Alconchel

This article covers the place in Spain; on the Spanish soccer player, see Luis Alberto .

Alconchel municipality
Alconchel - town view with castle (castillo)
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Extremadura
Province :	Badajoz
Comarca :	Llanos de Olivenza
Coordinates	38 ° 31 ′  N , 7 ° 4 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 31 ′  N , 7 ° 4 ′  W
Height :	285  msnm
Area :	294.95 km²
Residents :	1,680 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	5.7 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	06131
Municipality number  ( INE ):	06007
administration
Website :	Alconchel

Alconchel is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 1,680 inhabitants (as of 2019) in the far west of the Spanish province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura .

location

The place Alconchel is a good 45 km (driving distance) south of Badajoz about halfway between the historically and culturally significant small towns of Olivenza and Jerez de los Caballeros at an altitude of about 285 m above sea level. d. M. The Río Táliga flows south past the place. The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the low amounts of precipitation (approx. 565 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2016
Residents	1,761	3,769	4,724	2,106	1,750

The significant population decline in the second half of the 20th century is essentially due to the mechanization of agriculture and the associated loss of jobs.

economy

While the surrounding area was largely agricultural for centuries, traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds settled in the village. Since the 1960s, tourism within Spain has also played a certain role in the economic situation of the place.

history

The presence of larger, only slightly carved stones on the castle hill (Cerro de Miraflores) suggests the existence of a prehistoric fortress that was also used and expanded in Roman and Visigoth times. However, the establishment of the place is only ascribed to the time of the emir Abd ar-Rahman II (ruled 822-852), who resided in Cordoba . During the reign of Alfonso I (r. 1139–1185), the place was conquered in 1166 by the Portuguese under the general Giraldo Sempavor Alférez ; shortly afterwards it fell into the hands of Ferdinand II of León (reigned 1157–1188), who lost it in 1174 to the Almohads , who subsequently expanded the fortress. In the second half of the 13th century, Alconchel fell into the hands of the Castilian king Alfonso X (r. 1252–1282), who shortly afterwards gave the place and its castle to the custody of the Knights Templar . In the 14th and 15th centuries, both fell temporarily to Portugal. Since the middle of the 15th century they were owned by various landlords (señores) , whose rule, however, came to an end during the period of the French occupation of the Iberian Peninsula (1807-1814).

Attractions

• The Castillo de Miraflores is located on a 70 m high hilltop north of the village. In the middle of the partially restored wall belt rises the three-storey keep (torre del homenaje) .
• The center of the place is the large, almost rectangular, Plaza Mayor , where the town hall (ayuntamiento) is located.
• The Nuestra Señora de los Remedios church, built in the first half of the 17th century instead of a previous building, has only a simple bell gable . On both sides of the nave there are chapels, which mostly served as burial chapels for wealthy families. As part of a comprehensive restoration project in the 1970s, the late baroque main altar was smashed.
• The former public prison (cárcel pública) has been converted into a small museum on the city's history after extensive restoration.

Surroundings

• There are several hermit chapels (ermitas) in the vicinity of the village . The most important and interesting is a rock chapel, which was expanded to a small convent (Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Luz) around 1500 and supplied with drinking water via an aqueduct built around the same time .

Personalities

• Pedro de Alconchel , conquistador under Francisco Pizarro during the conquest of the Inca Empire

Web links

Commons : Alconchel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Alconchel, sights etc. - Photos + information (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Alconchel - Map with altitude information
3. ↑ Alconchel - climate tables
4. ^ Alconchel - population development
5. ↑ Alconchel - history etc.
6. ↑ Alconchel - Castle