Yecla de Yeltes

Yecla de Yeltes municipality
Yecla de Yeltes - Yecla la Vieja mountain fortress
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and Leon
Province :	Salamanca
Comarca :	Tierra de Vitigudino
Coordinates	40 ° 59 ′  N , 6 ° 26 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 59 ′  N , 6 ° 26 ′  W
Height :	725  msnm
Area :	57.19 km²
Residents :	235 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	4.11 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	37219
Municipality number  ( INE ):	37377
administration
Website :	Yecla de Yeltes

Yecla de Yeltes is a western Spanish city and a municipality ( municipio ) with a total of 235 inhabitants (as of January 1 2019) in the province of Salamanca in the western autonomous region of Castile and Leon .

Location and climate

The place Yecla de Yeltes is located near the Portuguese border at an altitude of about 725  m ; the provincial capital Salamanca is just 77 km to the east. The climate in winter is cool, but in summer it is quite warm; Rain (approx. 650 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2018
Residents	1,132	1,062	911	357	244

The continuous decline in population ( rural exodus ) since the middle of the 20th century is mainly due to the mechanization of agriculture and the abandonment of small farms and the associated loss of jobs. The hamlet (pedanía) Gema , which has only about 10 inhabitants, also belongs to the municipality .

economy

The economic life of the municipality of Yecla de Yeltes is largely agrarian - in the past, grain, vines, etc. were planted for self-sufficiency ; Vegetables came from the house gardens. Cattle breeding (in the past mainly sheep and goats, today mostly cattle) was and is still practiced. The small traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds that were formerly resident in the town have disappeared. Today numerous holiday apartments and houses (casas rurales) are rented out.

history

The mountain fortress of Yecla la Vieja dates from the Celtic - Vettonic times ; Evidence from Roman times (mainly grave steles ) can be seen in the museum of the mountain fortress. On the other hand, no finds have survived from the Visigothic and Moorish times. At the end of the 11th century, the area was recaptured ( reconquista ) and repopulated ( repoblación ) by the Christians ; during this time it was controversial between the kingdoms of León and Portugal .

Attractions

Brick with an animal figure

• The Iglesia de San Sebastián is a village church from the 15th century with later changes. It has a two-part bell gable (espadaña) and an imposing south portal (17th century); the vestibule is compared with the nave (nature) slightly increased.
• The Ermita de Santiago is a single-nave building with a gable roof.

Surroundings

• About 1 km south of the village is the Vettonic high fortress Yecla la Vieja from the 5th – 3rd centuries . Century BC In the late Roman period, some petroglyphs (mostly animal figures) were carved into the well-built, mortarless walls . In the museum of the complex there are other stones with rock carvings and a stone boar ( verraco ) .
• In the area of ​​the fortress is the Ermita de la Virgen del Castillo .

Web links

Commons : Yecla de Yeltes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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. ↑ Yecla de Yeltes - climate tables
3. ^ Yecla de Yeltes - population development
4. ↑ Yecla de Yeltes - Church
5. ↑ Yecla de Yeltes - Ermita de Santiago
6. ↑ Yecla de Yeltes - mountain fortress and museum
7. ↑ Yecla de Yeltes - mountain fortress and museum