Jijona

Jijona (in Valencian and co-officially Xixona) is a Spanish municipality located in the interior of the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. World famous for being the place where the appreciated Christmas sweet of nougat is produced, both the Jijona variety and the Alicante variety. It has 6861 inhabitants (INE 2021).

Geography

Integrated in the region of Campo de Alicante, it is located 28 kilometers from the provincial capital. The municipal area is crossed by the CV-800 (formerly N-340) highway, which connects Alicante with Alcoy, CV-774, which heads towards Busot, CV-780, which allows communication with Torremanzanas, and CV-810, which Connect with Tibi. In its municipal term is the port of Carrasqueta, a natural passage of the road to Alcoy located at an altitude of 1020 meters.

The relief of the municipality is mountainous, defined by mountains belonging to the Subbético System, except in the southeast, where the Campo de Alicante opens. In the mountainous area, the Penya Migjorn stands out to the west (1,226 meters), the Sierra del Cuartel to the northwest (1,036 meters), and the Sierra de la Carrasqueta to the north and northeast, which reaches an altitude of 1,200 meters., the Sierra Galiana to the east (929 meters), the Serra de Almaens to the southeast (696 meters) and the Serra Grossa to the south (530 meters). The Montnegre river passes through the southwestern part of the term, which, coming from the Tibi reservoir, heads towards the Huerta de Alicante. The altitude oscillates between 1,226 meters (Peña Migjorn), to the west, and 190 meters on the banks of the Montnegre river. The urban case is located on the slopes of the Peña Roja, 443 meters above sea level.

Northwest: Ibi and Castalla	North: Alcoy	Northeast: Torremanzanas
West: Tibi		This: Relleu
Southwest: Tibi	South: San Vicente del Raspeig and Alicante (exclave)	Sureste: Busot

Climate

It has a dry Mediterranean climate with cool winters and hot summers. Rainfall is very low, as shown by the sub-desert landscape it has, with bad-lands, boulevards... It can suffer cold gout in autumn, the rainiest seasons being spring and autumn. Its landscape can be considered as a sub-desert.

Average climate parameters of Jijona/Xixona in the period 1961-2003
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Average temperature (°C)	12.8	13.5	15.3	18.2	22.1	26.4	30	30.4	26.6	22.2	16.9	13.7	20.7
Average temperature (°C)	7.9	8.4	10.2	13.1	16.5	20.6	23.7	24.2	21.2	16.7	12.1	9	15.3
Temp. medium (°C)	2.9	3.3	5.1	7.9	10.8	14.8	17.3	18	15.8	11.2	7.3	4.2	9.9
Total precipitation (mm)	29	35	35	42	28	16	7	15	37	58	33	26	361
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment. Precipitation and temperature data for the period 1961-2003 in Jijona.

History

The first signs of human life in the municipality of Jijona date back to the Bronze Age (2000-1300 BC). The Iberian era marks the culmination of the occupation of the territory in ancient times, from which we must highlight the large towns of Santa Bárbara and Solaneta de Nuches. At this time the current name of the city begins to take shape, since it seems to be known as "Uxonig" (Iron Valley).

The Paleo-Andalusian era is characterized by the existence of a dispersed rural population, settled in height and in the vicinity of an important communication route between the Alecua and Nutxes aquifers, of which only their burials have been found, in the deposits from l'Altet, Mas dels Constantins and Cotelles.

The current location of the city dates back to the Almohad era, between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century, with the original nucleus being the castle.

This is a city historically marked by its border status, since since the Treaty of Almizra (1244) it was considered the border square of the Crown of Aragon with that of Castile. An Arab town called Sexona, which featured an Almohad castle of which the ruins still remain, was conquered in the middle of the century XIII, and on April 28, 1268 it was granted the title of royal town and began to have representatives in the Courts of the Kingdom of Valencia. In 1337 he participated in the Cortes of Valencia summoned by Pedro IV, a king who took special care to fortify his castle in 1338, anticipating a Muslim invasion that did not take place.

In the war between the two Pedros, it fell in 1364 into the hands of Pedro I, later called "el Cruel" by his detractors and "el Justo" or "el Justiciero" by his supporters, King of Castile, for to be reconquered again by Pedro IV the Ceremonious, who had the help of natural people from Penáguila, Alcoy and Cocentaina, becoming part of the Crown of Aragon again.

During the [[XV]] century, Jijona expanded its jurisdiction by acquiring from its feudal lords the places from Ibi and Torremanzanas. Ibi remained under the jurisdiction of Jijona from 1420 to 1629, while Torremanzanas did so from 1472 to 1794.

During the War of Succession, it was a markedly pro-Bourbon town, for which reason it put up strong resistance to the troops of Archduke Carlos, who besieged Jijona and forced the inhabitants to surrender in 1706. However, the population who managed to flee to the mountains, carried out a counteroffensive that ended with the conquest of the square in 1707. Thanks to his loyalty to Felipe V, he granted Jijona the titles of City and loyal and most faithful in 1708 as well as the concession to add a "Fleur de Lis" to its Arms. From that year on it was the capital of the Corregimiento of the same name, which included the cities of Jijona and Elche and the towns of Castalla, Biar, Tibi, Ibi and Onil, and the places of Torremanzanas, Salinas and Benejama. The Jijona Corregimiento was definitively suppressed in 1833, with the provincial division.

Due to its historical importance, the municipality was endowed with a large municipal extension, which is why Jijona retains the fifth largest municipal term in the province of Alicante. The town of Torremanzanas and the small place of La Sarga, in the north of the term, were segregated from its municipality during the 18th century; the latter joined Jijona again a few years later.

Demographics

Jijona has 7,575 inhabitants (INE 2008).

The population fluctuates according to the season of the year; in summer the number of inhabitants is lower.

Economy

Traditionally, the economy of Jijón has been based on a duality between the production and sale of ice cream in summer and that of nougat in winter, complemented by rainfed agriculture, in which the cultivation of almond trees stood out, whose fruit is premium for nougat. During the 19th and 20th centuries, it has been natural that for a large part of the year many people from Jijón were found throughout Spain or even Cuba and other parts of Latin America selling their ice creams and nougats. There are many artisan brands and nougat factories.

Although the development of the city's economy today is still based on its nougats and ice creams, known throughout the world, the most important factory in the town is owned by Procter & Gamble, manufacturer of intimate hygiene brands.

Monuments and places of interest

• Castle of the Grossa Tower. Building of architectural interest.
• Franciscan Convent of the Virgin of Orito. Building of architectural interest.
• Chapel of Santa Barbara. Building of architectural interest.
• Church of Santa Maria. Building of architectural interest.
• Church of the Virgin of the Assumption: Church built between the centuryXVI and the centuryXVII. In 1971 he suffered a fire that destroyed the baroque decoration he had and the reconstruction of the altar was based on the tastes of the century.XX.. Highlights the square-floor stone bell tower that is finished with a pyramidal tile of green and white glazed tile.
• Museum of the Turrónwhere memories of the Sirvent Selfa family are preserved, the founder of the brands El Lobo and 1880.

Administration and politics

Municipal elections of 24 May 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes		Councillors
Socialist Party of the Valencian Country-PSOE		Isabel López Galera	1 628	42.44 %	6	2
Més Xixona:Acord Ciutadà		Joan de Déu Martínes Llinares	755	19.68 %	3	3
Popular Party		María Fuensanta Galiana López	514	13.40 %	2	1
Citizens		Javier Gutiérrez Martín	421	10.97 %	1	1
Commitments		Joan Arques Galiana	280	7.30 %	1	1
Source: Ministry of the Interior (Spain).

Mayors since the 1979 elections

Period	Name	Party
1979-1983	Fernando Galiana Carbonell	IND
1983-1987	Luis Garrigós Oltra	IND
1987-1991	Antonio Bernabeu Gómez	PSPV-PSOE
1991-1995	Antonio Bernabeu Gómez	PSPV-PSOE
1995-1999	Luis Garrigós Oltra Rosa María Verdú Ramos	PSPV-PSOE P
1999-2003	Rosa María Verdú Ramos	P
2003-2007	Rosa María Verdú Ramos	P
2007-2011	Ferran Verdú Monllor	PSPV-PSOE
2011-2015	Ferran Verdú Monllor	PSPV-PSOE
2015-2019	Isabel López Galera	PSPV-PSOE
2019-	Isabel López Galera	PSPV-PSOE

In the 1995 elections, PP and PSOE were in a technical tie regarding the number of councillors, although the elections were won by the popular party. This forced the PP to agree with the CIX (independentistas de Xixona). In the middle of the legislature, the PSOE agreed with the CIX and they seized the mayoralty from the PP, which won by a simple majority in 1999, removing 6 of the 13 city councilors. The PSOE currently governs with a simple majority.

Parties

Moors and Christians festivals are held in August. In October there are other Moors and Christians festivals called "Fiestas de los Heladores", as they are made for ice cream makers who work in summer.

The local festivities, Moors and Christians, are celebrated in August, on the weekend closest to the 24th, San Bartolomé, co-patron saint of Jijona along with San Sebastián.