Castilla-La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain, according to
its Statute of Autonomy and the Spanish Constitution. It is made up
of 919 municipalities that make up the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad
Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo. Its highest executive and
legislative body is the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha,
which is based in Toledo, and its most populous city is Albacete,
the seat of the highest judicial body, the Superior Court of Justice
of Castilla-La Mancha.
Castilla-La Mancha is located in the
central part of the Iberian Peninsula, occupying most of the
southern sub-plateau. It limits to the north with the autonomous
communities of Castilla y León and the Community of Madrid, to the
west with that of Extremadura, to the east with those of Aragón and
the Valencian Community, and to the south with those of the Region
of Murcia and Andalusia. The community is the third largest autonomy
in Spain, with an area of 79,409 km², which represents 15.7% of the
peninsular total, with a population as of January 1, 2016 of
2,049,147 inhabitants, 8.60 % of which are foreigners, having
experienced a significant increase in both figures in recent years.
Life expectancy reached an average of 82.88 years, higher than the
national average.
Geographically, two types of landscapes are
clearly differentiated within the community: plains and mountains.
The most important mountainous areas of Castilla-La Mancha partly
border the limits of the community, and are the Central System,
which includes the Ayllón, Pela and Alto Rey mountains in the north
of Guadalajara, and the San Vicente mountain range in the Toledo
province; the Iberian System, which covers part of the provinces of
Cuenca and Guadalajara; the Alcaraz and Segura mountains in
Albacete; the foothills of the Sierra Morena, which penetrate Ciudad
Real (Sierra Madrona), and the Montes de Toledo, which extend
between the provinces of Ciudad Real and Toledo. The plain dominates
the rest of the territory, since almost 80% of the autonomous
surface does not exceed 1000 m of altitude. To the great plain of La
Mancha, a natural region that extends through a good part of the
provinces of Ciudad Real, Albacete, Toledo and Cuenca, is added La
Alcarria, which covers part of the provinces of Guadalajara and
Cuenca and has an altitude around 1000 m above sea level The main
rivers that run through the region are the Tagus and the Guadiana,
which flow into the Atlantic, and the Júcar and Segura, which flow
into the Mediterranean Sea.
In the Castilian-Manchegan
economic reality, the primary sector has traditionally played a
prominent role, although it has been progressively displaced by the
service sector, the current engine of the Community's economy. The
industry has concentrated around the main communication axes of
Castilla-La Mancha with the central zone (Corredor del Henares and
La Sagra) and in the most important urban areas (province capitals
and medium-sized cities). In infrastructure, Castilla-La Mancha had
in 2009 nearly 1,800 km of expressways (motorways or highways), 670
km of AVE (the first autonomous community to have all its capitals
connected at high speed), and two airports (the one in Albacete and
Ciudad Real).
The history of Castilla-La Mancha includes
peoples and cultures such as the Iberians, Romans, Visigoths,
Andalusians, Sephardim and Christians. It has a strong historical
link with the Kingdom of Toledo. Likewise, the region has a rich
artistic and natural heritage, among which the three cities declared
by Unesco as World Heritage Sites (Toledo, Cuenca and Almadén) stand
out, as well as twelve others that are part of the rock art of the
Mediterranean arc. of the Iberian Peninsula, or the 278,230,784 ha
dedicated to protected natural areas.
The region agreed to
self-government, constituting itself as an autonomous community on
August 16, 1982 with the publication of the Statute of Autonomy of
Castilla-La Mancha, modified in 1991, 1994 and 1997. In 2007, a new
proposal to modify it was agreed, which finally did not enter in
force.
1 Albacete
2 soul
3 Royal City
4 Basin
5 Guadalajara
6 Toledo
The corónimo Castilla-La Mancha is a modern
denomination, emerged after the current regional division, which is
formed by a pairing that gives meaning to the five provinces that
make up the community. The five provinces that are part of
Castilla-La Mancha are territories that have historically belonged
to the old Kingdom of Castilla, with the natural region of La Mancha
being located in part of four of them (Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca
and Toledo), thus being the largest and most representative region
of the autonomous community. The link between the two territories is
symbolized by the hyphen (-) between the two pairs, since the
territory of La Mancha was circumscribed within the Kingdom of
Castile. However, already during the First Spanish Republic, the
idea of creating a Castilian-Manchego Regional State was outlined.
Castile
Castilla (named in the first documents in Old
Castilian as Castella or Castiella) means, according to its
etymology, "land of castles", being called by Arab historians as
Qashtāla قَشْتَالَة and its name appears justified as a land dotted
with castles. The term would come from the Latin castellum, a
diminutive of the term castrum, castro, fortification of pre-Roman
Iberia.
La Mancha
The most widespread theory stipulates
that La Mancha comes from the Arabic language during the Muslim
occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, and that the place name
"Mancha" comes from, pronounced as Manxaf or Al-Manshaf المَنْشَف,
which translates as "land without water", or Manya as "high plain"
or "elevated place". The historian Jerónimo Zurita affirms that
another historian, Pero López de Ayala, had certain news of the name
of Mancha as a land of esparto grass, dry, that the Goths called it
Spartaria and that the Arabs maintained the Spartaria lexicon which
in the Arabic language would be Manxaf. This Spartan land is linked
to the old Campo Espartario or Espartaria, from Carthagena
Espartera, heir in turn to the Roman province of Carthaginense,
which included a large part of present-day Castilla-La Mancha.
The autonomous community is located in the center of the Iberian Peninsula, occupying most of the southern sub-plateau. It is framed to the south of the Central System, with a relief that is distinguished by a great topographic, geological, lithological and geomorphic diversity. The community is the third largest in the Spanish State with an area of 79,463 km², which represents 15.7% of the national territory.
Two types of relief are clearly distinguished in the region. On the
one hand, the Plateau, a large uniform plain with little relief. Within
this uniformity, the most notable relief is the one formed by the Montes
de Toledo, with heights such as Las Villuercas (1601 m) and Rocigalgo
(1447 m). It is divided between the valleys of the Tagus and Guadiana
rivers.
On the other hand, the most mountainous area that
surrounds the Plateau and serves as the natural limit of the community.
In the north of the province of Guadalajara, bordering the provinces of
Madrid, Segovia and Soria, there is a mountain range, belonging to the
Central System, of which the Pela, Ayllón, Somosierra, Barahona and
Ministra mountain ranges stand out, and in the from which the Jarama,
Cañamares and Henares rivers are born. In the Sierra de Ayllón are the
three highest peaks in the territory of the autonomous community: Pico
del Lobo (2,273 m), Cerrón (2,199 m) and Peña Cebollera Vieja or Tres
Provincias (2,129 m). The System Central also enters the region through
the province of Toledo in its southernmost foothills: the Sierra de San
Vicente, which is bounded to the north by the Tiétar river and to the
south by the Alberche and the Tagus.
To the south of this system
are the Montes de Toledo, which cross the region from west to east,
marking the dividing line between the Tagus and Castilla la Nueva, and
the Guadiana and La Mancha, forming part of the southern slope of the
basin of the former. and of the northern of the second.
To the
northeast is the Iberian System, where there is an important fluvial
action and especially karst, which has given rise to places such as the
Enchanted City, the Callejones de Las Majadas or the Hoces del Cabriel.
In the southwest is the Sierra Morena mountain range, which
constitutes the southern edge of the Central Plateau and serves as the
border with Andalusia. Within the region, Sierra Madrona, Sierra de
Alcudia and Sierra de San Andrés stand out. At the other southern end of
the community is the Sierra de Alcaraz, which is part of the Betic
System.
The Castilian-La Mancha territory is divided into eight main
hydrographic basins: Tagus, Guadiana, Guadalquivir and Duero, which
discharge their waters into the Atlantic Ocean, and Ebro, Júcar, Turia
and Segura, which drain into the Mediterranean.
The Tagus
supplies a total population of 587,184 inhabitants, with an extension of
its basin of 26,699 km². It covers almost all of the province of
Guadalajara, including its capital, and most of the province of Toledo,
with the two major cities of this, Toledo and Talavera de la Reina.
The Guadiana hydrographic basin has an extension of 26,646 km²,
which represents 37% of the total river, and serves a population of
583,259 inhabitants. It covers the south of the province of Toledo,
almost the entire province of Ciudad Real (except for the southern
part), the southwest of the province of Cuenca and the northwest of the
province of Albacete.
For its part, the Guadalquivir basin
occupies 5.17% of the regional territory, which represents an area of
4,100 km² and supplies populations such as Alcaraz and Puertollano. It
is located to the south of the provinces of Ciudad Real and Albacete.
In the north of the province of Guadalajara there are some streams
that pour their waters into the Duero basin. The most important are
those that are born in the Sierra de Pela and that form the headwaters
of the Aguisejo River. The basin surface of this slope is only 55 km².
As for the Júcar, its basin supplies some 397,000 people and covers
an area of 15,737 km², which represents 19.86% of the regional territory
and 36.61% of the total basin. It covers the east of the provinces of
Cuenca and Albacete, including both capitals. The María Cristina Canal
flows into the Júcar River, which runs through the municipality of
Albacete in a southwest-northwest direction, crossing the capital. It
was created by Felipe IV in 1804, beginning its construction in 1805. It
is 32 km long.
The Turia basin occupies 258 km² in the east of
the province of Cuenca. Although it is administered jointly with the
Júcar and other smaller Mediterranean basins from the Júcar hydrographic
demarcation, it is a main hydrographic basin within the Iberian basins,
both for geographical purposes and for the evolution of its
ichthyofauna, of which it presents exclusive endemisms .
The
Segura basin supplies a total of 34 Albacete municipalities, located in
the southeast of the province, and extends for a total of 4713 km².
Lastly, in the northeast of the province of Guadalajara, an area of
1090 km² drains its waters into the Ebro basin, through its tributary,
the Jalón River. The main courses are the Mesa River, which rises in the
town of Selas, and the Piedra River.
As a curiosity, it should
also be noted that a small part of the province of Guadalajara pours its
waters into the endorheic basin of the Gallocanta lagoon, already
located in Aragon.
In Albacete, Guadalajara and especially Ciudad Real (Campo de
Calatrava) there are numerous volcanic buildings, originating between
the late Miocene and the Pliocene. They are not considered extinct
because the last eruptions date back to 14,000 to 5,000 years ago. The
eruptions spewed pyroclasts and lava flows and formed maars, wide,
shallow craters.
Volcanic hills of La Miñosa (Guadalajara)
Cancarix volcanic piton (Albacete)
Cerro de los Santos volcano
(Porzuna)
Piedrabuena volcano
Posadilla lagoon and volcano (near
Valverde)
Peñarroya volcano and lagoon (Alcolea de Calatrava)
Michos volcanic lagoon
Calatrava volcanic massif
The volcanic
Castles of Welcome (Almodóvar del Campo)
Alberquilla Lagoon
Alhorín Volcano (Solana del Pino)
The climate of Castilla-La Mancha is continentalized Mediterranean.
Due to the extension and altitude of the territory, there is a notable
variety of climates, such as semi-arid climate or mountain climate.
It is similar to the typical Mediterranean climate but with
characteristics of continental climates, with more extreme temperatures.
This climate is not influenced by the sea, so the temperatures are much
more extreme, very hot summers and quite cold winters with a range of
18.5 °C. The summer season is the driest and frequently exceeds 35 °C
(especially around La Mancha), sporadically reaching 40 °C and even
higher. However, in winter it is common for temperatures to drop below 0
°C, causing frost on cloudless nights (irradiation, which generates very
pronounced thermal inversions) and sporadic snowfall. Such snowfalls
mainly affect the easternmost areas.
Castilla-La Mancha can be
included within the traditionally called "Dry Spain". Precipitation is
not very abundant, following a pattern very similar to that of the
typical Mediterranean climate. Precipitation presents a notable gradient
from the center of the community, where it does not reach 400 mm. per
year, towards the mountains, where it can exceed 1000 mm. per year,
which are reached on the slopes of the Sierra de Gredos and the Serranía
de Cuenca. In most of the region it rains less than 600 mm. However, the
most arid area of the Region is the Albacete-Hellín axis, where it does
not reach 400 mm. year.
Among the fauna, the white stork stands out, which forms important
aggregations linked to the consumption of grasshoppers, along with the
red kite, the Montagu's harrier and various types of eagle. Among the
carnivorous mammals, the fox and the wild cat stand out, and among the
herbivorous mammals it is worth highlighting the deer and wild boar,
which constitute 30% and 20% respectively of those hunted in Spain,
making this community one of the richest. hunting.
The vegetation
is eminently steppe, since the scrub has replaced the typical holm oak
forest as a consequence of anthropogenic action, except in the high
areas of the mountain, where it is combined with black oak and cork oak.
The most common species of the scrub are the labiata (thyme, lavender
and rosemary) and rock rosemary. On the banks of the rivers it is worth
highlighting the alder forests (maples and gall oaks), ash trees and
birch trees.
Castilla-La Mancha has more than three and a half million hectares of
forests and mountains, which occupy nearly 45% of the territory, with
extensive areas of holm oak, pine and oak forests.
The number of
protected natural spaces that Castilla-La Mancha currently has is 112 (2
national parks, 7 natural parks, 22 natural reserves, 6 river reserves,
26 natural monuments, 48 micro-reserves and a protected landscape),
totaling an area of 322,393.15 ha.
Castilla-La Mancha has two national parks; the Cabañeros national
park located between the provinces of Toledo and Ciudad Real with an
area of 40,856 ha, and the Tablas de Daimiel national park in the
province of Ciudad Real, which occupies 3,030 ha.
Natural parks
Currently there are seven natural parks in the community:
Las Lagunas
de Ruidera Natural Park (provinces of Ciudad Real and Albacete)
Calares del Río Mundo and La Sima Natural Park (province of Albacete)
Alto Tajo Natural Park (Guadalajara and Cuenca provinces)
Serranía de
Cuenca Natural Park (province of Cuenca)
Alcudia Valley and Sierra
Madrona Natural Park (province of Ciudad Real)
Sierra Norte de
Guadalajara Natural Park (Guadalajara province)
Barranco del Río
Dulce Natural Park (Guadalajara province)
The Botanical Garden of Castilla-La Mancha, located in Albacete and measuring 7 hectares, has an important representation of Castilian-La Mancha habitats, with protected and threatened flora, as well as floristic species from around the world.
Since prehistoric times there have been human settlements in the
territory of the autonomous community, as witnessed by numerous
archaeological finds.
Around the 4th century BC., the Iberian and
Celtiberian cultures were already established in the territories that
today make up Castilla-La Mancha, and at the end of the 2nd century BC.
there is also evidence of Roman incursions that unified the different
tribes that lived in the Iberian Peninsula. In the area currently
occupied by Castilla-La Mancha there is evidence of Carpetan, Arévacan,
Olcade and Oretan settlements. Roman domination left its mark on the
incipient urban centers, on the language and on customs.
The
decline of the Roman Empire led to the invasion and settlement of the
Germanic peoples. One of them, the Visigoths, chose Toledo as the center
of their domain. In addition, they strengthened the cities that during
the Roman era had enjoyed splendor. In Castilla-La Mancha, in addition
to Toledo, cities such as Segontia (Sigüenza, in Guadalajara), Segóbriga
and Valeria (Cuenca), and Oretum Granátula de Calatrava (Ciudad Real)
stood out. The Visigoths left their legacy in various buildings and in
the names of some towns.
Al Andalus
From the year 711, Muslim domination of Spain began.
The native population will convert to Islam or maintain the previous
Christian religion, becoming Mozarabs (Christians residing in a Muslim
area). After the dismemberment of the Caliphate, at the beginning of the
11th century, various Taifa kingdoms emerged, among which Toledo stands
out, which controlled a large territory that largely coincides with the
current Castilian-La Mancha territory.
The political weakness of the taifa kingdoms made them vulnerable to
the Christian kingdoms that progressively advanced from the north and
conquered the main squares and territories under Muslim power in the
current territory of the region. Al-Mamún, king of the taifa of Toledo,
ceded Guadalajara and other nearby places to Alfonso VI around 1072, and
in 1085 after a series of pacts he would enter the city of Toledo.
It was necessary to wait until 1177 for another Castilian king to
take an important city in the Region. In September of that year, Alfonso
VIII would conquer Cuenca and extend his power throughout the entire
area of La Mancha, advancing towards the southeast, taking over
fortresses such as Alcaraz in the year 1213. It would be in 1255 when
Alfonso X founded Villa Real, later called Ciudad Real. Numerous
castles, towers and fortresses recall the border character during the
medieval period of Castilla-La Mancha.
In this military and
repopulation process, the Crown has the invaluable help of the Military
Orders, to which, in payment for their services, the kings grant
extensive lands as manors. In Castilla-La Mancha the Orders of
Calatrava, San Juan, Santiago and Alcántara participate actively. The
repopulation process brought with it the arrival of new settlers to the
Castilla-La Mancha territory, especially Castilians.
From that
moment on, the history of Castilla-La Mancha merges with that of the
rest of the Kingdom of Castile, of which it becomes a part.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, frequent confrontations between the
nobles and the king occurred in the Crown of Castile. The monarchy was
recognized as the political-administrative center, and the nobility
would consolidate its economic and social conquests by reinforcing the
feudal manor regime, a system that would be reformed during the reign of
the Catholic kings.
The episode of the War of the Communities of
Castile, in the 16th century, had a wide impact in Castilla-La Mancha,
and meant an initial uprising of the nobility against a king, Charles I,
and an authentic peasant revolt. The virulence of the events motivated
the progressive union of the lords with the monarch to crush the popular
uprising, which triggered a progressive decline in the center of
Castile.
In this century there is a significant increase in both
population and agricultural production in Castilla-La Mancha that will
favor the founding of cities and towns, but these advances will turn
into decline in the 17th century, as a consequence of plague epidemics,
famines and emigrations to other areas, although the decline began in
1561 with the transfer of the headquarters of the Court from Toledo to
Madrid.
Again in the 18th century there was a new demographic
boom that would expand the cultivation of wheat, and especially
vineyards, in the Community. In the industrial field, a series of
achievements led by Bourbon reformism were carried out that did not have
the expected results. In this sense, the white weapons factory in Toledo
stands out, the silk manufactures in Talavera de la Reina or the cloth
factories in Guadalajara and Brihuega, the Royal Factories of San Juan
de Alcaraz in Riopar (Albacete), in addition to the centers that They
had been operating in Toledo and Cuenca, which suffered a dizzying
decline throughout this century.
In 1785, with the territorial
planning of Floridablanca, Castilla-La Mancha was divided into the
provinces of Cuenca, Guadalajara, La Mancha and Toledo.
liberal revolution
The arrival of Napoleonic troops had various
effects on the society of the time. In 1808 a process of revolution and
liberation began, culminating in the expulsion of the French troops and
the restoration of Ferdinand VII to the throne. However, the liberal
revolution will extend, with varied alternatives, until the end of the
First Republic in 1874.
If during the 18th century the area
currently occupied by Castilla-La Mancha was divided into four
provinces, in the first third of the 19th century there were other
attempts at division, such as that of José I (prefectures in 1810), the
provincial of 1812 and the of 1822, which had no practical
repercussions.
In 1833, with the provincial division of Francisco
Javier de Burgos, the provincial boundaries were modified; Most of the
province of La Mancha was replaced by the Province of Ciudad Real,
although part of its territory passed to the provinces of Cuenca, Toledo
and the newly created province of Albacete, which replaced the Province
of Chinchilla, and which It was made up of part of the territories of
the former provinces of Cuenca, La Mancha and Murcia.
In 1834,
Queen María Cristina de Borbón-Dos Sicilias established the Royal Court
of Albacete with headquarters in the city of Albacete and with
jurisdiction over the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Ciudad Real and
Cuenca. It was formed with rooms from the Royal Chancery of Granada,
appointing Pedro Simó y López de Haro, dean of the Royal Court of the
Degrees of Seville, as regent.
During the revolutionary six-year
period (1868-1874) there were federalist outbreaks in Castilla-La
Mancha. Proof of this is the publication of several newspapers with a
republican-federal ideology such as El Cantón Manchego of Albacete
(1870), La Vanguardia (1869) of Cuenca, La Voz de La Alcarria of
Guadalajara or El Federal Toledano and El Cantón Toledano (1873).
published in Toledo, although of lesser significance than in other areas
of the country.
The Castilian Federal Pact promoted the
rapprochement of seventeen Castilian provinces to give birth to two
federated states, one of them being the current Castilla-La Mancha
together with the Community of Madrid.
After the fall of the First Republic, and the Bourbon restoration in the figure of Alfonso XII, the Constitution of 1876 was approved. The political system that was established was bipartisan between the Liberal-Conservative Party and the Liberal-Fusionist Party. This made it possible to overcome the single-party system that had led to a lack of democratic legitimacy for Isabel II and her subsequent overthrow. The new panorama will allow greater stability, but the constriction of the system in the long run, with a fictitious political alternation, will cause serious problems that will lead to political corruption, whose basis was in the so-called caciquism, widespread throughout Castilla-La Mancha.
In relation to the administrative division, the Mancomunidades decree
of 1913 was going to bring with it a rebirth of regionalisms. From this
time on, the minorities sensitized to regionalism within the current
area of Castilla-La Mancha were divided between the supporters of a
Castilla formed by the Castilian provinces of the north and south of the
Central System, and on the other hand the supporters of La Mancha and
its area of influence, which created the Manchego Regional Center
(1906), within which the Central Manchega Youth would be established in
1918, which would defend said La Mancha regional ideal. The young people
of this organization requested the creation of a Manchegan Commonwealth
composed of the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, and Toledo.
The successive crises of the Monarchy, the period of Primo de
Rivera's dictatorship and the advent of the Second Republic are
experienced in Castilla-La Mancha with similar intensity to that of the
rest of Spain. During the Civil War, the Castilian-La Mancha territory
was the scene of bloody battles (taking of the Alcázar of Toledo, battle
of Guadalajara and presence of the International Brigades in Albacete).
The decades that followed the Spanish Civil War were marked by the
massive emigration of Castilian-Manchegos, both to the most
industrialized areas of the country and abroad. Between the years 1950
and 1960, more than half a million people emigrated from the Community.
It was the time of the so-called Spanish economic miracle (1959-1973).
The promulgation of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the creation of the so-called "State of Autonomies", is the starting point for a new era. Self-government has meant for Castilla-La Mancha the acquisition of identity, the assumption of new powers and the transformation of the territory.
Although there had already been several attempts to create entities
more or less coincident with what would ultimately become Castilla-La
Mancha, the greatest milestones and contacts occurred during the
transition.
Already in 1977, the deputies of the five provinces
that would make up Castilla-La Mancha met in Cuenca, and agreed to
demand the effective recognition of the region on the basis of the
identity and socioeconomic problems that these territories shared.
In January 1978, a meeting of parliamentarians from the UCD, PSOE
and AP (main political groups of the time) took place at the Fuensalida
Palace in Toledo to form the Assembly of Parliamentarians, in charge of
carrying out the first work and debates leading to it. to the
configuration of Castilla-La Mancha as an autonomous community. The
first step will be the constitution of the Pre-autonomous Entity that
will take place at the end of that year in the church of San Agustín de
Almagro, naming Antonio Fernández-Galiano (UCD) as the first president
of the Pre-autonomy.
During the pre-autonomous stage, the
foundations of the community will be laid, institutionally and legally,
and the first transfers of powers with the central State will be
managed. It will be a stage of complicated negotiations, especially for
the inclusion of the provinces of Madrid and Guadalajara in the new
pre-autonomous entity. The integration of Madrid will be rejected after
the general elections of 1979 due to opposition from the deputies of the
UCD, the rest of the provinces and the PSOE of Ciudad Real and Albacete,
mainly.
Meanwhile, the integration of Guadalajara was close to
not taking place. The citizens of the province were very reticent about
it and a good part of the Guadalajara representatives and politicians -
all those from the PSOE and the PCE and some from the UCD - insisted on
the entry of Madrid into the new Community and took a position in the
non-integration of Guadalajara in a Castilla-La Mancha without Madrid.
Finally, while in the rest of the provinces the majority of city
councils spoke favorably of the creation of the new Community on
November 28, 29 and 30, 1979, in Guadalajara only the Provincial
Council, monochrome of the UCD, did so. and the five deputies of the
judicial party of Molina de Aragón were absent from the plenary session,
putting their positions at the disposal of the party. In the following
days, some town councils spoke out, mostly against it. Only Pastrana
voted in favor and Guadalajara postponed the decision due to the strong
rejection of most of the councilors of the PSOE, PCE and AP-UN. Given
the lack of unanimity, it would be decided to postpone the decision for
six months to try to convince the representatives opposed to the
integration of Guadalajara, that they should opt between uniprovincial
autonomy, autonomy with Madrid or the integration of Castilla-La Mancha,
putting the emphasis on the peculiarities of the province, which could
be contemplated in the future statute. Finally, in May 1980, the
representatives of the PSOE, alleging reasons of national interest and
having no other way out, especially after the recent integration of the
province of Segovia into Castilla y León in a similar problem, decided
to approve the integration of the province. of Guadalajara in the new
autonomous community.
It will be in the Plenary Session of the
Community Board, in the session held in Guadalajara on November 21,
1980, when it will be unanimously decided to begin the autonomous
process through article 143 of the Constitution. On November 24, 1980,
the five provincial councils adopted favorable agreements to begin the
autonomous process and consult the city councils. Of the 915
municipalities that the community had, about 85% were in favor of it
within the established period.
On December 3, 1981, a mixed
assembly of parliamentarians and provincial deputies, meeting in Alarcón
(Cuenca), approved the Draft Statute of Autonomy of Castilla-La Mancha
and its submission to the Congress of Deputies for processing as an
Organic Law. Two months later, on February 1, 1982, he would be
appointed president of the Gonzalo Payo Subiza Pre-autonomous Entity
(UCD), who would manage the last phase of the autonomous project.
On August 10, 1982, the Cortes Generales approved the Statute of
Autonomy of Castilla-La Mancha through Organic Law 9/1982, of August 10,
which allows Castilla-La Mancha to access self-government. On December
7, 1983, Toledo was chosen as the headquarters of the Community Board of
Castilla-La Mancha by a vote in the Cortes, with the approval of 27
deputies (the 22 socialists and the five from the Popular Group of
Toledo), three against (the popular people of Cuenca) and 12
abstentions.
The autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha thus
becomes a territorial entity that, within the established legal order
(the constitutional order of the Spanish State), has legislative
autonomy and executive powers (power to approve laws and other powers),
as well as such as the power to administer itself through its own
representatives (through its Government and Administration).
On
May 23, 1989, the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha was
established as the highest body of judicial power in the autonomous
community. The Statute of Autonomy of Castilla-La Mancha established its
headquarters in the city of Albacete.
On October 6, 2005, the two
parties with parliamentary representation, PSOE and PP, signed the
Fuensalida Pact, a declaration resulting from consensus that laid the
foundations so that, within the limits of the Spanish constitution,
Castilla-La Mancha could achieve the highest levels of competence and
self-government, reforming the Statute of Autonomy.
The Cortes of
Castilla-La Mancha unanimously approved the proposal of the Law to
Reform the Statute of Autonomy, whose consideration in the Congress of
Deputies was on October 14, 2008. After its discussion in the Cortes
Generales, in where he encountered disagreements between the two main
parliamentary groups represented, on April 26, 2010, the Cortes of
Castilla-La Mancha decided to withdraw the statutory text from the
General Cortes of the State.
In 2014, a new reform of the Statute
of Autonomy was presented in the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha, reducing
the number of deputies in the courts, being, according to political
commentator Ignacio Escolar:
the first time in Spanish democratic
history that an autonomous statute is changed unilaterally and without
consensus, only with the votes of the PP.
The various civilizations that have lived in Castilla-La Mancha have left their mark on the community, leaving an abundant heritage and cultural legacy. It is a land rich in traditions with various influences, where the figure of Don Quixote of La Mancha stands out as its ambassador to the world. Its position, in the heart of the Iberian Peninsula, has made it the undisputed protagonist of its history.
Castilla-La Mancha has been the land and inspiration of great artists. In the field of painting, authors linked to or born in the Community stand out, such as El Greco, more currently the Tomellosero Antonio López, or the Barrajense Benjamín Palencia. In the sculpture we find Gustavo Torner from Cuenca. Filmmakers known throughout the world, the director of Calzada de Calatrava Pedro Almodóvar or the Albacete native José Luis Cuerda.
In addition to those already mentioned from Cuenca, Gustavo Torner and José María Cruz Novillo, we must add the Tomellosero Antonio López García. All of them have also developed intense work as painters, to which we must add, in this field of sculpture, José Luis Sánchez, from Almansa, and the natural image maker from the province of Cuenca, Luis Marco Pérez. The most representative work of Castilian-La Mancha sculpture is that of the Doncel de Sigüenza (Guadalajara), which dates from the end of the 15th century.
The art of architecture has left beautiful monuments in Castilla-La
Mancha throughout history, the result of the people and cultures that
have inhabited these lands.
In the Roman era, monuments stand out
such as the Roman circus of Toledo, which dates back to the 1st century,
or the Roman city of Segóbriga in the province of Cuenca. Later, the
Visigoth culture also left its mark on the community, the remains of the
Basilica of Cabeza de Griego, in Cuenca, or the church of San Pedro de
la Mata in Sonseca attest to this.
The importance of Toledo
during the Early Middle Ages is reflected in a multitude of monuments
that have survived to the present day, among which the church of Santa
María de Melque stands out, located near La Puebla de Montalbán, or
already in the city. : the mosques of La Tornerías, Bab-Mardum, later
converted into the church of Cristo de la Luz. In addition, the one
classified as Mudejar, but immersed in Almohad aesthetics, also stands
out, the synagogue of Santa María la Blanca de Toledo, an architectural
collaboration of the three medieval Spanish cultures or the Tránsito
synagogue. In Ciudad Real there are works of Mudejar architecture such
as the Toledo Gate and the Church of Santiago.
During the Middle
Ages, fortifications and buildings of a religious nature were erected,
which even today surprise with their dimensions, especially those of a
defensive nature, which number in the hundreds throughout the territory
of Castilla-La Mancha, and which have given it its name. . Among them,
the San Servando castle in Toledo, from the beginning of the 10th
century, the Belmonte castle in the province of Cuenca, or the Montizon
castle in the province of Ciudad Real stand out.
The Cathedral of
Sigüenza, built between 1144-1326 and of Romanesque-Gothic character,
the Cathedral of Cuenca (built between 1196 and 1257), and the Cathedral
of Toledo (1226-1493) are key buildings within Spanish Gothic
architecture.
Later, and already in the 14th century, the Almansa
castle is an example of more refined defensive architecture. In another
aspect, the monastery of San Juan de los Reyes (15th-16th centuries) or
the Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara show Gothic-Elizabethan
features. The Hanging Houses of Cuenca are also from this period, or
groups such as the main square of Alcaraz, Tembleque and Villanueva de
los Infantes.
The Spanish Baroque has a clear exponent in the
"transparent" of the Toledo Cathedral by Narciso Tomé, where sculpture
and architecture are integrated to achieve a dramatic effect of light.
Neoclassicist are the Toledo weapons factory by the architect
Francesco Sabatini, or the building of the Royal University of Toledo,
the palace of Antonio de Mendoza or convent of La Piedad in Guadalajara,
or the building of the Mercantile and Industrial Circle of
Villarrobledo.
More recent in time are buildings of neoclassical
inspiration in the 20th century, such as the Pasaje de Lodares in
Albacete (1925) in a modernist style and designed by Buenaventura
Ferrando Castells, or the Ciudad Real Town Hall building (1976) in
neoclassical style and inspired by Flanders, the work of architect
Fernando Higueras.
In the 21st century, the most notable
buildings are the Torre de Caja de Guadalajara in the capital of
Alcarreña, designed by the architects Solano & Catalán, and the
buildings of the Palace of Congresses and Exhibitions of Albacete.
Popular architecture in Castilla-La Mancha has different aspects
depending on the various geographical areas of the Community, as a
result of the extension of the territory.
In the central area of
La Mancha, the typical constructions of windmills that have gone around
the world thanks to the work of Miguel de Cervantes, or the silos, caves
and drums that fulfilled storage functions stand out. Another typical
construction in this area were the quadrangular-shaped inns or inns.
Black architecture developed in the northwest of the province of
Guadalajara, using slate as a fundamental element for construction. The
name of this type of building comes from its dark color.
In the field of architecture, in Castilla-La Mancha, men like Juan Guas, of French origin but settled in Toledo, Alonso de Covarrubias Antón and Enrique Egas, Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli, Francisco de Mora from Cuenca, Andrés de Alcaraceños stand out. Vandelvira and Agustín Ortiz de Villajos or the contemporaries Francisco Jareño y Alarcón, Miguel Fisac or Tomás Alía.
Painting has also been an art in which Castilla-La Mancha has stood
out as the land of birth and adoption of great artists. Among them: El
Greco, who chose Toledo to develop his work, Fernando Yáñez de la
Almedina, or the Toledo native Juan Sánchez Cotán between the 15th and
16th centuries. Later, and at the end of the 19th century, the Ciudad
Real residents Ángel Andrade and Carlos Vázquez stood out. In the 20th
century the list of painters is immense, however, they stand out for
their work: Benjamín Palencia from Albacete, Gregorio Prieto from Ciudad
Real, Antonio López Torres, Manuel López-Villaseñor y López-Cano, José
García Ortega, Antonio López García, Gustavo Torner José María Cruz
Novillo from Cuenca, who shared a passion for another art such as
sculpture, or Rafael Canogar and Amalia Avia from Toledo.
The
works of these and other authors can be seen, mainly in the cities of
Toledo and Cuenca. Although there are numerous art galleries throughout
the Community, the most notable museums dedicated to painting are the El
Greco Museum, the Santo Tomé Parish Museum, the Duque de Lerma
Foundation Museum, the Alcázar de San Juan Municipal Museum or the
Contemporary Art Museum. of Toledo, or in the Antonio Pérez Foundation
Museum, the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, the Antonio Saura Foundation
Museum and the International Museum of Electrography that are located in
the city of Cuenca.
Castilla-La Mancha is a land of great names in Castilian literature
with their roots deep in history. Already in the Visigoth era, some
renowned authors stood out, such as San Ildefonso or San Julián de
Toledo.
Later, and between the 11th and 14th centuries, the
nucleus of the School of Translators of Toledo stands out, and
personalities such as Alfonso The Celestina.
In the 16th and 17th
centuries, a time of the full splendor of Hispanic literature, we can
highlight, among those born in the Community, the poets Garcilaso de la
Vega, Fray Luis de León or Bernardo de Balbuena, or the Juan de Valdés
brothers. and Alfonso de Valdés, Melchor Cano or the playwright
Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla.
In the 18th century, we find the
enlightened politician Melchor de Macanaz (persecuted by the
Inquisition), or the eminent philologist Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro, or in
the following century the Cuenca publicist and geographer Fermín
Caballero.
Already in the last 20th century, the list of
prominent poets is very broad, highlighting names such as Juan Alcaide,
Federico Muelas, Ramón de Garciasol, Rafael Morales, Juan Antonio
Villacañas, Ángel Crespo, Félix Grande, Eladio Cabañero or Antonio
Martínez Sarrión.
Among the novelists we must mention Herrera
Petere, Ángel María de Lera, Francisco García Pavón or Rodrigo Rubio,
without forgetting the Ciudad Real native Antonio Gala; and among the
playwrights, Antonio Buero Vallejo, one of the most important men of
contemporary theater, or Francisco Nieva.
Also notable in the
fields of research are the scholar of Spanish phonetics Tomás Navarro
Tomás, the Arabist Ángel González Palencia, Luis Astrana Marín as a
great researcher of classical works, and the Ciudad Real historians
Carmelo Viñas y Mey and Antonio García Bellido.
In 2008 there were 609 libraries in Castilla-La Mancha (486 public,
19 for specific user groups, 9 higher education institutions, and 95
specialized).
In 2010, the Community Public Library Network was
made up of 542 centers, including 8 library buses, with a total of
6,393,087 collections (videos, books, electronic documents,...).
Furthermore, the Library of Castilla-La Mancha has 403,608 volumes and
is considered, in its ancient collection, to be one of the most
important in Spain. Among its bibliographical funds are magnificent and
unique collections such as the Bourbon-Lorenzana, with 414 incunabula,
101,140 books printed between the 16th and 19th centuries, and 758
manuscripts from the 11th to the 19th centuries.
Sebastián Durón and Jesús Villa-Rojo, Jacinto Guerrero and Emilio
Cebrián Ruiz from Toledo, Luis Cobos from Ciudad Real, and Martín Baeza
Rubio from Almansa.
As singers and groups, José Luis Perales from
Cuenca stands out or has stood out, among others, and lately the
Guadalajaran Despistaos or the Albacete native Rozalén. Also the
Talavera Alberto Jiménez, vocalist of Miss Caffeina.
In addition,
large musical festivals of the most varied styles are held in
Castilla-La Mancha; Among them, events such as the Viñarock festival in
Villarrobledo stand out, which attracts more than 30 000 people, the
Cuenca Religious Music Week, the La Mancha or Mancha Pop music festival
in Quintanar de la Orden, the Toledo International Music Festival, or
the La Campiña winter festival in Guadalajara.
The common thread of cinema shot in Castilla-La Mancha has been, to a
greater or lesser extent, closely linked to the character of Don
Quixote, having been made into a film on more than thirty occasions, and
inspiring filmmakers of the stature of Rafael Gil, Ken Hugues, Alfonso
Ungría, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón and Orson Welles, among others.
In addition, historical figures have marked the history of Community
Cinema, highlighting El Cid by Anthony Mann (1961), who filmed several
scenes in the province of Cuenca with Charlton Heston and Sofía Loren,
La Orden de Toledo by Luis Buñuel, or more recently The Ninth Door by
Roman Polansky or I give you my eyes by Iciar Bollaín.
Among the
filmmakers, the Albacete native José Luis Cuerda stands out, with two
Goya awards, or the Ciudad Real residents Miguel Morayta Martínez and
Pedro Almodóvar, the latter having been the filmmaker who has achieved
the greatest resonance outside of Spain in recent decades. He has
received the main international film awards, including two Oscar awards,
two Golden Globes, five BAFTA awards, six Goya awards and other
important awards such as the Prince of Asturias Award. Some of his works
have been filmed in Castilla-La Mancha, such as Amanece que no es poco
by Cuerda or Volver by Almodóvar. Both authors have starred in
cinematographic tourism routes that cover various parts of the
Castilian-La Mancha geography. It has also been the birthplace of great
actresses such as Sara Montiel, from Ciudad Real.
Several film
festivals are held in the community, among which the Castilla-La Mancha
Film Festival, the Castilla-La Mancha International Social Film
Festival, the Albacete International Film Festival ''Abycine'', or the
Ciudad Real Short Film Festival.
According to the Autonomous Barometer published by the Center for
Sociological Research (CIS) between September and October 2012,
religious affiliation in Castilla-La Mancha is:
81.1% Catholic
2.1% other religions
11.5% unaffiliated (agnostics and unaffiliated
believers)
3.7% atheists
The importance of crafts in Castilla-La Mancha is supported by its
value as an economic activity and a sign of identity of the Community.
In 1982, Castilla-La Mancha received exclusive powers in the field of
crafts (EACLM art. 31.1.14 ª).
The cutlery of Albacete is the
most well-known artisan sector in Castilla-La Mancha in the world. As a
result, Albacete is known as the City of Cutlery. The city is home to
the most important multinationals in the sector in Spain, employs
thousands of people and exports to all over the world. The capital of La
Mancha has several institutions and monuments related to the sector such
as the Albacete Cutlery Museum, the Albacete Cutlery School or the
emblematic Cuchillero Monument, in the Plaza del Altozano.
Currently there are more than 2,800 artisans (70% men and 30% women),
spread throughout the territory, who carry out their activity in
different sectors, highlighting wood, ceramics, pottery, metal due to
the number of workshops. and textiles, among others. In this sense, the
province of Toledo stands out as the province with the highest number of
artisans (53.2%), reflecting significant concentrations of this type of
activity (Toledo, Talavera de la Reina, El Puente of the Archbishop,
Sonseca or Lagartera).
On the other hand, it is worth
highlighting the internationally known Crafts Fair of the city of
Cuenca, which is held every August and which brings together some 25,000
annual visitors and more than 90 exhibitors.
Regarding events,
the Castilla-La Mancha Crafts Fair (FARCAMA) stands out, which is held
in Toledo during the month of October.
There are many cultural and museum centers throughout the community of Castilla-La Mancha that deal with the most varied topics.
In Castilla-La Mancha there are 184 museums, dedicated to multiple fields: archaeology, history, ethnography, painting, mining, theater, wine or cutlery. Of them, the Government of Castilla-La Mancha manages twelve museums, having visited them more of 550,000 visitors a year.
The community has a network of theaters that offer varied programming for citizens. Every year nearly 2,300 actions are carried out in 250 municipalities.
In Castilla-La Mancha there are five archaeological parks,
distributed throughout the five provinces. The sites contain remains
from the Iron Age, the Bronze Age and even the Early Middle Ages:
Alarcos Archaeological Park: Ciudad Real
Segóbriga Archaeological
Park: Saelices (Cuenca)
Recópolis Archaeological Park: Zorita de los
Canes (Guadalajara)
Carranque Archaeological Park: Carranque (Toledo)
Tolmo de Minateda: Hellín (Albacete)
In Ciudad Real is the Playa Park water park. Since January 2019, the Puy du Fou park on the history of Spain has existed on the outskirts of Toledo. The complex consists of artificial villas that allow an immersion in Spanish culture and history and has been awarded various awards such as the best show in the world or the most innovative park.
Castilla-La Mancha has thirty Historical Sites, two of them, the cities of Cuenca and Toledo, classified as World Heritage, a distinction also held by the Mercury Heritage of Almadén and twelve other localities that are part of the rock art of the arch. Mediterranean of the Iberian Peninsula. Additionally, in the community there are 773 assets of cultural interest.
Castilla-La Mancha is a land rich in traditions and customs of the
most different origins, some of them dating back to the pagan traditions
of the first Iberian peoples. The traditional music of this region is
very varied. Among the dances, the seguidilla from La Mancha stands out,
without a doubt, as a representative piece, without leaving aside others
such as the jotas or the fandango and its variants (fandanguillo,
malagueña, rondeña, etc. It is also a region rich in ritual dances of
sticks, ribbons or castanets, which are performed on patron saint or
Corpus Christi festivals.
Among the most representative musical
instruments of its folklore are the guitar, the lute, the bandurria, the
guitarro or requinto, the tambourine, etc. Among the aerophones we
highlight the dulzaina, which is present in the province of Guadalajara,
in the province of Toledo, (region of Torrijos and Mancha Alta de
Toledo) in the province of Cuenca, (especially in western Mancha,
Alcarria and in the Serranía ) and in Albacete (Lezuza, Chinchilla,
Pozohondo, Villarrobledo, Cenizate, Riópar, etc., etc.), where older
copies without keys are still played.
In Castilla-La Mancha there are festivals and fairs in each town, the
result of a long tradition and various influences. The region has five
festivals of international tourist interest, which are the Albacete
Fair, Holy Week in Hellín, Holy Week in Cuenca, Corpus Christi
Procession in Toledo and Holy Week in Toledo.
Other notable
festivals are the festivals of the Virgen de la Antigua of Guadalajara,
the Pandorga festivals of Ciudad Real or the Major Festivals of Almansa
(Moors and Christians), the latter declared of National Tourist
Interest.
In addition to fairs and festivals, in Castilla-La Mancha there are very ancient traditions that have their roots in the past. Those that have a religious background stand out, such as the pilgrimages of Nuestra Señora del Monte de Bolaños de Calatrava, the pilgrimage of Nuestra Señora de Cortes in Alcaraz or the Cristo de Urda in Toledo. In January the San Antón bonfires are celebrated in multiple locations. The tradition of mayos also exists in large areas where jotas are sung and danced to the beat of rondallas and groups.
Bullfighting has a long history in the Community, proof of this is
the existence in Castilla-La Mancha of 195 permanent bullrings.
In December 2011, the Community Board of Castilla-La Mancha declared
bullfighting an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), although measures to
support the sector had already been developed previously. In 2009, this
festival generated an amount of 250-300 million euros, with 92 fighting
bull farms existing in the community, and 2,319 bullfighting shows were
held, of which 641 were professional (bullfights, bullfights,
bullfights, festivals bullfighting or bullfighting) and 1678 were
popular, among which are the releases and running of cattle and
bullfighting competitions.
In Castilla-La Mancha the official language is Spanish, although
various dialects can be found throughout the territory. In the
northernmost area of the region is the northern Castilian dialect, which
affects the provinces of Guadalajara and northern Cuenca. In the
northwestern area known as Tierras de Talavera, a Spanish language very
similar to that of northern Extremadura is spoken, and in the provinces
of Albacete, Ciudad Real and the south of Toledo and Cuenca, the
Manchego dialect is found.
Some linguistic features and some
surnames from the Albacete town of Caudete suggest that Valencian could
have been spoken, coexisting with Castilian, in said town, which was
part of Valencia between the 15th and 18th centuries.
You cannot understand the cuisine of Castilla-La Mancha without
reviewing the universal work of Miguel de Cervantes, The Ingenious
Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. In this work, which can be
considered an authentic compendium of La Mancha and Castilian cuisine,
Cervantes, through the 126 chapters that compose it, refers to some 150
recipes and typical dishes of the Community, such as the famous duels
and quebrantos, ratatouille from La Mancha or migas in any of its
varieties: Castilian or La Mancha.
Castilian-La Mancha cuisine is
made up of a wide variety of strong and deep-rooted dishes, although
they are simply prepared. The basis of this cuisine is the great variety
of quality fruit and vegetable products available in the Community,
without forgetting meat, with game having a great role in many typical
dishes, to which wine must be added, since Castilla- La Mancha has a
significant extension of vineyards, however it is considered "the
largest vineyard in the world with its nearly 600,000 hectares."
Despite this traditional character of regional cuisine, today, you can
find a large number of restaurants and inns where you can taste
traditional dishes in a more creative way and with a touch of quality.
Furthermore, Castilla-La Mancha has a large amount of recognized and
protected quality agri-food offering through the twenty-five
denominations of origin existing in the community, which cover numerous
agri-food products.
Castilla-La Mancha is a community with a great sporting tradition, where there is a wide network of sports facilities and venues. All the municipalities of Castilla-La Mancha, even the smallest ones, have some venue for practicing sports. In 2010, 39% of the population practiced some type of sporting activity, counting in 2010 with 6,551 federated clubs distributed by the 42 existing territorial sports federations, and where 153,311 athletes are registered. In addition, Castilla-La Mancha has with a support program for elite Castilla-La Mancha Olympic sports that supports high-level athletes in the community (more than 50 athletes in 2010).
The most popular sports in Castilla-La Mancha due to their following,
hobby or practice are football, basketball, swimming, cycling,
athletics, indoor football, handball or hunting.
The most
important football club in Castilla-La Mancha is Albacete Balompié, a
historic Spanish football club and the only team in the region that has
played in the First Division for a total of 7 seasons. Among the most
prominent clubs in the autonomous community is the U. D. Socuéllamos,
the U.B. Conquense, Deportivo Guadalajara or C.D. Toledo. Furthermore,
in this discipline the community has had excellent players and coaches
of international prestige such as Andrés Iniesta from Albacete, scorer
of the goal that gave Spain the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Santiago
Cañizares or Juande Ramos from Ciudad Real, or David De Gea from Toledo
or Abel Resino, among others.
In handball, the importance that
the Ciudad Real Handball Club has had in recent years is undeniable,
managing to become one of the most successful clubs in Europe, although
other teams that play or have played in the ASOBAL League also stand
out, such as B. Enchanted City of Cuenca, the Guadalajara Handball Club
or the Toledo Handball.
Castilla-La Mancha is also represented in
the National Futsal League, with teams such as Viña Albali Valdepeñas in
Primera and Talavera F.S. and Manzanares Futsal in Second.
In
cycling, figures stand out, some of them legends of the sport, such as
Óscar Sevilla from Albacete, Luis Ocaña from Cuenca or Federico Martín
Bahamontes from Toledo.
The Community also has representatives of
the highest level in tennis such as Guillermo García-López from Albacete
or Feliciano López from Toledo.
In other sports, Toledo's Álvaro
Bautista and Julián Simón stand out in motorcycling, who have won two
world championships; in athletics, names such as Ciudad Real native
Roberto Parra, Cuenca's Juan Carlos de la Ossa, or Toledo's Julio Rey
stand out.
In 2012, Castilla-La Mancha has a total of 6,064 sports facilities
distributed throughout all the municipalities of the community.
Of the total facilities, the Albacete Circuit or the Carlos Belmonte
Stadium in Albacete, the Quijote Arena in Ciudad Real, the La Fuensanta
Sports Complex in Cuenca, the Pedro Escartín Stadium or the Multipurpose
Palace in Guadalajara, or the Salto del Sports Complex stand out. Toledo
Horse.
Sports events
The sporting tradition of Castilla-La
Mancha has resulted in the organization of important events and events
in the sporting world, whether national, European or global. Among the
annual events, the FIM CEV International Championship, the Endurance
World Championship, the European Truck Championship or the European
Motorcycle Championship at the Albacete Circuit stand out, the Spanish
Motocross Championship that celebrates a test in Talavera de la Reina.
In 2013 Guadalajara will be one of the venues for the World Handball
Championship that Spain will host, with the President's Cup being held
in the Alcarreña city.
In Castilla-La Mancha, in addition to the state media, there is a
wide range of written press media that collect the most varied types of
regional and provincial information. There are even several newspapers
that are distributed throughout the Community or in a large part of it.
Written and digital press in Castilla-La Mancha (by provinces):
Province of Albacete: La Cerca and La Tribuna de Albacete.
Province
of Ciudad Real: The Day of Ciudad Real, The Tribune of Ciudad Real, The
Tribune of Puertollano, Lanza, The Region of Puertollano, Te Digo,
Ciudad Real Magazine, Pasos Magazine.
Province of Cuenca: Cuenca
News, Vocesdecuenca.es, El Día de Cuenca, Cuenca Information
Province
of Guadalajara: El Día de Guadalajara, Nueva Alcarria, El Decano,
Guadalajara Dos Mil, La Crónica de Guadalajara, El Heraldo del Henares
or Henares al día.
Province of Toledo: El Día de Toledo, La Tribuna
de Toledo, La Tribuna de Talavera, ABC Toledo, La Voz del Tajo, La Voz
de Talavera, Aqui Magazine or Ecos Magazine.
Mancha, Global
Castilla-La Mancha or El Digital de Castilla-La Mancha, Periódico de
Castilla-La Mancha [periodicoclm.es], even of a sports nature such as El
Digital Deportivo, among others.
In Castilla-La Mancha, the public radio station Radio Castilla-La
Mancha, belonging to the Radiotelevisión de Castilla-La Mancha entity,
stands out. It began broadcasting on May 30, 2001.
In addition to
the state stations, there are many municipal, regional or provincial
radio stations that are distributed throughout the autonomous territory.
Due to their importance, the channels stand out: Radio Azul, Radio
Surco, or Nova Onda.
public chain
The Public Radiotelevision Entity of Castilla–La
Mancha has a television network, Castilla-La Mancha Televisión, created
through the approval of the Law of Creation of the Public
Radiotelevision Entity of Castilla–La Mancha of May 26, 2000, beginning
its emissions on December 13, 2001.
Castilla-La Mancha TV
Castilla-La Mancha TV HD
Private chains
Castilla-La Mancha
currently has a private regional television channel.
The
Regional
They broadcast throughout the territory and there is a wide
range of local or municipal, regional or provincial chains.