Pony

Jaca (in Aragonese Chaca or Xaca) is a municipality and a city in the province of Huesca, capital of the region of La Jacetania in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain.

The municipal term, in addition to the urban center of Jaca, includes the population centers of Abay, Abena, Ara, Araguás del Solano, Ascara, Asieso, Astún, Atarés, Badaguás, Banaguás, Baraguás, Barós, Bernués, Bescós de Garcipollera, Binué, Botaya, Caniás, Espuendolas, Fraginal, Gracionépel, Guasa, Guasillo, Ipas, Jarlata, Lastiesas Altas, Lastiesas Bajas, Lerés, Martillué, Navasa, Navasilla, Novés, Orante, Osia, Ulle and Villanovilla, known as "rural neighborhoods". »and that welcomed 951 inhabitants at the beginning of 2018. It also includes the unpopulated areas of Acín, Bataraguá, Bergosa, Bescansa, Larrosa and Yosa de Garcipollera, and the resident population in Puerto de Astún, the urbanization of the Astún ski resort.

Geography

Jaca is the capital of the La Jacetania region and is 72 km from Huesca and 143 km from Zaragoza. The municipal area is crossed by the A-23 motorway and by the national highways N-240, which runs through the Berdún Canal towards Pamplona, and N-330, between pK 636 and 649, which connects with Canfranc and Huesca, in addition from the autonomous highways A-1205, which connects with Riglos, and A-1603, which heads towards Santa Cruz de la Serós.

The city of Jaca is located in the middle Alto Aragonese depression, between the interior mountain ranges of the Pyrenees. The city stands on a plateau located at an altitude of 820 m, next to the Aragón River, which heads west through the Berdún Channel. The municipality has a very wide area, 392 km².

The altitude of the area ranges from 2,197 m at Punta de La Espata, to the northeast, on the border with Villanúa, and 670 m along the Aragón River at its entrance in Santa Cilia de Jaca. This difference has facilitated the existence of a great variety of relief forms, ranging from the strong escarpments and abrupt slopes that dominate in the northern half, to the gentle hills and extensive systems of glacis-terraces in the southern area, where they form a more horizontal. To the north of the Berdún Canal is the Novés mountain range (918 m), which extends between the Aísa valley (Estarrún river) and the Los Ángeles mountain range (Grosín peak, 1423 m), which at its At the same time, it acts as the western limit of the Canfranc valley (Aragón river). To the northeast, the Baraguás mountain range (Alvarín peak, 1,551 m) separates the Garcipollera Valley (Ijuez River) from the Val Ancha and the Gas River, a tributary of the Aragón. To the south of the Berdún Channel, the Sierra de San Juan de la Peña (1,546 m) and the Peña Oroel (1,770 m) stand out.

Northwest: Valle de Hecho y Aísa	North: Borau, Castiello de Jaca and Villanúa	Northeast: Sabiñánigo
West: Santa Cilia and Santa Cruz de la Serós		This: Sabiñánigo
Southwest: Las Peñas de Riglos	South: Caldearenas	Sureste: Sabiñánigo

Climate

Jaca's climate is called inland oceanic with nuances of a continental climate. The average annual temperature is 12.2 °C, so temperatures are not very high, except in summer: they can drop below –10 °C in winter and rise to more than 35 °C in summer. The precipitations, which reach 768 mm per year, are more important in winter, spring and autumn, and can be snow in these seasons, with significant thicknesses. Summer is the least rainy season accompanied by some storms that vary according to the season. The wind can blow with very strong gusts during the winter. In the surrounding ski resorts, it is important to highlight the significant snowfall that can begin in October-November and end in April-May.

Average Jaca climate parameters, 1981–2010
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Average temperature (°C)	9.5	11.0	14.7	16.2	20.5	25.7	29.4	29.0	24.4	19.0	13.2	9.8	18.5
Average temperature (°C)	4.4	5.3	8.3	10.0	14.0	18.4	21.6	21.3	17.5	13.2	7.9	4.9	12.2
Temp. medium (°C)	-0.8	-0.4	1.8	3.7	7.5	11.1	13.7	13.6	10.6	7.3	2.6	0.0	5.9
Total precipitation (mm)	57.9	48.9	47.8	82.2	76.4	48.6	37.4	43.2	68.2	89.6	89.0	79.3	768.5
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	10.0	8.7	8.6	11.8	12.5	7.1	6.1	6.4	7.5	10.9	11.3	11.0	111.9
Source: World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Toponymy

It appears cited in historical documentation from 828 on as Jaca, Iaca, Iacca, Iace, Iaceensium, Iacensis, Iaccensium, Iacha, Iaka, Gacea and Yaca.

History

Old Age

Iaca or Iacca —the ancient name for Jaca— was the capital of the Iacetans, cited by the Greek historian Strabo (I) as a town that stretched from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the plains, reaching the region of the ilergetes around Ilerda (Lérida) and Osca (Huesca).

Little is known about its western limit, but it has been suggested that it could be in Navardún, a Celtic term that would refer to the old name of some extinct navarri from which the name Navarra later arose. The Iacetans (Iakketanoi, in Greek) were relatives of the Aquitanians (Akkitanoi), both being similar peoples. According to Strabo, there were reminiscences of matrilineal uses among the Iacetans, predominance of grazing, complementary agriculture —perhaps in charge of women— and warlike activities as a habitual solution to economic problems.

Iaca minted autonomous currency with the Iberian alphabet and it is thought that he controlled the current Jacetania and the Canal de Berdún

Archaeological excavations within the urban area have discovered fragments of pottery made on a wheel using the "Iberian technique" at the deepest level, as well as Campanian type A ceramics. This material, dated to the II a. C., supposes the appearance of the first archaeological indications that can be related to the indigenous population of Iaca.

There is an alternative, less plausible hypothesis, postulated in the XVI century by the imperial chronicler Florián de Ocampo —and that Alonso de Nebrija claimed to have explained—, which states that Jaca was founded by the Greek captain Dionisio Baco —nicknamed Yaco— in the year 1325 B.C. C.

In the year 195 B.C. C., the Roman consul Marco Porcio Cato began the conquest of the city that ended in the spring of 194 BC. C. At the end of the III century a. C. and early II a. C., the Iacetans had carried out numerous raiding expeditions on the Suesetanos settled in the central plains of Aragon and it seems that, in general, they had done so with impunity. Knowing the enmity between Iacetans and Suesetani, Cato placed the latter in front of the few Roman cavalry before the gates of Iaca, causing the departure of the mountaineers, accustomed to always defeating their neighbors; once the city was unguarded, it was conquered by the consul.

Incorporated into the Roman Empire, Jaca was a surveillance point for the roads of the Pyrenees and developed a prosperous economy whose boom continued until the 19th century III. In the IV century, it declined due to the threat of bandits attacking caravans and merchants traveling the Pyrenean roads.

Middle Ages

Idealized portrait of Galindo II Aznárez, count of Aragon, which repopulated Jaca around 920.

In the mountains of the Pyrenees, Christian territories were preserved after the conquest by the Arabs due to the Carolingian protectorate established by Charlemagne in the so-called Hispanic March. One of those counties was the nucleus of the Kingdom of Aragon. Around 920, established by the Kingdom of Pamplona as an independent county of the Franks, Galindo II Aznárez repopulated old towns in the Aragón river basin, along which the county was articulated, among which was Jaca, which was then a fortress inhabited by a few settlers, a village with merely agricultural activity. It belonged to an area dependent on the monastery of Siresa and had a monastery with a church with a basilica floor plan, a nave and a flat chancel, which was reformed in the 16th century XI and demolished in 1841.

Jaca was at the beginning of the XI century a castro (or fortified military camp) belonging to the Kingdom of Pamplona, whose In the surrounding area, a meager set of houses had sprung up, but it would become increasingly important due to its location at the foot of the Somport pass (one of the most accessible for accessing France since ancient times) and its strategic location on the Camino de Santiago which, in this century, was to gain increasing importance, and as the head of the road to Pamplona that ran through the Berdún Canal.

On the death in 1035 of the king of Pamplona Sancho Garcés III, nicknamed the Mayor, he left in writing the distribution of his extensive domains to his different sons. One of them, Ramiro (1006-1063), who was already acting as Régulo in La Jacetania and north of Huesca, would become Ramiro I of Aragón and established a royal residence in Jaca, possibly in the fortified castro, and located near the monastery. of San Pedro, the seat of the Bishop of Aragon, named like this until in 1077 Sancho Ramírez endowed Jaca with his jurisdiction and began, around 1082, the construction of the cathedral seat. The possession of fueros, a cathedral with a bishopric and its citadel, made Jaca the first and most important capital of the Kingdom of Aragon. However, between the monastery of San Pedro and the initial castro, the village was uninhabited. As José María Lacarra pointed out, being the royal seat and habitual residence of the Aragonese bishop, people dedicated to the administration and merchants began to arrive, making Jaca something more than a village dedicated exclusively to livestock and agriculture.

Jaca Cathedral, whose construction began at 1082.

Thus, in 1063 the Council of Jaca was held in the town. The historian Jerónimo Zurita, in his Annals of the Crown of Aragon, refers that Ramiro I «because there were various abuses in the ecclesiastical state and due to the carelessness of past kings, great corruption lasted against what was established by the sacred general councils that were in the primitive Church, tried to congregate in the city of Jaca provincial council ".

It also points out that this monarch was the first of the kings of the Iberian Peninsula to restore the «canons», which should not have been other than those established by the Council of Rome in 1059 referring to the canonical life and celibacy of the clerics

Another of the results of this council was to reestablish the diocese of Huesca —suppressed during Muslim rule—, leaving the provisional headquarters in Jaca until Huesca was reconquered.

But the definitive boost to Jaca was given by Sancho Ramírez in 1077 when, by the provisions of the aforementioned jurisdiction, a pioneer among Christian territories and later spread to other cities in Navarre or Cuenca, he turned the town into a city, the It endowed it with an episcopal headquarters, in whose cathedral the now Bishop of Jaca would settle, and gave it the status that makes it be considered the first capital of the kingdom between 1077 and 1096 in which, after Huesca was conquered, it would succeed in the bishopric and capital. Likewise, Sancho Ramírez built a new royal palace in the Santiago neighborhood, and would unify the three initial nuclei (fortified castro, San Pedro monastery and Santiago burgh) into a single population entity linked by two crossed streets, in the manner of the thistle and decúmano Romans, and the houses of all those Frankish men who wanted to take advantage of the new privileges that were decreed for the inhabitants of Jaca.

The loss of the capital status did not imply for Jaca the disappearance of other urban functions related to its geographical location. Thus, it continued to play its role as market-city and services for its region; Also, as the final city of the stage, Jaca charged one of the five tolls that were collected on the route from Zaragoza to France, and housed pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.

Modern Age

Plagues and fires at the end of the Middle Ages plunged Jaca into a deep crisis from which it would not emerge until the intervention of Fernando el Católico to form a local government. The bourgeoisie was favored by this situation and many became patrons of artists whose results can be seen especially in the cathedral.

Aerial view of the Jaca Citadel.

The border situation of Jaca was determined as the territorial limits of the European kingdoms were consolidated and the Pyrenees were erected as an effective natural border. The city was consolidated as a military square from which to defend the peninsular kingdoms from a hypothetical French invasion. In this regard, Felipe II ordered the construction of various fortresses throughout the entire Pyrenees. In 1592 this monarch ordered the construction of a fortress in the fields that had formed the Burgo Nuevo, the neighborhood built outside the city walls. Thus, a superb pentagonal fortress designed by the Italian engineer Tiburcio Spannocchi, the Citadel of Jaca, was built to respond to an army provided with artillery. The beautiful town hall (1544) also dates from that period, built in the style of Aragonese Plateresque palaces.

The Black Death epidemic that devastated the eastern peninsula in the middle of the XVII century —whose first outbreaks arose in Valencia in 1647—caused a mortality among the population of Jaca of 42%. The epidemic came in two distinct waves: the first between October 1653 and February 1654, and the second—the most devastating—between May and December 1654.

In the Spanish Succession War, Jaca sided with the Bourbons. For this reason, in 1707 it was besieged by allies of Archduke Carlos and rescued by the Marquis of Salutcio at whose sight they withdrew to a forest, where they were attacked by the Marquis of Santa Coloma, who killed many people and took numerous prisoners. King Felipe V rewarded the city of Jaca with the titles of «very noble, very loyal, and very victorious», adding the fleur-de-lis to the coat of arms that bore the Cross of Sobrarbe and the four heads, emblem of the battle of Alcoraz.

Contemporary Age

Casa La Rubia

At the end of the 18th century, Jaca played an important role in the Roussillon War, being one of the targets of the French revolutionaries because of its strategic location. In the War of Independence, the city surrendered to the French on March 21, 1809 because of the desertion secretly promoted by the missionary Fray José de la Consolación, who enjoyed influence, leaving very few soldiers inside the square.. General Francisco Espoz y Mina recovered the city on December 5, 1813 and the citadel on February 18, 1814.

During the Carlist Wars, in 1839 several soldiers from the Jaca garrison were denounced for selling weapons to the "revolutionaries".

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

Its houses in number of 488 solid and good construction all whitened, comfortable and besieged in its interior, are distributed in 37 well-aligned streets, steeped, and most of them with sidewalks... it has 7 squares, among which only the so-called Campo del Toro and the Mercado with bearers, destined for the sale of vegetables, are the main ones, because the others are not object and are small.

The Glorious Revolution of 1868 brought with it the birth of the revolutionary Junta of Jaca, confronted with that of Huesca, which took a series of measures such as the suppression of the Seminary or the creation of the Volunteers for Freedom, completed in the revolutionary six-year term with the construction of the road from Jaca to France.

At the beginning of the XX century, in 1903, the French traveler L'Ours Dominique (pseudonym) visits Jaca and offers a romantic impression of a walled, military and religious city:

Jaca has six thousand inhabitants, thirty-nine streets and alleys, five hundred houses, nineteen churches, thirteen convents, three seminars, and a bishop, an electric power factory for the city's lighting. A few square towers provided with the whole warplane of a medieval tower, united as a rosary by a meticulous wall, confer Jaca a defence of beautiful effect. At the foot of the wall there is a bulevard with trees, which is the most charming walk you can imagine

Five years later, in 1908, the city experienced notable urban and demographic changes, largely motivated by the demolition of the medieval wall that oppressed it. In 1928 the railway arrived in Canfranc, whose inauguration was attended by King Alfonso XIII. In that same year the Summer University was also created.

On December 12, 1930, the episode of the Jaca uprising took place, a military pronouncement against the monarchy of Alfonso XIII during the "soft dictation" of General Berenguer. It began with the proclamation of the Republic from the balconies of the Jaqués town hall and the appointment of the first republican mayoralty. At the same time, two columns led by Captain Fermín Galán and Salvador Sediles were organized and left for Huesca.

The uprising was put down in the early hours of the following day and on December 14 Captains Galán and García Hernández were shot, while Captain Sediles, also sentenced to death, was pardoned in the face of popular mobilizations. However, the effects of this uprising were felt in the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic four months later; After the elections on April 12, the monarchy went into exile and the Republic was proclaimed, which recognized them as "martyrs."

Conclusion

But after this, the most notable thing about Jaca is its status as a pioneer. First capital of the Kingdom of Aragon, first to acclaim Ramiro II "the monk", first to rise up in favor of the republic, when its Calle Mayor became famous, the same route that Miguel Fleta sang in rhythm of jack. Great characters and writers spoke of Jaca; in the XIII century, Alfonso X the Wise, spoke of the Jacetana victory festival (first Friday in May); in the Renaissance, Nebrija explained its legendary origins; Cervantes quotes her in Don Quixote speaking of his great mountains; Unamuno praises the Peña de Oroel; and Ramón y Cajal describes the long period of his life in the city.

Demographics

The population of Jaca experienced a strong increase when it was constituted as such a city and a certain regression when it lost its capital status. In the 1495 census it had about 700 inhabitants, doubling its population by the middle of the XVII century. The 1857 census reflects a 3,720 inhabitants. the 13,344 of 2021.

Graphic of demographic evolution of Jaca between 1900 and 2021

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

Administration and politics

Last mayors of Jaca

Election results

Services

Transportation

Bus station

Jaca has an urban bus line, an interurban bus station and a train station.

Railway

The railway arrived in Jaca with the Zaragoza-Canfranc Line on June 1, 1893. Today the station has medium-distance services from or to Zaragoza and Canfranc. Today they plan to bury it in Campancián to "stop dividing the city in 2" once the reopening and a consequent increase in freight traffic take place

Heritage

Religious heritage

Cathedral of San Pedro de Jaca

Interior of Jaca Cathedral.

The cathedral of Jaca is one of the most important temples of the first Spanish Romanesque, built from 1077 by order of King Sancho Ramírez; It is currently considered the first Romanesque cathedral in Spain, and is considered a great symbol of Spanish architectural heritage. It retains its basic structure and Romanesque configuration, with a basilica plan with three naves and five sections with their corresponding aligned apses, two access doors and a slender dome. At the foot of the temple there is a portico, primitive in appearance and barrel-vaulted, in which the main doorway opens, with an elegant structure, and with a tympanum that encloses a chrismon.

The cathedral houses the Diocesan Museum of Romanesque Art, inaugurated in 1970. It exhibits a large fresco, sometimes described as "the Sistine Chapel of the Romanesque", which summarizes the catechism in images, from creation from Adam to the Ascension of Christ. Due to its beauty and expressiveness, it has been considered one of the largest groups of Romanesque painting that have been preserved.

Other religious buildings

Church of the Carmen (centuryXVI).

Among the churches in Jaca, the Iglesia del Carmen stands out. It is the only building that remains of the old Nuestra Señora del Carmen convent that the Discalced Carmelites founded in the city. Built in the first half of the XVII century, it has a Latin cross plan with chapels on the sides of the altar and two on each side of the ship

Another notable temple is the church of Santiago, also known as "of Santo Domingo" since, between 1614 and 1835, it functioned as the church of the convent built by the Dominicans.

The Royal Monastery of the Benedictines —popularly known as "Las Benitas"— was founded in 1555. The monastic building follows a sober Renaissance style. The most valuable piece in the monastery was the sarcophagus of the Infanta Doña Sancha, daughter of Ramiro I and sister of Sancho Ramírez, both kings of Aragon, which is now in the Diocesan Museum.

Among the Jacetana hermitages, the hermitage of La Victoria, located on the outskirts of the city, is closely linked to the legendary victory over the Muslims, a triumph commemorated on the first Friday of May festival. The hermitage of San Cristóbal, located at the entrance to Jaca, is a simple construction with a single nave and its interior houses an altarpiece presided over by the owner, San Cristóbal; Founded by Francisco Villanúa in 1776, it replaced an earlier one —known as San Cristóbal el Viejo— located on the opposite bank of the river. Another hermitage, that of Sarsa, is a rural Romanesque work, transferred to Jaca from its original location in the slopes of Mount Oroel.

Civil heritage

Citadel of Jaca or Castle of San Pedro

Jaca citadel.

The Castle of San Pedro or Citadel of Jaca is the only fortification of this type that is completely preserved in Europe. It was declared an artistic monument on June 28, 1951 and has been restored since 1968.

One of the Citadel's barracks houses the Museum of Military Miniatures. Its rooms house a collection of more than 35,000 lead figures that are exhibited in 23 thematic settings that recreate unique battles in the history of humanity. There is also a room dedicated to the mountain units of the army, as well as a room for temporary exhibitions.

Clock Tower

The Clock Tower, also popularly known as the Prison Tower, is an interesting Gothic civil building built in 1445. It received both uses since the Jaca Council bought it in 1599 to place the clock-bell tower that would mark life urban and converted it, in 1602, into a city jail. It is a rectangular tower, built with irregular stones and great slenderness. The entrance door is located on the north face and consists of a semicircular arch.

Currently it is the headquarters of the Work Community of the Pyrenees.

Other civil works

Medieval bridge of San Miguel on the Aragon River.

Construction of the Town Hall began in 1486, finishing the work in 1544. In its dependencies is the «Book of the Chain», from the century XIII.

Another notable building is the Episcopal Palace, a harmonious Renaissance building by Tomás Obón Almudébar, whose construction began in 1606. It has a two-story façade, on whose upper floor there is a gallery of balconies and on the lower floor a series of of lintelled windows that frame the main entrance.

The San Miguel Bridge, over the Aragon River, is one of the few remaining medieval bridges in the Aragonese Pyrenees. Its monumentality and good state of conservation make it one of the most significant hydraulic works in Alto Aragón. The exact date of its construction is unknown, but due to its appearance and structure it is thought to have been built in the late medieval period (XV century). It was declared a historical-artistic monument in 1943 and is currently an Asset of Cultural Interest.

On the outskirts of Jaca, the Fort of Rapitán rises 1,142 m above sea level on a hill on the northern slopes of the city. Built in the XIX century, it is a strong artillery rifleman conceived as part of the defensive network that was intended to be built parallel to the international railway line to Canfranc. With a large surface area, it is a masonry work, with most of the construction being buried underground to avoid the action of enemy artillery.

Cultural heritage

The Libro de la Cadena, the most interesting and well-known manuscript in the Municipal Archive of Jaca, contains the most important privileges, statutes and documents granted to the city. It includes, among others, the Fuero de Jaca, in a copy of the XIII century, and the Municipal Establishments and Ordinances. period between 931 and 1324, with a total of 101 parchment sheets with the final endpaper, in folio major.

Heritage outside the urban area

Monastery of San Juan de la Peña

Cloister of the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña.

The “old” monastery of San Juan de la Peña is an extraordinary Romanesque building that blends nature and art. Located under a large rock, from which it takes its name, it brings together various artistic styles with several superimposed rooms built at different times, highlighting the Mozarabic church or low church, the high church with its Romanesque cloister, the royal pantheon and several Baroque chapels. Several kings of Aragon are buried in the pantheon. Above the old monastery, stands the new monastery of San Juan de la Peña or simply the "new", completed in 1714; It follows the architectural guidelines of the Baroque style, and has various rooms arranged around a large square and two cloisters.

The above buildings are located in the protected landscape of San Juan de la Peña and Monte Oroel, one of the most important mid-mountain ecosystems in the entire Aragonese Pyrenees. Its most representative elements are the dense forests and the escarpments of conglomerates, in which important populations of birds of prey inhabit.

Romanesque churches

Another group of interest is made up of the Romanesque churches of the districts dependent on Jaca, as well as the churches of Santa María in Santa Cruz de la Serós, Santa María de Iguácel in Larrosa and San Adrián de Sásave in Borau.

Culture

Sports activities and free time

Jaca Ice Palace

In the surroundings of Jaca you can practice various outdoor activities, such as hiking. One of the most attractive routes is the ascent to Monte Oroel, symbol of the City of Jaca, nestled in a protected natural space. You can also carry out climbing or mountaineering activities, as it is located in the heart of the Pyrenees. On the other hand, Jaca is one of the cities through which the Camino de Santiago passes.

Jaca is highly visited for the practice of winter sports, since just 31 km away there is the possibility of skiing at the Astún resorts, belonging to the municipality of Jaca, and Candanchú. For ice skating, the city has three ice rinks, two of them Olympic-size and the other exclusively for skaters from the Jaca Ice Club.

Parties

• Holy Week. Festival of Regional Tourist Interest in Aragon.
• St. George's Day, is celebrated on April 23rd throughout Aragon as the patron of the community. Acts such as music, books and play and recreational activities are prepared.
• First Friday of May. Festival of Regional Tourist Interest. It commemorates the legendary battle of the Llanos de la Victoria (which tradition places c. 760 on the outskirts of Jaca), in which the Count Aznar allegedly repeld the attack of a Muslim army that sought to reconquer the city; the legendary character of it becomes evident because Count Aznar I Galíndez lived in the centuryIX while tradition places the battle in the middle of the centuryVIII. As for the party, it begins with a lunch at the Llano de la Victoria—where the legend says the battle took place—and, from noon, a parade is organized with historical courtship.
• Festivals in honor of Santa Orosia. They start the night of St. John and end the night of St. Peter. For centuries, on June 25, the procession was celebrated in honor of the Holy One, which brought together all the villages of the Jaca Field with their respective parish crossings.
• Pyrenees Folk Festival. National Tourist Interest Party. The Pyrenees Folk Festival was named a festival of national tourist interest. The odd years are celebrated, and until not long ago he alternated his organization with the French municipality of Oloron-Sainte-Marie. The event brings together folk groups from around twenty countries on the five continents. The music and dances of the street are combined with shows in scenarios, exhibitions and samples of gastronomy.
• International Festival on the Camino de Santiago. A series of ancient music, from the Middle Ages to the Baroque, which fills the churches of the Way thanks to the presence of virtuous arrived from all over Europe.
• This finds tapas. Aragonese Pyrenees tapas and cazolet contest. A large number of establishments offer their tapas on a date that takes place in the second half of October.

Sports

The Jaca ice rink, one of the oldest in Spain, has been the scene of multiple sporting events, both nationally and internationally. The city has hosted the World Figure Skating Championships on several occasions, as well as the Universiade in 1995 or the Youth Olympic Festival. Likewise, he has presented the candidacy for the Winter Olympic Games four times: 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014.

Club Hielo Jaca is the city's ice hockey team. Founded in 1972, it currently participates in the National Ice Hockey League, the highest category of this sport. It is the team that has the most Copas del Rey.

The C.F. Jacetano, the Jaca soccer team, plays its games at the Oroel. He wears a green shirt and red pants, and his best result is a sixth place in the Third Division.

The Estanco Martín-Peña Charumba is the city's futsal team. The clothing is blue. His most notable achievements are promotion to the regional league (1992), promotion to 1st national B (1994) and (1999), promotion to 1st national (2000) and several Aragon championships and runners-up in Base categories.

The Mayencos Pyrenees Club, created in 1956 (it turns 60 in 2016), is one of the reference clubs at the national level when it comes to practicing mountain sports, such as alpine skiing, skiing background, hiking and mountaineering. Also, it organizes triathlons and biathlons in Jaca and other nearby towns, such as Ansó.

Gastronomy

Jacetana's gastronomy is influenced by the pastoral and livestock culture, the basis on which the city's economy is sustained, as well as by a climate of harsh and very long winters that favor canned dishes with a high caloric content. The most notable recipes are the "güey a l'Alforcha" fillet, the stewed wild boar with walnut sauce, the asparagus stuffed with mushrooms and spindles, the salad of vegetables and roasted vegetables, the roast lamb with poor-style potatoes and the ajoarriero cod.

Lamb meat is a hallmark of the gastronomy of the region, highlighting the production of lamb from Aragon, internationally recognized. The guts of the lamb are used to make "chiretas", very popular throughout the Aragonese mountains. Corral or small game products also enjoy a prominent place in mountain cuisine: chicken or hare stews have come to have a designation of origin.

Notable people

Twinned cities

Jaca is twinned with the Alicante city of Elche (1983), with which it maintains an important cooperative relationship. In Jaca it is said that each of its inhabitants carries an Elche and a palm tree inside.^{[citation required]} However, it is with the French city of Oloron- Sainte-Marie with which it has established the most relationships throughout history, a town located on the other side of the Pyrenees.

• Elche (Spain)
• Oloron-Sainte-Marie (France)