for the Interpretation of Cartagena's History.
- The Castle of LorcaLorcaLorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
, also known as the Fortress of the Sun.
Festivities
Cartagena’s and Lorca’s Holy Week’s processionsHoly Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
have been declared of International Tourist Interest, together the Murcia's "Bando de la Huerta" and "Burial of the Sardine", included in its Spring Festivities. Murcia’s Holy Week is also interesting since its processions include Murcian sculptor Francisco Salzillo
Francisco Salzillo
Francisco Salzillo y Alcaraz was a Spanish sculptor. He is the most representative Spanish image-maker of the 18th century and one of greatest of the Baroque. Francisco Salzillo worked exclusively on religious themes, and almost always in polychromed wood...
's statues.
Cartagena’s main festivities are the Carthagineses y Romanos, re-enacting the Punic Wars. They have been declared of National Tourist Interest.
The Águila’s Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
is one of the most important and colourful of Spain.
Beaches and golf
Águilas
Águilas is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almería....
, South West Murcia, near Almería.
One of the major destinations of Murcia is the Mar Menor
Mar Menor
Mar Menor is a salty lagoon, in the south-east of the autonomous Community of Murcia, in Spain, separated from the Mediterranean sea by La Manga, a sandbar 22km in length and with a variable width from 100 to 1200m....
or Small Sea, the largest natural lake of Spain and the largest salty lagoon in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, located by the Mediterranean. It is separated from the mediterranean by a 22 km narrow sandy strip known as La Manga del Mar Menor or simply La Manga. It is probably the most developed and overcrowded holiday area of Murcia, despite being declared a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance
Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance
Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance are sites "of importance for conserving the components of biological diversity in the Mediterranean; contain ecosystems specific to the Mediterranean area or the habitats of endangered species; are of special interest at the scientific,...
(SPAMIs) by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
Mar Menor's muds are famous for its therapeutic properties. Apart from Mar Menor, the Murcian coast from the historical city of Cartagena to the frontier with Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, that corresponds to the Mediterranean Sea alternates wild and unspoilt rocky areas with large sandy beaches, with the towns of Mazarrón
Mazarrón
Mazarrón is a municipality in the autonomous community and province of Murcia, southeastern Spain. The municipality has an area of , and a population of more than 34,351 inhabitants...
and Águilas
Águilas
Águilas is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almería....
standing out.
The tourism needs have forced the area to add all kinds of facilities and services. The construction boom shows the huge amount of estates, including the controversial holiday resorts of Polaris World
Polaris World
Polaris World is a holiday resort company centred around golf courses designed by Nicklaus Design - the golf course design and development firm set up by Jack Nicklaus and his sons...
and second residences, as well as numerous malls.
Thanks to the orography
Orography
Orography is the study of the formation and relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain...
and climate of the region of Murcia, these lands are suitable for golf courses, a fact that has been very controversial because of the need for water, which Murcia lacks being a very dry region.
Other services includes charter nautical, yacht facilities, golf courses, adventure tourism companies, sports federations, tourist routes, guided visits, excursions by sea.
Natural resources and rural tourism
The region of Murcia has 19 areas under different statutes of protection, representing 6% of its territory.- The Sierra Espuña, a protected natural space, has an area of 17,804 ha. It is located on the Baetic Cordillera within the basin of the SeguraSeguraSegura is a medium-sized river in southeastern Spain.It starts at Santiago Pontones , passes Calasparra, Cieza, Murcia, Beniaján, Orihuela, Rojales and ends in the Mediterranean Sea near Guardamar del Segura in the province of Alicante...
. It is also declared as Special Protected Area for the Birds. - Salinas y Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar, a salt marsh by the Mar Menor.
- Cabo Cope-Puntas del Calnegre, between ÁguilasÁguilasÁguilas is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almería....
and LorcaLorcaLorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
, by the Mediterranean sea. The government of Murcia has amended Law 1/2001 of 24 April on Land in the Region of Murcia, declassifying a total of 1600 hectares of the land protected by the Regional Park of Cabo Cope and Puntas de Calnegre. Rares species of animals (Bonelli's eagle, Greek tortoise) and plants are threatened. - Calblanque, Monte de las Cenizas y Peña del Aguila, between La Manga and Cartagena, Calblanque is also one of the top-favourite beaches for the Murcians although it is an undeveloped area.
- Carrascoy y el Valle is a Special Protection AreaSpecial Protection AreaA Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...
(SPA) and Site of Community ImportanceSite of Community ImportanceA Site of Community Importance is defined in the European Commission Habitats Directive as a site which, in the biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to the maintenance or restoration at a favourable conservation status of a natural habitat type or of a...
(SCI). - Sierra de la Pila, also a Special Protection Area (SPA).
- Sierra del Carche, also part of the Baetic Cordillera.
- Cañón de Almadenes
- Humedal del Ajuaque y Rambla Salada, another wetland and also a Special Protection Area (SPA).
- Cerro de Cabezo Gordo, in which there is the archaeological site of Sima de las Palomas, a cave where the second oldest human remains in the Iberian PeninsulaIberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
were found. - La Muela y Cabo Tiñoso
- A group of islands and islets on the Murcian Mediterranean has a high ecological importance.
- Espacios Abiertos e Islas del Mar Menor, in which the five volcanic islands of the Mar Menor are included.
- Sierra de las Moreras
- Cañaverosa
- Sierra de Salinas
- Barrancos de Gebas
- Saladares del Guadalentín
- Cuatro Calas
Inner lands of the region, near the historical towns of Caravaca de la Cruz
Caravaca de la Cruz
Caravaca de la Cruz is a town and municipality of southeastern Spain in the province of Murcia, near the left bank of the River Argos, a tributary of the Segura. This city is the capital of the northwest Region of Murcia. It has a population of 26,449 as of 2010...
and Moratalla, offer a number of rural accommodations and facilities: cottages, farmhouses, country houses and camp sites. Visitors can engage in activities related to excursions, day trips, sports, sightseeing.
Transport
- San Javier–Murcia Airport.
- Alicante AirportAlicante AirportAlicante Airport , , originally named El Altet, is the sixth busiest airport in Spain, and the main airport for the Province of Alicante and the Region of Murcia. The airport is situated southwest of Alicante and east of Elche in the municipality of Elche on Mediterranean coast. Up to eighty...
, although outside Murcia, it is also used to arrive. - CartagenaCartagena, SpainCartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
Seaport.
See also
- List of municipalities in Murcia
- The City of MurciaMurcia-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
, which is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Murcia.
External links
MURCIAREGION.COM - Independent Site of Murcia, Spain. Thousands of pictures and movies- "In Spain, Water Is a New Battleground" article by Elisabeth Rosenthal in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
June 3, 2008 Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia (the Autonomous Community of Murcia)
Portal de la Región de Murcia Digital (Official Cultural Site of Autonomous Community of Murcia) Official Tourism Site of Murcia, Spain La Opinión - local newspaper La Verdad - local newspaper Murcia.com - local newspaper