Monegros

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location of the Monegros in Aragon and location of the individual municipalities

Los Monegros ( Aragonese Os Monegros ) is a comarca ( administrative unit ) of the autonomous region of Aragon in Spain . It is located in the northern center of the region, partly in the provinces of Saragossa (municipalities Bujaraloz, Farlete, La Almolda, Leciñena, Monegrillo and Perdiguera) and Huesca (the other municipalities). The comarca has 20,633 inhabitants on an area of ​​2,764.9 km². The seat of the district is Sariñena , the largest city among the 31 associated municipalities (Municipios). The name arose from the contraction of the old name "Montes Negros" (German Black Mountain Forest ). This was due to the growth of pine trees in the area before they were felled and the habitat turned into a steppe .

The comarca borders in the north on the Hoya de Huesca , in the east on Somontano de Barbastro , Cinca Medio and Bajo Cinca , in the west on the comarca Saragossa and in the south on Ribera Baja del Ebro and Bajo Aragón-Caspe .

The associated municipalities are in addition Sariñena Albalatillo , Albero Bajo , Alberuela de Tubo , Alcubierre , La Almolda , Almuniente , Barbués , Bujaraloz , Capdesaso , de Castejon Monegros , Castelflorite , Farlete , Grañén , Huerto , Lalueza , Lanaja , Leciñena , Monegrillo , Peñalba , Perdiguera , Poleñino , Robres , Sangarrén , Sena , Senés de Alcubierre , Tardienta , Torralba de Aragón , Torres de Barbués , Valfarta and Villanueva de Sigena .

The landscape of the Sierra de Alcubierre should be emphasized, which runs through the comarca from northwest to southeast. Its highest point is the Monte Oscuro with 822 m. The climate is semi-arid with low rainfall and high temperatures in summer. In the province there are many salt lakes and ponds that make up the Complejo Endorréico Bujaraloz-Sástago, the largest system of drainless lakes in Europe. The salt lakes of Sariñena and Playa deserve special mention. The barren scenery served as the location for Bigas Luna's award-winning feature film Jamón, jamón (1992).

Among the cultural heritage of the province, the (former) monasteries Monasterio de Sigena in Romanesque style and the Cartuja de las Fuentes , a Carthusian monastery from the 18th century, stand out.

In 2007, a controversial large-scale project for the construction of the gigantic amusement and casino park Gran Scala with a planned investment of 17 billion euros was announced in the barren landscape of Los Monegros , which was supported by the government of the Autonomous Region of Aragón and should be implemented from 2009 . Ontiñena east of Saragossa was finally chosen as the building site . In 2010, however, there were clear doubts about the consortium's seriousness. The project finally failed in February 2012, when investors missed the final deadline for acquiring the project land.

literature

  • Huesca. Guía turística del Altoaragón , Editorial Pirineo, Huesca 2003, ISBN 84-87997-68-6

Web links

Commons : Monegros  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A new Las Vegas is to be built in the desert , Die Welt, December 11, 2007; Eldorado in the Spanish steppe , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from January 19, 2008
  2. ^ The big bankruptcy , Süddeutsche Zeitung of May 17, 2010
  3. ↑ Otro Las Vegas que se esfuma , El País of February 25, 2012 (Spanish)