Абанилья: Тарихы мен табиғаты

the wine designation

Abanilla is a Spanish municipality located in the Comarca Oriental (composed by Fortuna and Abanilla) in the Autonomous Community of Murcia. It lies close to the border of the province of Alicante in the Autonomous Community of Valencia.

Abanilla occupies a surface area of 236.6 km2 and is situated 222 metres above sea level. They collected rodent fossils and used dental patterns to identify these to be of the Muroidea subfamily Arvicolinae. Using stratigraphic and sedimentological features in the limestone, the scientists were able to date these fossils to the Early Pleistocene subepoch.

Points of interest in Abanilla include the Old Town (containing the monument to the Corazón de Jesús), the Fuente de Algarrobo (Fountain of the carob tree), the Santuario de Mahoya (Sanctuary of Mahoya), and the Iglesia Parroquial de San José (Parochial Church of St. Joseph). Other sights worth visiting include the source of the River Chícamo and the mountains of Abanilla and Quibas.

Buildings of monumental significance in Abanilla include the La Iglesia de San José (the Church of San José) (18th century), El Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart) in Abanilla Town and Barinas, La Casa de la Encomienda, La Casa Cabrera, La Casa Pintada, El Monumento a las Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos (the Monument to the Festivals of the Moors and Christians) and La casa del francés (the French's house). There is a destroyed medieval enceinte in Abanilla.

Local communities within the Abanilla municipality include the following. Barinas, a rural town located 11 km from Abanilla town, at an elevation of 379 m.
Macisvenda, located 10 km from Abanilla town, a crossroads of the roads to La Algueña, El Cantón, Hondón de los Frailes and Hondón de las Nieves. Other communities include Mahoya, El Cantón, Cañada de la Leña, El Partidor, El Tollé, Los Baños de Fortuna, Casa Cabrera, Casa Pintada, Los Carrillos, La Umbría, Collado de los Gabrieles, Ricabacica, El Algarrobo, Campules, Balonga, Mafraque and El Olivar.

There has been presence of human beings since the Paleolithic. Lithic workplaces corresponding to that era were found in the Southern half of the municipality. This current municipality was also inhabited by people during the first centuries of the Ancient Era (from the 5th century to the 3rd in this case) by Iberians. There is a former settlement in the Northwest end it also occurs in Fortuna and Jumilla and another one in the south. There were also people inhabitance and structures corresponding to the period when Romans ruled the Iberian Peninsula. A Roman road (via romana) traversed Abanilla and there are remains of it. Another site dating back from that era is a former Roman villa. A war with conquer purposes begin in the Iberian Peninsula in 711. Muslim peoples intended to rule the peninsula and conquered large part of it from the starting year to 726. The nobleman Theodemir did an agreement with the governor Abd al Aziz ibn Musa in 713 which name is Treaty of Orihuela. The treaty lead Abd al Aziz to rule territory between Vinalopó and Segura rivers. Consequently, Abanilla had dependency on Orihuela during the Muslim Iberian Peninsula era. A structure that originated in that period is the alcazaba (Arab fortification) of the town. There had been an increase in population in the 18th century and there were over 7,000 inhabitants in that century. New dwellings and buildings were necessarily built beyond the town surrounding wall. Many important buildings of the municipality were constructed during this century.

The mayor of Abanilla was Álvaro Gaona (Partido Independiente) from 1979 to 1983, José Luís Cutillas Rivera (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) from 1983 to 1987, Fernando Molina Parra (Partido Popular) from 1987 to 2015 and Ezequiel Alonso Gaona (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) from 2015.

The population of Abanilla is 6,510 as of 2011. Demographic evolution in Abanilla 1857 2008 1857 1860 1877 1887 1897 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 4.324 4.650 5.689 5.617 6.121 6.634 7.451 7.641 8.179 8.220 8.620 8.594 1970 1981 1991 1996 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 8.675 7.049 5.827 6.130 6.033 6.040 6.239 6.145 6.245 6.333 6.568 6.642

Agriculture has a high weight in the municipality. 28.8% of the territory is used as crops lands. The most wide grown products are the citrus, the almonds and the grapes. Almost 55.2% of the agreements were made for agriculture and fishing activities in 2019 and 30.15% of the workers signed agreements for work as labourers. 29.6% of the agreements were written for posts in the tertiary sector and 9.73% were signed by waiters. 10% were signed by fabrication labourers.

Typical local dishes include home made sausages, paella with rabbit and snails, gachasmigas. In particular, desserts include fruit from the fertile orchards, such as the region's renowned Damascus apricots. Traditional confectionery includes doughnuts, sweetbreads, muffins and typical Christmas sweets. All this is enhanced by the high quality oil pressed in local mills in the ancient custom.

The International Folklore Festival is an important event which takes place in the first week of August. Between 23 April and 9 May, the festivals of Santa Cruz take place, featuring parades of Moors and Christians. In addition, from June through to the middle of September, the various communities celebrate their own individual festivals.