Ateca is a municipality located in the

province of Zaragoza Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also th ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. At the time of the 2015

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

(

INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional Elec ...

), the municipality had a population of 1,969. The River Jalón is joined by the River Piedra and the River Manubles at Ateca. The town was home to a

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

factory, until it closed down in 2013. Ateca is twinned with

Lézat-sur-Lèze Lézat-sur-Lèze (, literally ''Lézat on Lèze''; Languedocien: ''Lesat'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Geography The Lèze forms part of the commune's southern border, flows north through the commune, then ...

in France. The

Seat Ateca The SEAT Ateca is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) manufactured by Spanish automaker SEAT. The brand's first SUV offering, the Ateca is built on the Volkswagen Group MQB A1 platform and sits in the C-SUV segment, between the Arona and Tarra ...

SUV takes its name from this area.

Location

Ateca is found in the central

Iberian System Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to the fo ...

, southwest of the province at the confluence of the Jalón and Manubles rivers. It is located to 100 km of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, 220 to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and 15 to the southwest of Calatayud. Its concrete location - at 647 masl - is the left bank of the Jalon River, just inside the confluence with the Manubles. In addition to these two rivers, the Monegrillo waters its municipal term.

Climate

Its average temperature throughout the year is 13.5 °C and has an annual rainfall of 380 mm.

Place names

During the Muslim rule of the peninsula the conquerors renamed it with the name from the Arabic عتيقة `Atīqa, which means "ancient". which can give idea of the remote at the time of this settlement.

Demography

Since 1860, when Ateca had a population of 3786 inhabitants, the population of the municipality has been gradually decreasing. Emigration has been accentuated since 1950, leading to an aging population, which, if it was 25 years old on average in 1860, in 1970 it exceeded 36; in this last year, 18% of the population had more than sixty years. However, emigration has slowed in the 21st century. In 2016, Ateca had 1856 inhabitants.

Economy

The commercial and services function is diminished by the proximity of Calatayud, and with the passage of time its area of influence has been losing entity. In the nineteenth century the town counted on stores of cloths, quincalla, canvases and fabrics; in 1842 he was awarded an annual fair. Historically Ateca has always been an important center of

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

, with its peculiar characteristics that distinguished it from the rest of the zone. At present, the main industrial activity is the manufacture of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

. There are two factories: Valor Chocolates, Ancient Chocolates Hueso, and Atienza Chocolates, a smaller family business. The first, founded in 1862, has a national network for the distribution of Huesitos chocolate bars. On July 15, 2013, Mondelēz announced the sale of the factory, along with the Huesito and Tokke brands, to the Spanish company Chocolates Valor, thus avoiding the relocation of the factory planned by the North American company. In addition, in the municipality there is a wood industry, a furniture factory (Sémper Furniture) and a new call center of the GSS Group with more than one hundred posts. Agriculture continues to play an important role in Ateca, since the Vega del Jalon is one of the main fruit-growing areas of the peninsula. We must highlight the production of

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

of excellent quality and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

s, as well as grapes of the different varieties that can be produced in the area according to the regulatory board. The Cooperativa Virgen de la Peana field produces

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

s within the Denominación de Origen Calatayud (DO), mainly obtained from the variety of

Grenache Grenache () or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditi ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

of the zone.

Services

The locality counts on municipal

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, fronton and San Blas soccer field of artificial grass where its quarrel the C.D. Ateca who plays for Primera Regional Aragón. There are several educational centers; The EEI La Solana, the CEIP Virgen de la Peana and the

IES The initialism IES may refer to: Government organizations * Indian Economic Service * Indian Education Service, in British India * Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the European Commission * Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S ...

Zaurín, which cover the teaching needs of the municipality of nearby villages. It also has community health center,

community pharmacy A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

, clean point, Guardia Civil

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

, multi-purpose pavilion.

Main sights

* The town is a place of passage of the

Camino del Cid The Way of El Cid is a cultural and tourist route that crosses Spain from the northwest to the southeast, from Castilla to the Mediterranean coast. It follows the history and the legend of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid Campeador, a medieval knight ...

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*

Castle of Alcocer The castle of Alcocer was a fortified Muslim village located in the archaeological site of ''La Mora Encantada'' in the Aragonese municipality of Ateca, Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. History Located on the left bank of the Jalón (rive ...

Torrecid Torrecid was a Christian motte-and-bailey castle where El Cid camped for fifteen weeks around the year 1081 according to legend. The site remained buried for almost a thousand years until recent archaeological excavations found it where '' Cantar ...

Castle of Ateca A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

Church of Santa María (Ateca) Church of Santa María may refer to: * Church of Santa María (Fuenmayor), Spain * Church of Santa María (Cogolludo), Spain * Church of Santa María (Lebeña), Spain * Church of Santa María (Salvatierra), Spain * Church of Santa María (Arcos de ...

Church of San Francisco (Ateca) Church of San Francisco or ''Iglesia de San Francisco'' (most often dedicated to St Francis of Assisi, in Spanish: ''San Francisco de Assisi'') may refer to: Chile * Church of San Francisco, Castro * Iglesia de San Francisco (Chiu Chiu) * Iglesia ...

Clock Tower of Ateca The Clock Tower of Ateca is a structure in Ateca, Spain. A leaning tower of Mudejar style, it was built in 1560 on an ancient medieval tower of the castle of Ateca. The work was carried out by the masters Domingo and the Morisco Ameçot, a resid ...

Gallery

File:20080820-Ateca Iglesia de Santa María y San Francisco.jpg, Church of Santa María File:Ateca3.JPG, Tower of the church File:Ayuntamiento, Ateca, Zaragoza, España, 2013-01-07, DD 01.JPG, Town Hall File:20080820-Ateca.jpg, Ateca 2008 File:Iglesia de Santa María, Ateca, Zaragoza, España, 2013-01-07, DD 02.JPG, view of the town in 2013 File:Church of San Francisco (Ateca).jpeg, Church of San Francisco File:Seat Ateca 2016 in Hertfordshire.jpg, SEAT Ateca

References

External links

Información de la Federación Aragonesa de Montañismo

Patrimonio Cultural de Aragón

Maps

Publicaciones de la Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza

Web del Ayuntamiento de Ateca

Ateca
(

Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa The ''Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa'' (''Great Aragonese Encyclopedia'', commonly abbreviated ''GEA'') is a Spanish language, Aragon-themed, encyclopedia. It was first published in 1981, under the direction of Eloy Fernández Clemente. In 1999, ...

)

Sources

*''The information in this article is based on that in its :es:Ateca, Spanish equivalent''. {{Authority control Populated places in the Province of Zaragoza