Elche Spain |
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Elche is located on the Costa Blanca in the South East area of Spain. You will find Elche located off the A-7 motorway south of Alicante. Elche is also North of Murcia and Torrevieja and south of Denia and Javea. According to the 2008 census, Elche has a population of some 228,300 inhabitants, ranking as the third most populated city in the Valencian Community (after Valencia and Alicante) and the 20th largest Spanish city. The economy of Elche is based, in large part, on the footwear industry, with over 1,000 shoe factories, being one of the most important footwear industries in Spain and the rest of Europe, but the agriculture (dates, olives, cereals and pomegranates) are not too far behind.  
Elche sights Elche Palm Grove, is an orchard of over 200,000 palm trees that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. It is the largest palm grove in Europe and only the Arabs can boast a larger expanse in the world. Altamira Castle, located next to the Municipal Park (which, in turn, is a part of the Elche Palm Grove) It was originally built in Almohad times (12th-13th centuries), and was later renovated with brick exterior in the 15th century. A former fortress, in 1913 it became a fabric plant, it has also been used as the town hall and as a prison during the Spanish Civil War, while today is home to the Elche Archaeology and History Museum. The coastline of Elche has an area of 12 km, of which 9 km are beaches formed by dunes and pine groves in a typical Mediterranean landscape. The International Independent Film Festival of Elche is a cultural meeting held in the city since 1978, where they show the best short films made during the previous year of the national and international spheres.  
Elche is recognized world-wide thanks to a religious reinactment of the life of the Virgin Mary ( called the Mystery of Elche ) in the Basilica of Saint Mary. This area of Spain boasts cookery from many areas of the world. To name a handful, there is Food from Spain, Germany, China, France, and Hungary. The weather in Elche is in the main sunny, just like it is everywhere on the Costa Blanca. There are lovely sweltering sunny summers and temperate sunny winters. It does not rain regularly here, but when it does it can show its face in heavy downpours, and the storms here can be utterly magnificent. The closest airport to Elche is Alicante airport which is located approximately 18 km distance. There are also two other airports in the region, to the north is the Valencia airport which is over two hours drive and to the south is the popular Murcia airport at San Javier.
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