Alcira

Alcira (officially in Valencian Alzira ) is a city and a Spanish municipality in the province of Valencia, in the Valencian Community. The city is the capital of the region of the Ribera Alta del Júcar, being at the same time the municipality that concentrates the greatest number of inhabitants.

The city had 46 300 inhabitants registered in January 2023. Its residential and linked population amounted to a total of 55 962 people, according to the 2011 INE census.

Its mayor, since June 13, 2015, is Diego Gómez García, of Compromís. He currently forms a government team with the PSPV-PSOE.

Toponymy

The place name derives from Arabic الجزيرة ( al-ǧazīra ), "the island." The full name in Arab), "The island of Júcar" without article ال ( al-) in this case, since Arabic omits it in expressions of possession or belonging.

Geography

Partial view of Alzira

Plaza Mayor de Alzira

The municipality of Alcira is between 14 and 20 m above sea level, among meridians 0 ° 18 ' and 0 ° 29 ' West longitude and parallels 39 ° 4 ' and 39 ° 11 '. Its extension is 111.46 km². The distance with the provincial capital is approximately 44 km.

The municipal term is mostly located on the right bank of the Júcar river and is divided into two sectors, one of 83.24 km² and another of 28.22 km², called La Garrofera, which is separated by The municipal terms of Masalavés, Benimuslem, Alberique and Benimodo, forming an enclave.

The surface of the term is very irregular, being completely flat on the banks of the Júcar River; To the southeast they extend, in parallel to each other, the Sierras de Corbera, La Murta and les Agulles , among which are developed, the valleys of La Murta, La Casella and Living Waters , while the Garrofera sector is injured by the oriental slopes of the Sierra de Tous.

Access road to Alcira (CV-50) from the Mediterranean motorway (A7)

The term of Alcira is crossed by the Júcar River, which are elapsed by the river of the eyes or green river along its left bank and the Barchet ravine on the right. The Júcar was navigable to Alcira through small tonnage vessels until the century XVI .

The climate is of Mediterranean type, with a sharp transition from the summer to the abundant autumn rains, torrential type, which produce frequent floods in October and November. Since the flood produced by the Tous swampy in 1982, with the subsequent construction of the current Tous swamp in 1996, the river flow has been regularized.

Alcira gives name to sheet 770 of the national topographic map.

Barrios y distances

Aerial view of Alcira

In the municipality of Alcira there are also the following population centers:

The following neighborhoods are found in the city:

La Villa (la Vila), Tulell, Alborxí, Avenida and the Arrabal de San Agustín, San Juan (Sant Joan), Alpujarras (Albuixarres), Patron Saints (Sants Patrons), San Judas (Sant Judes), Capuchins (Caputxins), the Rafts (Les Basses), Venice (Venècia) and the Alquerieta.

Neighboring towns

The municipality of Alcira borders the towns of Alberique, Algemesí, Gabarda, Antella, Benifairó de la Valldigna, Benimodo, Benimuslem, Carcagente, Corbera, Favareta, Guadasuar, Llaurí, Masalavés, Poliñá del Júcar, Benicull, Simat de Valldigna, Sumacárcel, Tabernes de Valldigna and Tous, all of them in the province of Valencia.

Accesses

This city is accessed from Valencia via the A-7 motorway and the AP-7 motorway.

History

Alcira Wall

Despite the number of prehistoric sites found, from the Paleolithic (the Xixerá houses and the cova d'Alfons); from the Neolithic (the Cueva de las Arañas and the Cueva de los Gatos); from the Bronze Age (the Assolada mountain and the houses of Montcada); from Roman times (the almijar de San Bernardo and the necropolis on the road to Albalat), the origins are not clear. Historians and scholars have expressed their opinions in different ways. For some the city is the successor to the Iberian Sucro. Others look for their precedents in the Roman villas (Materna, Vilella, Casella, etc...) and point out a concentration of the population in the nucleus of the villa. Finally, there are those who point out that concentration but from the Muslim farmhouses spread throughout the term.

Probably founded by the Arabs during Muslim rule, Alcira was a very important town that came to have its own government. With the Almoravids it was a prominent focus of various rebellions against the Christians and with the Almohad unification attempt it came to declare itself a supporter of them. The town, a completely walled bastion, had a few mosques, bathhouses, mills, etc... The geographical treatise of Al-Zuhví, written around 1147, indicates the existence in Alcira of a great three-arched bridge, the work of old and excellent workmanship, as well as that its inhabitants were wealthy people. Among the Alcireños of the time, the writers Ibn Jafaya, Ibn Amira, Abu Bakr Ibn Sufyan Al-Majzumi, Abu L-Mutarrif Ibn Sufyan Al-Majzumi and Abu Al-Rahaman Ibn Sufyan Al-Majzumi, the physician and philosopher Ibn Tumlus, stand out., the jurists Ben Abil Kasal and Abu Baker, the historian Algapheker abu Abdalla, and the mathematician Ben Rian, among others.

Jaime I de Aragón the Conquistador

Cross Cover, traditionally, where Jaime I died

On December 30, 1242, King Jaime I of Aragon reconquered the city, in a fundamental episode for the conquest of the new Kingdom of Valencia, since Alcira was the only city through which the Júcar river could be crossed, hence his motto Claudo regnum et adaperio (I open and close the Kingdom). The sovereign granted the town an infinity of privileges, among which the one of mere and mixed empire stood out, with jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, over forty-two municipalities, as well as the title of Crown and Fidelísima Villa Real. His rank of royal villa gave him a vote in the Courts of the Kingdom of Valencia.

The connection of the conqueror with the city was great. Jaime I spent long periods of time in Alcira, for which he had a special predilection, in the palace-house that was popularly known as the Royal House or of the King or Casa de la Olivera. A project for the recovery and conservation of the building is currently underway. His second wife, Violante de Hungría, founded the Convent of Santa María de Montpellier in Alcira, in memory of the king's mother, which was donated to the Cistercian Order in 1274 and which disappeared after the confiscation of 1820. It was in Alcira where, In 1276, the monarch abdicated in favor of his sons Pedro III the Great, who inherited the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia, and Jaime II, who inherited the Kingdom of Majorca. At the moment of his death, as he had arranged, Don Jaime was shrouded in the habits of the Cistercian, an order to which Saint Bernardo de Alcira, patron saint of the town, belonged. The episode of the king's death is controversial. According to the chronicles, once he had abdicated in Alcira, he died on the way to Valencia. However, others, based on the Chronicle of Ramón Muntaner, point to the royal residence of Alcira as the place of his death, after which he was transferred already dead to the capital of the kingdom and later to the Poblet monastery where he was definitively buried.

Alfonso I, in 1286, granted it the power to hold fairs. The town took an active part in the La Unión war, participated in the Courts of the Kingdom and played a prominent role in the Caspe Compromise.

The Hieronymites had a convent in the city (Monasterio de Santa María de la Murta, 1401), the Augustinians (Santa Lucía, 1536), whose convent enjoyed the protection of Queen Margaret of Austria, the Franciscans (Santa Bárbara, 1539), the Trinitarians (San Bernardo, 1558), the Capuchins (La Encarnación, 1614), etc. Of all of them, the Monastery of La Murta was the most prominent monastery, since it had had the protection of important aristocratic families such as the Serra, the Vich or the Vilaragut since its foundation, as well as important figures of the high clergy such as Cardinal Cisneros. or the patriarch San Juan de Ribera, and royalty, after the visit and stay in the monastery, in 1586, of King Felipe II, and his children, Prince Felipe (future Felipe III) and the infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia (future Governor of the Netherlands).

The 16th and XVII represented a recess in the political and economic order. Between 1460 and 1511 the population of Alcira was reduced from 476 households to only 382. The following were segregated from the town: Carcagente, Guadasuar and Algemesí, and it suffered the effects of the expulsion of the Moors (1609).

In the War of Succession, Alcira declared herself in favor of Archduke Carlos, for which reason Felipe V, after winning the war, abolished all his privileges and privileges. During the war against the French, in 1811 the Defense Board of the province moved to Alcira. In 1814 the city received a visit from King Ferdinand VII.

In 1820 the judicial district of Alcira was created. In 1853 the railway arrived in the town. On August 8, 1876, Alfonso XII, in consideration of the importance that the town had achieved due to the increase in population and the development of its industry and commerce, granted it the title of city. In 1885, Alcira lent herself to the famous doctor Jaume Ferrán Clua so that he could experiment with the anti-cholera vaccine.

Plaques commemorating the visits of Pope John Paul II and the kings of Spain Juan Carlos I and Sofia to the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Lluch

The dictator Francisco Franco visited the city in 1939, after the Spanish Civil War had ended, making a second visit in 1947. The development of the industry as well as the cultivation and trade of oranges, which became an important source of foreign currency for the national economy, also motivated the visit to the city in 1961 by Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón, future King of Spain. In this context, the VII Centenary of the Acequia Real del Júcar was celebrated in 1964, baptized by Jaime I in 1264 with the name Acequia Real de Alcira; Acts that were presided over by Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, Duchess of Alba, who paid homage to the city at the Town Hall with a commemorative plaque installed on a wall in the Noble room. In 1970, Prince Juan Carlos made another visit to the city, this time accompanied by Princess Sofía. They were taken to the Huerto de Rosales to see the orange groves.

The Júcar, the scourge of the population, has caused damage to the city throughout its history. The floods of 1320, 1473, 1779, 1864, 1916, 1982 and 1987, among others, are a good example, but it is on October 20, 1982 when one of the most tragic pages in the history of Alcira took place: the Pantanada de all. The Tous dam burst and the entire region remained flooded under the waters of the Júcar, in an episode that is not yet sufficiently clarified at the moment. During those days, King Juan Carlos I and King Sofia and Pope John Paul II visited the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lluch, traveling by helicopter to the muntanyeta esplanade del Salvador, where the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church officiated a Mass.

Currently the city is marked by a character tending to decentralization with respect to the capital, Valencia. This has allowed the necessary services (financial, tax, legal, commercial, health and educational) to provide coverage to the residents of Alcirès and other inhabitants of the surrounding towns and neighboring regions.

Demographics

In the year 2023, there were 46,300 people registered in the municipal area. According to data from the Ministry of Finance and the Provincial Council of 2016, the maximum seasonal population that Alzira supports is an average of 62,094 people per day.

The great expansion that the municipalities of Alcira, Algemesí and Carcagente have experienced since the middle of the XX century, has created a urban area of almost 100,000 inhabitants, since its urban centers have been practically united.

Alcira population between 1857 and 2018

Source: Spanish National Statistical Institute. The table includes the entire statistical series. Graphical elaboration by Wikipedia.

Administration and politics

Mayors since the 1979 elections

Period	Name	Party
1979-1983	Francisco José Blasco Castany	PSPV-PSOE
1983-1987	Francisco José Blasco Castany	PSPV-PSOE
1987-1991	Francisco José Blasco Castany	PSPV-PSOE
1991-1995	Francisco José Blasco Castany Pedro Grande Diago	PSPV-PSOE (Censorship 1992)
1995-1999	Alfredo Javier Garés Núñez	P UV
1999-2003	Pedro Grande Diago	PSPV-PSOE
2003-2007	Elena María Bastidas Bono	P
2007-2011	Elena María Bastidas Bono	P
2011-2015	Elena María Bastidas Bono	P
2015-2019	Diego Gómez García	Commitments
2019-2023	Diego Gómez García	Commitments
2023-	n/d	n/d

Regional capital

Hospital de La Ribera

Due to its role as regional capital and judicial district, the service sector plays a fundamental role in Alcira. As a result, the municipality houses the offices of the main public services, administrations and concessions such as: Treasury Delegation, Social Security, Property Registry, PROP, DGT headquarters, courts, Official School of Languages, ITV, fire station and Commonwealth of La Ribera.

In addition, the city is the headquarters of the La Ribera Health Department, with the hospital of the same name being the reference center for La Ribera Alta and La Ribera Baja del Júcar, serving 250,000 inhabitants.

Economy

Central de Grefusa

Regarding the primary sector, the main rainfed crops are: carob, vines, olives, almonds, etc. Irrigation is fed by the waters of the Real Acequia del Júcar. The most important crop is the orange tree. Rice cultivation has declined in recent years. The rest of the garden crops are: wheat, corn, tomato, cotton, potatoes, etc. Land ownership is widely distributed; 70 percent of the surface is cultivated directly by its owners. Small plots predominate.

Livestock is mainly dedicated to production animals; the breeding of pigs for the manufacture of sausages stands out; Poultry farming is equally important, with an important industrial factory. There is also an important subsidiary industrial sector of orange cultivation.

Edicions Bromera

In terms of industry and commerce, the great economic development of the city took place in the second half of the XX century , where until then agricultural Alcira, dedicated mainly to the cultivation and trade of oranges, gave way to an eminently industrial and service city. The businessman Luis Suñer, creator of a large group of companies and founder of brands as popular at the time as Avidesa ice cream, played a relevant role at this stage.

Finally, in the XXI century, Alcira established itself as an important business center. The city presents a diversified industrial fabric, being able to find factories of ice cream, feed, flour, nuts and snacks, cardboard, dyes, spinning, publishing houses, furniture, construction elements, packaging, transport companies, etc.

The city is also the geographical center of the Valencian Community, which has prompted the creation of new mixed activity business parks. It should be noted that, in the last decade, Alcira has positioned itself as a logistics center with great potential capable of satisfying the needs of the southern crown of Valencia.

Regarding commercial activity, the center of Alcira has traditionally been a regional meeting point for shopping, presenting a varied and specialized offer. However, in recent years large stores have appeared in the outskirts of the city or in adjacent municipal areas, expanding the commercial mix of its area of influence, which is estimated to have between 250,000 and 300,000 inhabitants.

Alcira is considered the economic engine of its area of influence, monopolizing most of the leisure and regional service offer, generating a large number of direct and indirect jobs.

Monuments and places of interest

Alcira is located within the itinerary of the Route of the Monasteries of Valencia, a monumental and cultural route, inaugurated in 2008, which runs through the town, an unavoidable visit of which is its historic Monastery of La Murta. Its Fallas and Holy Week have been declared festivals of national tourist interest.

Monastery of the Wall. Centre of pilgrimage of historical characters

Plaça de La Constitució

Despite the serious losses that the city has suffered throughout history in its cultural heritage, Alcira still offers an interesting wealth of monuments, located mainly in the Villa or historic center, now pedestrianized, well of cultural interest (BIC) in constant recovery, in which the main urban temple, the archpriest of Santa Catalina and the Town Hall (national monument) stand out. Also of interest are the Gothic Covered Cross and the walled belt.

• The Covered Cross.

The legend that Jaime I the Conqueror died in the place where the cross was located, while he was transferred to Valencia, founded for some his construction in honor of the monarch. Nevertheless the historians place their death in the residence that the king had in Alcira, considering the cross as a symbol of the conquest of the city for Christian-Western civilization.

• La Cueva or Torre de las Maravillas is located in the departure of Vilella de Alcira, near the border with the municipality of Carcagente. This cave has the peculiarity of owning a square tower erected in 1912 to close and control its access.
• The Monastery of Saint Lucia, also known as Convent de les Llúcies, is a Renaissance conventual set, erected during the centuryXVI in Alcira, from which the cloister and the nave and the facade of the church subsist.
• City Council.

Consistorial House of Alcira

Building of the centuryXVI. It occupies a Gothic-renaissance palace, typical of the Valencian mansions, built between 1547 and 1603. In 1930 it was declared a National Monument. The Municipal Archive of Alcira, guarded in this Consistorial House, contains some of the most valuable documentary legacy of the Valencian Community. Among the documentation it saves highlights the series of scrolls of the Royal Chancellery, the collection of the Llibres dels Actes dels Jurats e Concellthe repertoire of Notarian Protocols, the Padrones of the Royal Acequia of Jucar, and the most valuable, the miniature codex of the centuryXIV Aureum Opus Privilegiorum Regni Valentiewhich contains a registration of privileges. It is dated in 1380, although in the centuries XV and XVI He was added more privileges.

• Casalicios del Puente de San Bernardo.

Old Bridge of Saint Augustine, centuryXIII. In 1717 the Casalicians were installed with the patrons, to be called the bridge of San Bernardo or Pont de Sant Bernat. In 1967, the elimination of the arm of the Jucar River crossing the city led to the disappearance of the same and the urbanization of the current avenue of the Santos Patronos or Sants Patronsrespecting the monument in the middle of this path.

Church of Saint Catherine

• Church of Saint Catherine.

This building dates from the centuryXIII. Built on the larger mosque its present architecture is baroque style. His cover was made by Gaspar Díez in 1692. It is the headquarters of the Arciprestazgo de Alcira, called San Bernardo Mártir (Sant Bernat Màrtir), within the archdiocese of Valencia.

• Circle Alcireño.

Popularly The Gallera for having been originally a gallistic circle and having celebrated in it cockfights, is a neoclassical building built in the second half of the centuryXIX by the pujante local landlord bourgeoisie. From its spacious lobby you can access by a large staircase to the first floor, where stands out the Arabic hall, of great ornamental wealth. On the ground floor stands out the Valencian salon, richly decorated with woods and ceramics.

• Grand Theatre.

Modernist building of interesting interior, built in 1921. It has been affected throughout its history by several fires, the last occurred in January 2004. The most serious of all was that of 1987, which affected the entire theatre.

Casa Cucó-Gisbert de Alzamora in the Villa de Alcira

• The Pías Schools.

Today House of Culture. Impossible building of the centuryXIX, which welcomed the Scottish parents until the 1940sXX.. It houses an exhibition hall, library, youth information center, workshops, and the municipal broadcaster Alzira Ràdio.

• Escudos de la calle San Roque de Alcira. The shields of San Roque Street are two nobiliary shields located in the buildings of the numbers 8 and 13 of that street.
• The Villa and the Alcira Wall.

La Vila is the oldest neighborhood and corresponds to the old villa, completely surrounded by the wall until the second half of the centuryXX.. It is irregular plot with narrow streets and small squares. In it established their residence the knights and aristocrats linked to Jaime I of Aragón after the Reconquista, such as the Serra, Santiago, García de Aguilar, Venrell and others, who ordered to build their palaces next to the royal residence of the monarch. At present they are preserved La Vila the Arciprestal Santa Catalina, the Consistorial House, and several historical houses and palaces like the Casa del Empeño (Museum of the City), the house Tena, the palace of Cassassús or the house Cucó-Gisbert de Alzamora, as well as various archaeological remains. The walled circuit of the ancient Al-Yazira or Algezira (the island) was built between the centuries IX and X and surrounded the urban nucleus, surrounded in turn by the Jucar, whose step controlled strategically. Throughout its history, Alcira's wall suffered the attacks of El Cid and those of the Reconquista, as well as various destructions produced by the revolts of the Moors and later during the Germanic war.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Lluch, added to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major of Rome

• Royal Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Lluch.

Temple added to the Basilica of Saint Mary the Greater of Rome since 2008, is located on the top of a mound integrated in the urban fabric of the city, called Montañeta del Salvadorin the place he occupied Hermitage of the Salvador. It was raised from 1927, funded by civic collections, ending its total construction with the bell tower in 1966. It houses the image of the Patrona of the city, Santa María del Lluch, work of the sculptor Antonio Ballester Vilaseca.

• Monastery of La Murta.

In the heart of the valley of the Wall the remains of the historical cenob of Jerome persist, in its empory time of culture and spirituality and center of pilgrimage of kings, nobles and religious leaders. To highlight the tower of pigeons and the bridge of access to the ruined church. Also stand out in the ensemble the Romantic House and Garden of the CenturyXIX.

• Route of the Monasteries of Valencia, The Pass of the Poor. Alcira is located within the itinerary of this monumental and cultural route inaugurated in 2008, which runs through the town, an inescapable visit of which, is its historic Monastery of La Murta.
• The Palacio de Casassús is a manor palace structured on three floors. On its ground floor are the Gothic arches and on the façade its nobility shield, which is well of cultural interest (number R-I-51-0011340)
• Casa del Empeño de Alcira, headquarters of the Municipal Museum of Alcira.
• Industrial Fireplace The Constructora.
• Iron bridge over the Jucar between Alcira and Carcagente.
• We can add, that in the course of history, much of the monumentality of the town has been lost. Many structures were eliminated or replaced by elements with practical pretensions but without any artistic value, such as the case of the St.Augustine Bridge (Romanic style), not to mention the erratic performance that was carried out with the construction of the Avenue of the Saint Patrons that destroyed the St. Bernat Bridge, which was attempted to correct by placing the lodges in their original place but which in no way recovers what could have been and been. Finally, we must talk about the inactivity of the few sources in the municipality, and the aberrant artistic figures that have dedicated themselves to situating in the glorietas of the city that offer no style.

Parks, gardens and natural sites

Park l'Alquenència

Park Dels Furs

The municipality of Alcira has a great diversity of urban parks and green spaces, with the circumstance of including in the urban framework a portion of scrubland, called Muntanyeta del Salvador that serves as a large city park.

The most outstanding urban parks are:

• The park The Highness: is the largest park, located in the district Venice. It contains several walks and squares, with plenty of pine and palm trees and grass areas. It contains a monument to the Jucar River. It is usual in it the practice of the petanca game.
• The park Pere Crespí It is a smaller park than the previous one whose name corresponds to this Alzireño who was the largest gardener of King Alfonso the Magnanimous, natural of Alcira.
• Park Saudi Arabia: surrounds the stretch of the Alcira wall located on Luis Suñer Avenue. The name of the park is a sign of thanks to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the assistance provided during the severe floods that the city suffered in 1982. It was opened on 26 September 1986.
• Park Els Furs: large green area located next to the banks of the river Jucar. The park has space for pets, a river promenade, children's play area, as well as a fairground to host different leisure and leisure activities.

La Muntanyeta del Salvador

• La Muntanyeta del Salvador: it is a hill, covered with Mediterranean forest on its slopes, which has been completely surrounded by the urban grove. At its top is the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Lluch, on whose base is opened a large explanade with games areas, cafeteria, parking etc. It is a large natural balcony from which Alcira is seen and much of its region.

Outside the town center we find interesting landscapes and natural landscapes. In the plain, the country houses, farmhouses and orange orchards stand out, with one of the largest surfaces in Spain dedicated to its cultivation, immortalized by Sorolla in his work Valencia, within the set Vision of Spain for the Hispanic Society of America in New York.

In the mountains of Corbera, La Murta and Las Agujas or Les Agulles are the valleys of La Murta with its monastery, previously mentioned, the valley of La Casella and its deer reserve and the valley of Aguas Vivas, which is home to the monastery of Santa María de Aguas Vivas. The heights of these mountains are Tallat Roig (394 m), Cruz del Cardenal (543 m), Orelles d'Ase (592 m) and the Ratlla (625 m).

Alcira and her surroundings also inspired Vicente Blasco Ibáñez in the creation of his novel Entre naranjos.

Culture

Ciutat d'Alzira literary awards

Valencia (Series) Vision of Spain) by Joaquín Sorolla (Hispanic Society of America). Work inspired by Alcira

The Literary Awards City of Alcira ( Premis Literaris Ciutat D ' Alzira ) constitute the most important literary citation of the Valencian Community. The contest consists of a series of acts and days, conferences and readings that culminates in an annual gala of awards with assistance from the literary, scientific and political world. They stand out for the support and recognition of titles written in the Valencian language. In the celebration and promotion of them plays an important role, in addition to the City Council, the Alcireña Edicion Bromera publishing house, the Bancaja Financial Entity, the Aguas de Valencia Foundation, the University of Valencia, the National University of Distance Education (UNED), the Ribera and Valldigna Consortium and the Commonwealth of the Ribera.

The awards to award are: The Ciudad de Alcira novel prize , the European Prize for Scientific Dissemination General Study , the Bancaja Foundation Prize for Youth Narrative , the Prize for Essay Commonwealth of the Ribera Alta and the Ibn Jafaya Poetry Prize .

In addition to the economic endowment, the winners receive a sculpture designed by Manuel Boix.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony was replaced by an online audiovisual program.

Parties

Judgement Plaça Major

Alcira is a town with a large number of festive activities, among which the Fallas, Holy Week, the Sant Bernat festivities and, to a lesser degree, the Virgen del Lluch festivities, the pilgrimage of Nuestra Señora de la Murta:

• The Alcira Falls16-19 March.

Mascletà of the Alcira Falls in the Kingdom Square

These parties have been declared as a national holiday of tourist interest. They are celebrated in Alcira with great intensity and develop great cultural activity throughout the year. The mascletá, the costume cavalcade, the masculine character stands out. Crida from the main balcony of the City Hall, the awards, the offering of flowers to Our Lady of the Lluch and the parade of Pasodobles. There is a Museum of the Festival, where you can admire works by artists such as Julio Monterrubio, Bernardo Estela, etc.

• La Holy Week of Alcira.

These festivals have also been declared as national tourist interest parties. Original from the centuryXVI, the Holy Week brings together more than 7000 brothers in eighteen brothers and sisters, with twenty-five Steps processionals that maintain a mostly uniform and post-war aesthetic. The dimension of the celebrations transcends beyond the city, awakening great expectation the assembly of dose representing the biblical scenes and the general procession of the holy burial, which chronologically represents the events of the passion of Christ, to which more than forty thousand people attend each year.

Monument to San Bernardo de Alcira, on the avenue Santos Patronos

• La Romería a la Murta.

On the first Sunday of June, a pilgrimage to the Valley of the Wall is held to visit the Monastery of Our Lady of the Wall. Many rosemaries accompany Our Lady of the Wall on foot in her transfer from the City Hall to the Valley. There is a Mass and an offering of flowers to the Virgin. At the end of the same, blessed bread is given and a giant paella is served. In the afternoon there are concerts, dances, corals...

• The Patron Festivals of San Bernardo de Alcira (martyr).

They take place in the month of July (the day 23). They commemorate the martyrdom of the patron saints of the city, Saint Bernard and his sisters Mary and Grace. Of all the artistic, cultural and sporting activities that take place, the musical festivals of the field of Venice, with the performance of fashionable musical groups, stand out for their popularity. On their religious side they live with the solemnity of a novenario in honor of the patrons and the general procession of the 23rd day.

• The Feasts of Our Lady of the Lluch.

In September, Alcira honors her employer, Our Lady of the Lluch. The festivals, with cultural and religious events, reach the maximum splendor on the last Sunday of September, where the image is represented with traditional dances. The Virgin, having been in the city for a few days, is returned in procession to her Sanctuary.

• Moros and Christians.

Since 2001, every first weekend of October, in the historic centre of Vila, the festival of Moros and Cristianos has been held.

• San Silvestre.

Conmemoration of the Reconquest (December 30). From the Town Hall, the municipal authorities preside over a civic procession that accompanies the flag of the city, after going down the main balcony, to the Plaza de San Judas, where the monument to Jaime I de Aragón (of the artist Enrique Casterá) is located, and an offering of a laurel crown is made. After a few parliaments, the return to the City Hall is undertaken, where an extraordinary plenary of the imposition of the gold badges with the city's shield is celebrated, in its various forms. During the course of the tour, a solemn Te Deum is sung, itinerant every year by the archpriest and other parishes of the city, by order of antiquity.

• The Fiestas de barrios.

In June the feasts of St. Pere, St. Bernabéu and Christ of the l'Alborxí; in July the San Cristobal; in August the Virgin of Angels, streets Paz and Olivo, Muntanyeta del Salvador, Vilella, Xavegó, La Graella, Racó de les Vinyes, urbanization San Bernardo, San Roque, Horno de Carrascosa, Colonia Santa Marina, uphills of Bulgaria, Tisneres-Xixerà, Vallverd-La Coma and Arrabal de Santa María (Les Barraques).

Media

Radio, television and radio Alcira had a radio station with regional and even provincial reach and outside these limits while it broadcast on Onda Media between 1934 and 1990. At the end of the 1970s, the industrialist Luis Suñer Sanchis founded Radio Color, which was later acquired by the Eleven and which is currently called Onda Cero La Ribera. In 1995, the municipal radio station Alzira Ràdio was founded as a result of the radio workshop that was held at the Casa de la Cultura.

Since 1986 it has had a regional television channel and currently a DTT: Ribera Televisió. This regional private medium, created and directed by Rafael Guardiola Codes, covers the gap left by national and regional television, betting on reaching the homes of the Ribera del Júcar and other nearby regions including Valencia and l'Horta, images of current affairs in the region and disseminate their own culture and language, traditions, festivals, customs and history. He has received different recognitions in the Valencian Community and outside of it.

Press written

Alcira also has branches of the newspapers Levante-EMV and Las Provincias, both regional and with regional editions. As for the local written press, there are the free magazines Viure Alzira (published by the City Council), and El Alfil (founded in 1991) that address current affairs in the city. Al Cor was founded in 2001, which disappeared in 2010, converting its format to digital. In 2008 the magazine Festalzira was created, directed by local photographer Miguel Ángel Gil, which tries to bring festive, cultural and social news closer to the people of Alzira. La veu de la Ribera and RiberaMagazine are regional in scope.

Internet Press

Lastly, there are also several digital newspapers, El Seis Doble, Riberaexpress, Tus Noticias de la Ribera, website of the magazine Festalzira, Tot Alzira and Alziralmundo, with current news and personalities from the city.

Services

Transportation

Railway

It has a railway station (RENFE) on the Valencia-Almansa line, and integrated into the Valencia C2 commuter line.

Bus

Alcira can be accessed by intercity bus where many lines of different companies come together that connect the city with nearby towns and with the city of Valencia. The companies are Autobuses Buñol SL, Autocares Lozano SL, Autobuses Sueca SL, Autocares Sarrión SL, among others. The lines are the following:

For trips within the city, Alcira has a municipally owned urban bus service (AlziBús) whose lines connect all the neighborhoods with the railway station, La Ribera hospital and health centers, shopping centers, educational centers, etc.

Education

Colegio La Purísima

University Campus of La Ribera

Centro de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir

Education in Alcira depends on the Ministry of Education of the Generalitat, head of the competencies in education in the field of the Valencian Community.

• Alboric Public College. Av. Luis Suñer, 27.
• Ausiàs March Public College. Av. Vincent Vidal, 16.
• Colegio Público Federico García Sanchiz. av. of the park, sn.
• Colegio Público Federico García Lorca. José M. LLopico, 12.
• Colegio Público Luis Vives. Canon Bernardo Blasco Carreres, s/n.
• Colegio Público Pintor Teodoro Andreu. Masalavés, s/n.
• Colegio Público Santa María de Aguas Vivas. Miracles Veres Marin, 4.
• Colegio Público Tirant lo Blanc. Red Cross, s/n.
• Colegio Público Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Master Moscardó, 34.
• Colegio La Purísima. Tulell, s/n.
• Junior Academy. Blasco, 17.
• Colegio Sagrada Familia, Sagrada Familia 18.
• Colegio Santos Patronos. Perez Galdós, 52.
• British College of Alcira. British School of Alzira. Valle de Aguas Vivas.
• Gloria Fuertes College. Ruglo, s/n.

Secondary education

• José María Parra Secondary Education Institute. Dr. Francisco Bono, 3.
• Public Integrated Training Centre Luis Suñer Sanchis. Av. de los Deportes, 27
• Rey Don Jaime Secondary Education Institute. Gandy Road, s/n.
• Tulell Secondary Education Institute officially No. 4. C/ in project No. 5 pt. Tulell
• Enric Valor Adult Training Center. Algemesi Round, 2
• Colegio La Purísima (Franciscanas). Tulell, s/n.
• Colegio Sagrada Familia - Instituto Secular Obreras de la Cruz. Sagrada Familia 18
• British College of Alcira. British School of Alcira. Valle de Aguas Vivas.

University education

• Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir. Campus of the Ribera, Alcira.
• National University of Distance Education. Calle Gandía, No. 16. Alcira.

Another teaching

• Colegio de Educación especial Carmen Picó. Av. de los Deportes.
• Ciutat de Alzira Futbol Base

WOW

Alcira organizes the university entrance exams (PAU), serving various neighboring towns and La Ribera Baja del Júcar.

Twinned cities

• Corbeil-Essonnes (France)
• Onda (Spain)
• Carlet (Spain)

Notable people