Alcoutim () is a town and 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 ...

in southeastern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

near the

Portugal–Spain border The Portugal–Spain border, also referred to as "The Stripe" ( es, La Raya, pt, A Raia, gl, A Raia, mwl, La Raia), is one of the oldest borders in the world. The current demarcation is almost identical to that defined in 1297 by the Treaty o ...

. The population in 2011 was 2,917, in an area of 575.36 km². It is the least densely populated municipality in Portugal. The municipality is limited on the north by Mértola Municipality, on the east by

Huelva Province Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is ...

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 ...

, on the southeast by Castro Marim Municipality, on the southwest by

Tavira Municipality Tavira () is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the river Guadiana into Spain. The Gilão ...

and on the west by

Loulé Municipality Loulé () is a city and municipality in the region of Algarve, district of Faro, Portugal. In 2011, the population of the entire municipality was 70,622 inhabitants, in an area of approximately . The municipality has two principal cities: Loulé ...

and

Almodôvar Municipality Almodôvar ( or ; ar, المدوّر, al-Mudawwar, the Round one) is a town and a municipality in the District of Beja, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 7,449, in an area of 777.88 km2. The present Mayor is António Bota, a member of th ...

. The administrative center is the town of Alcoutim, located at the extreme eastern part of the municipality on the Spanish frontier, just across the

Guadiana River The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the e ...

from the Spanish town of Sanlúcar de Guadiana in Huelva Province. The Moorish Alcoutim Castle, located in the municipality, dates from the 14th century.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Alcoutim - a wreath of ''zambujeiro'' (wild olive tree) and the slogan ''Aleo'' - is derived from the decorative motif of the tomb of

Pedro de Menezes, 1st Count of Vila Real Pedro de Menezes Portocarrero, (1370 – Ceuta, September 22, 1437) was a 15th-century Portuguese nobleman and military figure. Pedro de Menezes (sometimes modernized as 'de Meneses') was the 2nd Count of Viana do Alentejo, 1st. Count of Vila ...

, found in the Igreja da Graça in Santarém. 'Aleu' or 'aleo' is an old Portuguese term for a 'gaming stick' (as used in

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

shuffleboard Shuffleboard (more precisely deck shuffleboard, and also known as floor shuffleboard) is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a ma ...

). It refers to a famous episode concerning Pedro de Menezes from shortly after the Conquest of Ceuta on September 2, 1415 (commemorated on Ceuta Day). Pedro de Menezes was engaged in an outdoor game in the king's presence when a messenger arrived reporting an imminent Moroccan attack on Portuguese-held

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

. Menezes is said to have raised his gaming stick (''aleo'') and told the king that "with that stick alone" he could defend Ceuta from all the power of Morocco. Pedro's descendants were later made Counts of Alcoutim. Similar design can be seen on the coat of arms of

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality cover ...

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 4 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Alcoutim e Pereiro * Giões * Martim Longo * Vaqueiros

Climate

Alcoutim has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in 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 ...

''Csa''), due to its location in the

basin it has a climate that very much resembles that of relatively nearby

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. With an average July high of around it is one of the hottest places in Portugal and Europe during the summer months.

References

External links

*
Official website
(in Portuguese) {{Authority control Populated places in Faro District Municipalities of the Algarve Municipalities of Faro District