Campo de Criptana is a municipality and town in the province of Ciudad Real in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha (Spain). It is found in the region known as La Mancha. Until 1999 the municipal area also included Arenales de San Gregorio, which was situated 13 kilometers southeast of the main core, and had 700 inhabitants. After that date San Gregorio constituted an independent municipality. The area surrounding Campo de Criptana has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Prehistoric implements of hunting, gathering, and agriculture have been found in various locations, as have ceramics, particularly from the Bronze Age. From historic times, the most plentiful remnants have been Ibero–Roman. read more…
Talavera de la Reina is a city and municipality in the western part of the province of Toledo. It is the second-largest nucleus of population in Castile–La Mancha and the largest in the province: its population of 89,000 makes it larger than the city of Toledo, although the latter remains the provincial capital. read more…
Cuenca is the capital of the province of Cuenca. Cuenca is located across a steep spur, whose slopes descend into deep gorges of the Júcar and Huécar rivers. It is divided into two separate settlements: the “new” city is situated south-west of the old one, which is divided by the Huécar course. read more…
Guadalajara is a city and municipality in the natural region of La Alcarria. It is the capital of the province of Guadalajara. It is located roughly 60 kilometres (37 miles) northeast of Madrid on the Henares River, and has a population of 85,000. read more…
Albacete, the capital of the province of Albacete, is a city in southeastern Spain, 258 kilometres (160 miles) southeast of Madrid and 127 kilometres (79 miles) northwest of Murcia. The city has 173,000 inhabitants and 218,000 in the metropolitan area, being the city with the highest number of inhabitants in all Castilla-La Mancha, and one of the main urban areas of the country. Albacete, together with Ciudad Real, has one of the main campuses of the University of Castilla la Mancha. It is estimated that between 9,000 and 10,000 students study at both of the campuses. The city has been known as a center for the manufacture of fine daggers, scissors, and knives. An assembly plant of Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS, began operation in 2007. The aviation industry is one of the main economic drivers of the city, as well as the Albacete Air and Logistics Park, home to major companies. The city hosts a Training Center for NATO pilots. read more…
Ciudad Real (English: Royal Town), with a population of c. 75,000, is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles (185 km) to the north. A high capacity airport (Ciudad Real Central Airport) had been built to serve the city, but closed in 2012. The privately funded airport cost an estimated €1Bn to build. It is now for sale for €100M plus payment of the developers debt. read more…
Castilla–La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain’s autonomous communities. Its capital city is Toledo, and its most populous city is Albacete. Castilla–La Mancha was formerly grouped with the province of Madrid into New Castile (Castilla la Nueva), but with the advent of the modern Spanish system of autonomous regions (Estado de las autonomías), it was separated due to great demographic disparity between the capital and the remaining New-Castilian provinces. Also, distinct from the former New Castile, Castilla–La Mancha added the province of Albacete, which had been part of Murcia; adding Albacete placed all of the historic region of La Mancha within this single region. read more…