Carpet

For the river, see the Alfambra River.

Alfambra is a town and municipality in the province of Teruel, located in the Region of the Community of Teruel, Aragon (Spain). It has an extension of 122.44 km² and a population of 482 inhabitants (INE 2020).

Situation and climate

Integrated into the Comunidad de Teruel region, it is located 26 kilometers from the provincial capital. The municipal term is crossed by the national highway N-420, between km 602 and 610, as well as by local roads that connect with Santa Eulalia del Campo and Escorihuela. It is the head of the Alfambra river valley, which crosses the territory from north to south. In addition to this valley, the relief of the municipality is irregular, with numerous boulevards and ravines. The altitude oscillates between 1,312 meters to the west (Cerro del Rodal), in the Sierra Palomera, and 990 meters on the banks of the Alfambra River. The town is located at 1047 meters above sea level.

Northwest: Camañas	North: Perales del Alfambra y Orrios	Northeast: Oraries
West: Camañas and Celadas		This: Escorihuela
Southwest: Celadas and Teruel	South: Perous	Sureste: Perous

Its climate is cold in winter, with an average annual temperature of 10 °C, and its annual rainfall is 510 mm.

Toponymy

The place name of the town comes from the Arabic Al Hamra, "the red one", alluding to the intense red color of the Miocene clays that emerge in the area. The sediments deposited later have been dismantled by fluvial erosion, leaving only traces of limestone on some hills.

History

The origin of Alfambra dates back to the Bronze Age, a period from which is the Peña Dorada deposit, on the right bank of the Alfambra, and that of El Castillo, located on an isolated hill also on the right bank of the river.

During the Muslim domination, the territory was subject to the Banu Razin —Berber family of the Hawwara lineage— and the existence of a castle is known from that time, probably one of the most important in southern Aragon. Reconquered by Alfonso II the Chaste in 1169, the town was later ceded in 1174 to the Order of Monte Gaudio, whose foundation was recent. Several castles were assigned to him —such as those of Orrios and Fuentes de Alfambra— to which the master granted charters. In 1196 the order became a commendation of the Order of the Temple, being its first commander Guillermo de Peralta. After the dissolution of the Templars, it became dependent on the Order of San Juan.

Between 1488 and 1495 it belonged to the sobrecullida of Teruel and later to the village of Teruel (1646) and to the corregimiento of Teruel between 1711 and 1833. Alfambra's economy was fundamentally based on agriculture and livestock, with four very old ditches, already mentioned in the Fuero. Communal ownership must have been important to cattle prosperity; Even today, the "White Mountains" are distributed in lots among the residents of the municipality. Likewise, the town had two flour mills and an oven, property of the commander. In the 17th century there was a fulling mill, as well as a council butcher shop, whose meat came from communal cattle. Alfambra obtained recognition as a town in 1785.

Pascual Madoz, in his Geographical-statistical-historical dictionary of Spain of 1845, describes Alfambra in the following terms:

Located on the left bank of the river of its name in a canal or valley that form several hills... it has 296 houses of regular construction, distributed in several streets that although misaligned are of good floor.

Civil War

Another important episode in the town's history took place during the Civil War, in the so-called Battle of Alfambra. Within the global strategy for the recovery of Teruel by Franco's army —Republican troops had taken the city on January 7, 1938—, control of the Alfambra river basin was essential, in order to envelop Teruel and nullify their defensive conditions.

The battle, delayed by zero visibility for 48 hours, took place from February 5 to 8, 1938. Líster's Republican troops were attacked, flanking Sierra Palomera between Perales and Alfambra, by Monasterio's cavalry, the corps of the Moroccan Army Corps of Yagüe and the troops of Aranda, a total of fourteen divisions. Franco's troops managed to close the "Alfambra pocket", leaving the XIII Corps of the Republican Army, which was trying to hold its positions in Sierra Palomera and Alfambra, in an extremely complicated situation. Before the 10th, the units of the XIII Army Corps were absolutely useless and Sierra Palomera began to be occupied by Franco's army, as well as Alfambra itself. With this manoeuvre, which found little resistance from the Republican army, the battle of Teruel changed direction, which ultimately led to the capture of the capital by Franco's army on February 22.

Demographics

The population of the municipality increased in the first half of the XX century from 1335 to 1516 inhabitants —with the parenthesis of the Civil War—, to descend later to 1140 in 1970 due to emigration to Zaragoza and the Spanish Levant. In 2020 the population of Alfambra was 482 inhabitants.

Graphic of demographic evolution of Alfambra between 1900 and 2020

Population in fact (1900-1991) according to population censuses of the INE.Population (from 2001 onwards) according to the INE municipal register.

Administration and politics

Alfambra City Council

Last mayors of Alfambra

Election results

Economy

Alfambra River at its pass through the town.

Although agriculture and livestock were for many years the main source of income for the municipality, industry is currently a booming sector, providing most of the economic income.

Agricultural activity revolved around rainfed products such as cereals, without forgetting the importance of sugar beets. Formerly the vineyard was also cultivated. The Alfambra plain was famous for its beet production but, after the disappearance of the Santa Eulalia sugar factory and given the low flow of the Alfambra, poplar plantations and other species that need less water are being established. Regarding irrigation, the most important crop was beetroot, along with potatoes and vegetables; the production was destined for own consumption and local commerce.

Tourism began its development in the year 2000 with various actions by the city council and various local associations with the development of the Mirador del Puente de la Venta and the sculpture El Sueño (Juan José Barragán), the Sugar Beet Museum in 2002, several archaeological and restoration works in the castle, the historical medieval recreation called La Subida a la Encomienda, 2005 or the Hermitage of Santa Ana (Alfambra) with its spectacular mural ensemble in 2007.

The industrial sector is based in the town's industrial estate, currently undergoing expansion.

Heritage

View of the Christ of Alfambra

Religious architecture

The Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is a temple from the 17th century. It consists of a single nave with four sections plus a choir, with side chapels between the buttresses and covered with a half-barrel vault with lunettes. Its tower stands out, with four bodies. Its interior houses a beautiful reliquary of Santa Beatriz.

Much more modern is the sculpture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, inaugurated in 1956. Made of stone, it is the work of Antonio Rodríguez and is 25 meters high from the base.

Another space of interest is the Hermitage of Santa Ana, where a Gothic mural ensemble from the XV century with the representation of the donor, Juan Fernández de Heredia VII donor, a large "Last Supper" and a Saint George saving the princess, also in Gothic style, as well as several trompe l'oeils and a Maltese cross in Baroque style. A second hermitage, that of San Juan Bautista, is a Baroque construction from the 18th century century. Made of masonry and ashlar masonry, it is located approximately one km from the urban area.

Civil architecture

Sculpture The Dream, the work of Juan José Barragán.

Railway station never finished.

In the town center there are interesting samples of civil architecture, such as the Palace of Doña Ricarda Gonzalo de Liria y Blesa, in the Renaissance style.

The remains of the castle —before 1169 but without knowing its exact origins—, with its archaeological excavation, constitute another area of interest, at the same time that they serve as a magnificent viewpoint over Alfambra and the valley where it is located. Another viewpoint of the town, from the Puente de la Venta, presents a table for interpretation of the municipality, as well as a visitable sculpture entitled "El Sueño", on the remains of the old train track (1928) that never came to work.

Other resources of Alfambra are a large number of modernist buildings, as well as the remains of the Civil War in its vicinity.

Cultural heritage

A space of great interest is the Sugar Beet Museum (MUREA), a unique monographic museum in the world on beets, a crop of great importance in the town for a good part of the last century XX. It includes a permanent collection of tools, implements and machinery related to its cultivation and industrial exploitation. It is located in an old modernist style laundry room. Since 2007, Alfambra has had a curious analematic clock —a type of sundial—, located in the vicinity of the Hermitage of Santa Ana. It is one of the few of these characteristics existing in Spain.

Natural heritage

Finally, the Alfambra River, which runs a few meters from the urban area, is the main environmental resource of the town. Recently, the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation has set up various hiking itineraries around the river.

Parties

• The Rise to the Encomienda is a festive event that takes place in the early morning of the Holy Saturday, being one of the main festivities of the villa, since it began in 2005. Various historical facts such as the legal importance of the castle, the payment of censuses and other taxes, the corrections of the Fuero or the appointment of judges for one year are recreated. The alphambrinos—attacked in period costumes and provided with torches—represent the climb to the castle, reminiscent of the time when their lives were governed by the Comendador, who developed his mandate from the castle.
• On June 24, the feast of Saint John the Apostle is celebrated the pilgrimage to the Hermitage of Saint John. In the morning he leaves in procession from the Church to the hermitage, where a mass takes place. At its conclusion, guests are offered hot chocolate, pastas, biscuit and flyer in the vicinity of the temple.
• Around 3 and 4 July, Alfambra celebrates its patron saints' celebrations in honor of Santa Beatriz and San Simplicio. The festivities combine religious acts with playful activities such as lockers, "firebirds" or verbs.
• Around the 15th of August the festivals take place in honor of the Virgin of the Assumption and San Roque.

Illustrious people