Águilas
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Águilas () is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
and seaport of southeastern
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 ...
, in the province of
Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coastline, otherwise known as the
Costa Cálida The Costa Cálida (, "Warm Coast") is the approximately 250 km stretch of Mediterranean coastline of the Spanish province of Murcia. This region has a micro-climate which features comparatively hot mean annual temperatures (and hence its name ...
, near the border with the
Province of Almería Almería (, also , ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homonymous city of Almería. Almería has an area of . With 701, ...
.


Location and geography

The municipality has a population of 35,000 people (
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 ...
br>2017
, and an area of approximately 253.7 km2, with some 28 km of coastline. It is 105 km southwest of the provincial capital,
Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
. Águilas is built on the landward side of a small peninsula, between two bays—the Puerto Poniente on the south-west, and the Puerto Levante on the north-east. The Puerto de Aguilas, close to the centre of the city, is flanked on its western side by a large rocky hill. On its top sits the Castillo de San Juan de las Águilas castle, built in the 18th century on the site of a much older Carthaginian fortification. King Charles I ordered its refurbishment in 1530 to help protect the coast from Turkish and Algerian incursions. The rock cut from the south side of the castle's hill, and which left it with an almost vertical wall up to the castle on that side, was used to expand Aguilas' port in the early 20th century. The city sits at the end of the Murcia to Aguilas RENFE train service. Águilas has numerous beaches along a 25-kilometre stretch, including Cala de la Cueva de las Palomas, Cala de la Herradura, Playa Amarilla, Playa de Calabardina, Playa de Calacerrada or Playa de Los Cocedores, Playa de Cope, Playa de la Cañada del Negro, Playa de la Casica Verde, Playa de la Cola, Playa de la Colonia, Playa de la Galera, Playa de la Higuerica, Playa de la Rambla Elena, Playa de las Pulgas, Playa de Poniente, Playa del Arroz, Playa del Barranco de la Mar, Playa del Pozo de las Huertas, Playa del Pocico del Animal, Playa del Pozo, Playa El Rafal, Playa del Charco, Playa del Sombrerico, Playa Ensenada de la Fuente, Playa de Calabarrilla, Playa El Hornillo, Playa de Las Delicias, Playa de Levante, Playa del Matalentisco, Playa La Tortuga, Playa de Calarreona, Playa La Carolina and Playa del Pino. Most are small and intimate. Three kilometres northeast of Aguilas is la Isla del Fraile (Monk Island), so named thanks to the similarity of the island's silhouette to a monk's hood. The island has a small rocky beach and a very steep geography. The top of the island gives way to a sudden drop down to the sea on the island's south side. The island was inhabited by the Romans, who used it to export fish byproducts to Rome in amphorae. The remains of a Roman wall are still visible, as are a couple of structures of the early 20th century built by an eccentric British lord who lived on the island and used it for contraband purposes. Adjacent to the island, on the mainland, is la Playa Amarilla, which is the coastal delineation of La Isla del Fraile residential development. This property was initially developed by Dr. Antonio Sáez Jimenez with basic infrastructure, including construction of the first road over the mountain and down to the beach, as well as the planting of thousands of trees; the development was known as Playa Niagara through the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1970s, graves from the Roman era were discovered near the property's coast, facing the island. The flora in the area is very dry, mostly characterized by
shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...
s such as the
Ziziphus lotus ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of about 40 species of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, distributed in the warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of the world. The leaves are alternate, entire, with three promi ...
, named ''Azufaifo'' locally.


Climate

Águilas has a
subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(''BWh'') according to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
with very mild winters and hot summers. Águilas has one of the few truly
desertic A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
climates in Spain. The rainfall is very scarce and albeit not having any wet season, summer is the driest season, being almost rainless. The area around the city is very
arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...
, most of the natural vegetation in the area and nearby hills is characterized by
shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...
s.


History

Known in
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
times as ''Aquilae'' and later ''Aquila'', Águilas belonged to the community of
Bastetania The Bastetani or Bastuli were an ancient Iberian (pre-Roman) people of the Iberian peninsula (the Roman Hispania). They are believed to have spoken the Iberian language. The relationship between the Iberian Bastetani and the Tartessian Mastien ...
and the province of
Tarraconense Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia was the ...
. Various civilisations settled in Águilas, including the
Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Al ...
, the
Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
and the
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
. It formed part of Spanish
Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
until the
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
invasion of the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
. It was known to the Arabs as آقِلَة (Áqila). It belonged to the Córdoban
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
ate and the
Kingdom of Valencia Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
, later coming under Almoravidan control, finally ending up definitively included in the
Kingdom of Murcia After roughly two decades as a protectorate of the Crown of Castile, the territory of the Taifa of Murcia became the Kingdom of Murcia ( es, Reino de Murcia, links=no, a territorial jurisdiction of the Crown of Castile) in the wake of its Conques ...
in the 18th century. During the second half of the 19th century, a vast
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
colony arrived in Aguilas, an important presence that still lingers. Many of the buildings and much of the infrastructure built by the British still stand, such as the British cemetery, the municipal annex, the Hornillo Pier facing the Isle of Fraile, and the old home of an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
merchant located on that island. The minuscule island of Fraile, 100 meters off the coast, was owned by the Scottish banker John Gray, who sold it in 1910 to the British Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Borthwick, who in turn transferred ownership to his son Hugh, with the overt aim of exploiting its quarry. The town as it is now was designed by
King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
in the 18th century. Of particular note is the Castle of Saint John of the Águilas, which was used as a defence tower by various civilisations who settled there throughout history. The city was extended by the construction of its sister port, maritime walks, and its bays of Levante and Poniente. At the end stands the slender figure of the ''Chimenea de la Loma'' (Chimney on the Hill) on the west side of town, a symbol of the mineral boom of the last century. During the
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
, owing to the great investment by the British, a route was laid between Lorca, Baza and Águilas in order to transport
esparto Esparto, halfah grass, or esparto grass is a fiber produced from two species of perennial grasses of north Africa, Spain and Portugal. It is used for crafts, such as cords, basketry, and espadrilles. ''Stipa tenacissima'' and ''Lygeum spartum ...
and other exported minerals, making the town one of the principal ports of the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. It is in this period that the Hornillo Pier, a great architectural work of the time made of iron and concrete, was constructed. In the 19th century it was connected by rail to
Huércal-Overa Huércal-Overa is a town and a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, located near the border with the province of Murcia. The population of Huércal-Overa in 2018 was 18, 816. Huércal-Overa is ...
; later rail connections were to Lorca and Murcia. In front of the Hornillo Pier, on the Isle of Fraile, Scottish aristocrat Hugh Pakenham Borthwick, called Don Hugo by the locals, took up residence in 1912. During World War I Borthwick worked as a British spy and alerted a liaison officer whenever a ship from Germany or from a neutral country left the pier carrying iron ore. Following the alert, the ship in question would be sunk by British submarines. After the war, Borthwick left for England where died in 1950. The
Águilas CF Águilas Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team in Águilas, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 1925 and dissolved in 2010, it played its last season ( 2009–10) in Segunda División B – Group 2, holding home games a ...
played their games in El Rubial Stadium. Águilas CF was replaced in 2010 by
Águilas FC Águilas Fútbol Club is a Spanish football club based in Águilas, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 2010, the club plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, holding home games at Estadio El Rubial, with a 4,000 seat capacity ...
. The stadium seats 4000 spectators and is football's oldest active stadium in Spain after "El Molinón". Its dimensions are 95x65 meters. Today, the economy of the locality depends principally on summertime tourism by middle-class visitors and the intensive agriculture of greenhouse vegetables.


Economy

24.1% of the surface is used as crop lands and the most widely grown products are lettuces, tomatoes, and citrus. 61% of the agreements were written for jobs of the agriculture and fishing sector in 2015 and 60% were hired as labourers.


Culture

Festivals include: *
Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
*Nuestra Señora de los Dolores: Friday before
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, folk festivals and procession with the holy sculpture of Our Lady.


Notable people

*
Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Raba ...
(1926–2001), actor, director and screenwriter *
Juan Soto Ivars Juan Soto Ivars (1985 in Águilas) is a Spanish novelist and columnist. He is the author of the novels ''Ajedrez para un detective novato'' (2013), ''Siberia'' (2012) and ''La conjetura de Perelman'' (2011). He co-edited the short story collectio ...
(born 1985), novelist and columnist


Sports

The local
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team,
Águilas CF Águilas Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team in Águilas, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 1925 and dissolved in 2010, it played its last season ( 2009–10) in Segunda División B – Group 2, holding home games a ...
is one of the oldest teams in Spain.


Twin towns

*
Montcada i Reixac Montcada i Reixac (In Spanish Moncada y Reixach ) (), often referred to as simply Montcada, is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated at the confluence of the Ripoll river and the Besós ...
, Spain


References


External links

*
Águilas Office of Tourism







Aguilas local information
local info & photos from Viva Murcia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilas Municipalities in the Region of Murcia