Aýna

Aýna is a Spanish municipality in the province of Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. It has a population of 582 inhabitants (INE 2022).

It is located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in the last foothills of the Sierra de Alcaraz and is integrated into the current community of services of the Sierra del Segura. It is located about 61 km from the provincial capital, from where it is accessed via CM-3203.

The municipality includes, in addition to the town of Aýna, the towns of La Dehesa, El Jinete, El Griego, Moriscote, La Navazuela, La Noguera, Royo-Odrea, Las Hoyas, La Sarguilla, El Villarejo and El Pozuelo.

Especially remarkable is the route It dawns, it's not little, José Luis Cuerda film, shot part of it in Aýna, where you can visit the places and scenarios in which several scenes were filmed.

Geography

• Altitude: 674 m above sea level
• Extension: 146,81 km2
• Position: 38°33′11′N 2°04′15′′O / 38.55306, -2.07083
• Rios: Río Mundo, Río Segura
• Limits: Bogarra, Peñascosa, Alcadozo, Liétor, Elche de la Sierra and Molinicos.

Prehistory

In its municipal area is the Cueva del Niño, which contains Paleolithic cave paintings inside: deer, goats, abstract elements; the only ones found to date in this area of the province of Albacete. On the exterior walls of the cave, religious pictorial samples of the last hunter-gatherers are preserved, an example of Levantine art (10,000 years before the present). This post-Paleolithic art, based on figuration, is presented in this enclave through several human figures – the great iconographic contribution of this style – in this case male, red. The authors of this art, the epipaleolithic human groups, are the same as those of the Cueva de la Vieja (Alpera), Segovia ravine (Letur) or Solana de las Covachas and Bojadillas (Nerpio), to name the most relevant, proving to share, unequivocally, a unitary set of beliefs.

This cave was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. It is, to date, the only enclave in the entire peninsular Mediterranean sector that combines Paleolithic art and Levantine art in the same station.

History

In more recent times, there is evidence of battles during the Reconquest in the nearby and now disappeared Castillo de la Yedra. The territory is reconquered by the King of Castile Alfonso VIII in 1213.

In a parchment dated in 1565 and signed by King Philip II he obtained his title as an independent villa of the council of Alcaraz, a city to which he was bound by his belonging to his extensive alvez for centuries. The name of the villa was in origin "ayn", which means "source", but with time this name was castellanized, giving rise to Ayna, at first without tilde, as can be contemplated in most contemporary maps and signs of traffic, many of which retain this original toponymous. In 2010, the new EAR spelling stated that the 'y' is not an exception and should also be accentuated when it forms a hiatus, and after five centuries it became tilde.

Demography

It has a population of 582 inhabitants (INE 2022).

Graphic of demographic evolution of Ayna between 1842 and 2021

Population of law according to population censuses of the INE.Population in fact according to population censuses of the INE.

As in the majority of mountain municipalities in the province of Albacete, the population of Aýna experienced a regular increase until the middle of the XX century< /span>, when a very intense phase of emigration began that has caused the municipality to currently have just over half the number of inhabitants than in 1900. At the end of the century XX the decrease slowed down significantly, although there is still no room to speak of stability.

Administration

It belongs to the judicial district of Hellín.

Economy

Aýna's economic base is based on tourism and agriculture.

Tourism

The City Council of Aýna has adopted the tourist slogan Manchega Switzerland. It is dominated by its large amount of vegetation, its picturesque beauty – it is located on the banks of the Mundo River, with imposing rocky cliffs on the surroundings of the town – and the usual presence of snow in winter. The wild fauna also stands out, such as the mountain goat, which is not uncommon to see from the nearby viewpoints, or even on the outskirts of the town, when they come up to drink.

Heritage

In addition to the villa itself, other places of interest are:

• Cave of the Child.
• Hermitage of Our Lady of Remedies.
• Church of Saint Mary of the High.
• Remains of the Yedra Castle. Cave of the Moors.
• Urban Helmet.
• Toba's corner.
• Ribera del Río Mundo.
• The Barranco.

Intangible heritage

Its patron saint festivities begin on September 4 and end on the 8th of the same month. These festivities are in honor of its patron saint, the Virgin Mary of the Alto. Their bull runs that run through the steep streets of the town are well-known and spectacular.

Also highlight the festivity of el bolo, in Santa Lucía, or in honor of the Cristo de las Cabrillas.

Image gallery

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  Aýna's immediacy from the devil's viewpoint

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  Pedanía de Royo Odrea

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  La Dehesa Pedanía