Jumilla

Jumilla () is a town and a municipality in southeastern Spain. It is located in the north east of the Region of Murcia, close to the towns of Cieza and Yecla. According to the 2018 census, the town population was 25,547.

Geography 
The municipality, located in the north of the Region of Murcia, covers . It shares borders with the municipality of Yecla at its northeast and its east; with Abarán, Fortuna and Cieza at its south and with Abanilla at its east. It also adjoins the province of Albacete in the autonomous community Castilla–La Mancha at its west and the province of Alicante in the autonomous community Valencian Community.

History 
This current municipality was populated in the Lower Paleolithic, 450,000 years ago. Remains of human presence in the Upper and Middle Paleolithic were discovered in the same spot as the Lower Paleolithic ones. These have a date of the 80,000 BC.

There is also evidence of human presence in the Epipaleolithic in this territory and it consists in the archaeological sites.

In regards to the Calcolithic in this current municipality, ruins of an ancient hamlet are the trace of the people living in that era. The archaeological site is named El Prado and it has a distance of 3 km from the town Jumilla. This hamlet was inhabited by 300 people and its dwellings consisted in husts formed with reed and mud adobe.

There is a cave in this current municipality which had a sacred purpose for these people 5,000 years ago. In that spot burial sites had been discovered.

The Bronze Age (1900 BC - 900 BC in Region of Murcia) was an important period for Jumilla and this statement is based in the fact that a relevant quantity of hamlets of this era were found with some archaeological operations.

In the 3rd century BC the Phoenicians of Carthage colonised a large part of the Iberian Peninsula: from the current town Cádiz to the Ebro River. A war in which the Roman Republica side and the Carthaginian side were involved took place and its name is the Second Punic War. In this war the Roman side was the winner and as a consequence the territory which had been under Carthaginian control were conquered by the Romans.

As a result of these facts, Jumilla became Roman territory and its farming lands were divided up among legionnaires. Remains of Ancient Roman presence in Jumillaare the roman villas ruins, which are part of the landscape of the municipality. Some remarkable remains are a bronze statuette of the god Hypos and some mosaiscs from a former Roman villa.

There is a trace element from the 5th century AD (Late antiquity) and it consists in a funerary structure.

In the year 711 AD, Berbers and Arabs entered in the Iberian Peninsula and conquered a large portion of it. Approximately the area of the current Region of Murcia became to be under Adb's Al-Aziz power. The Abd's Al-Aziz troops circulated through Jumilla  territory. The Muslims used previous built fortifications for erecting their fortress.

In the mid-13th century, the king of the Taifa of Murcia Aben Hud was menaced by the Castillian troops and by the monarch of the Emirate of Granada Aben Almahar. The king of the Taifa of Murcia reached an agreement with the prince Alfonso X of Castile, who would be king.In this deal issues such as respecting the inhabitants lives and possessions were agreed.

Alfonso X of Castile visited Jumilla when he was king. He decided to get the Church of Santa María de Gracia built and nowadays a part of the church is still preserved.

After the death of Alfonso X, there were dispuets for reigning. The Crown of Aragon took advantage of that situation - It broke out a war against the Crown of Castile and invaded the Kingdom of Murcia. Jumilla was conquered in the late 13th century or in the early 14th century. It was during under the Crown of Aragon Control era when the first historic document which address solely Jumilla was written. The document was about demarcating lands and municipality with boundary markers.

In the mid 14th century, when Jumilla was under the Crown of Aragon power, this town became a border locality. As a consequence, Jumilla must have been ruled with a man having an iron fist. Consequently, the inhabitants asked the king Peter of Castile for help in order to live in territory which belonged again to the Crown of Castile. Frederik of Castile, who was son of the king Ferdinand III of Castile, caused Jumilla to belong to the Crown of Castile again in the year 1357.

Two of the first important facts in Jumilla were the French invasion and the resulting Peninsular War. Jumilla plunged into the war and its inhabitants established the military defence junta.

Economy
Jumilla's economy is based on agriculture with main cultivation being vineyards, olive trees and fruit trees.

Jumilla is home to a large photovoltaic solar power farm, with an installed peak power capacity of 20 megawatts.   The solar farm consists of 120,000 solar panels and covers . The farm's total annual production will be the equivalent of the energy used by 20,000 homes. The solar panels are owned by groups of investors. It is expected to generate an estimated annual income of $28 million (€19 million) and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 42,000 tons a year. Powerlight provided single-axis solar trackers to improve the system's performance.

Jumilla, together with neighboring Yecla, is one of the primary regions for development of the Murciana and Granadina breeds of dairy goats. Jumilla is also a wine-producing region famous for its Carta Roja wines. Jumilla's wine production and culture are particularly notable for its use of the Monastrell grape as a varietal.

See also
Torta de Gazpacho
Spanish wine

References

Category:Municipalities in the Region of Murcia