Murcia Exposed

The municipal area of Yecla is located at the northern end of the Region of Murcia, bordered by Albacete and Alicante. The dominant landscape forms mountains of moderate altitude. The main elevations of Yecla are the Sierra de Salinas, Monte Arabí­, Sierra de la Magdalena, Sierra de las Pansas, Cerro Picario and El Puerto.The oldest archaeological remains in Yecla are of the Palaeolithic period, located in the Fuente and the Cueva del Lagrimal. Upon entering the Neolithic times, one of the characteristics of this period are the Rock Art manifestations, centred in Monte Arabí­ (Cantos de la Visera and Cueva del Mediodí­a). In 1912, they were the first in the Region of Murcia and, declared a UNESCO Patrimonio de la Humanidad in 1998.The following period, denominated Copper Age, Yecla has two establishments (la Balsa and la Ceja). In these locations are abundant decorated ceramics.The Bronze Age provides Yecla an interesting group of locations, principally the Cerro de la Campana, but there are many other locations, like the fortified hills of Arabilejo, el Castellar and el Pulpillo; or la Perdiz, Monte de Felipe, las Moratillas, el Portichuelo, Tobarrillas, Rincones, Cerro J. Molina, La Chimenea, Casa Sánchez, Umbrí­a del Fator Cerro de la Magdalena, and El Serral with abundant ceramic remains.The Iberian culture began in the 7^th century (southeast peninsular of Alicante, Murcia and part of Albacete, therefore Yecla has the common characteristics of the three zones.

There is an old Iberian sanctuary in the Cueva de la Zorra on the southwest face of the Cerro del Castillo. The location contained several objects e.g plates decorated with geometric patterns, and libation glasses. Other locations are Hoyica del Rí­o; Pulpillo, Marisparza and Casa de la Ermita.Romanization is clearly demonstrated at Los Torrejones, which has an impressive mosaic. This fortuitous discovery was due to some agricultural works. The bronze amulet of the Casa de las Cebollas is a clear example of the normalization of the Roman faith in the people. It has the form of a 'Y'. Yecla has also funerals rites from Roman time, with the remains of the incinerated body rested in an urn inside a niche sealed by a tablet. Between the 8^th and 10^th centuries the area was practically uninhabited. From 1244 Yecla passed to Castile. In August of 1476 with Chinchilla, Albacete, Hellí­n, Tobarra, Villena, and Sax, Yecla organized, after meeting in Corral Rubio, faced Isabel 1 from Castile, and on 2^nd September she confirmed the privileges of the village of Yecla.

The definitive segregation from the Marquesado de Villena took place on 25^th March 1480. The War of Succession closed a chapter of the history of Yecla in which poverty, hunger and social turbulence had marked a long period of decadence begun at the beginning of the 17^th century. The municipality is now an important industrial centre, whose main activity is based on the timber and furniture sector. The town boasts 400 firms devoted to the manufacturing of furniture, upholstery, auxiliary furniture and timber related industries. It creates 6000 jobs. The furniture that is manufactured includes practically all styles, from classical, Castilian to modern, youth or avant-garde.

Wine

Archaeological remains have shown evidence of wine making from Phoenician and Roman times, by discovering remains from the 1^st century in the Fuente del Pinar.Yecla received its D.O. status in 1975 although 20 years prior to that certain bodega had already begun to concentrate on quality, leaving behind more robust and rustic
styles to offer new, more interesting bottled reds, the majority of which fully exploit the great potential of the Monastrell grape.This zone of wine production embraces about 6500 hectares of vineyards under the title of "guarantee of origin and quality of the wine of Yecla", being the growing of red wine varieties the predominant ones, occupying 92.5% of the vineyards lands; the main variety is Monastrell, typical of the area and the best adapted to Yecla"s growing conditions, occupying 85% of the vineyards. The rest of red wine varieties is divided into Garnacha, Granacha Tintorera, Tempranillo, Cavernet Sauvignon and Syrah, while among the white varieties are Airen, Merseguera, Macabeo, Malvasia and Chardonnay.

Yecla Tourist Office

Plaza Mayor, 30510 Yecla. Telephone 968 754 104.

Since starting this project the Tourist  Office, in particular Maria Inmaculada Moreno, has been totally supportive, through advice and guidance, and generally coordinating all the requirements of arranging visits, taking photographs and researching information. Maria was born in Yecla in 1982, and educated at J.L Castillo-Puche secondary school. Later she studied tourism at the University of Murcia from 2002-2005. The next two years she studied English language and worked as a waitress and au pair in Exeter (England) and Dublin (Ireland). It was in Dublin that Maria discovered its magnificent and genuine culture, folk music and landscape, which continues to fascinate her. The music of the Dubliners remains a firm favourite.Returning to Spain she started to work in the Tourist  Office of Yecla as manager from 2008 to present. Her hobbies are listening to music, reading novels based on fact or adventures, going to the cinema and travelling. One thing is for certain, when you go to the Tourist Office in Yecla, you will be greeted by a friendly face, a nice smile and you will get all the help you require.