Chat in Elda

Elda is a municipality and city of Spain. In the administrative divisions of the country, it belongs to the Valencian Community. Within this, to the province of Alicante, and in turn, in the region of Medio Vinalopó, of which it is administrative capital. It has a population of 52,745 inhabitants according to the last census of the INE, occupying the 8th position in number of inhabitants among the cities of the province. The municipality occupies an area of ​​44.86 square kilometers. The town center is located on a fertile terrace on the banks of the Vinalopó River, and is surrounded by a cirque of mountains.

The relative lack of soil to grow, caused decades ago that the urban area merged totally with that of Petrel, forming a conurbation of almost 90,000 inhabitants, which in the daily life of the neighbors, exists as if it were a single city. The origin of Elda is very old, going back to the Bronze Age, according to the found sites. The first stable and urban population observed dates from about 2500 years, with the Iberian settlement of El Monastil. From then until today, what is known as Elda has belonged to around a dozen empires and kingdoms of various cultures, which have left their mark on local history. Iberians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Visigoths, Umayyads, Andalusians, Almohads, Castilians, Aragonese and so on to the current Kingdom of Spain. After the reconquest, Elda was endowed as Condado.

Its strategic position, located in a key step, in the middle of what was the Via Augusta, and the Camino Real from Madrid to the Mediterranean, make the town has been involved in the transfer of many wars. During the War of Succession, the town was assaulted by English troops. During the War of Independence, it was by French troops, and in the last days of the Civil War, Italian troops entered. The villa has had several favors from royalty. In this way, Juana I granted the privilege of celebrating the December fair, Felipe V granted the title of Fidelísima and Alfonso XIII granted the title of city. He has also sealed his history with both Spanish republics, so that an Elden, Emilio Castelar, although born in Cadiz, became president of the First Republic, and for a brief period of time, Elda was the de facto capital of the II Republic. The economic activity for centuries was agriculture.

Elda has always had a fertile and leafy field, whose greenery and abundance attracted the attention of scholars from different eras who visited the area. The cultivation of cereals, vegetables, fruit trees of all kinds, as well as the production of wine and olive oil, stood out for centuries. The propitious situation next to the river, also made from antiquity develop an important industry that used hydraulic mills, from oil mills, to paper mills, or electricity generators. The abundance of the esparto in the mounts of the zone, did develop during centuries a craftsmanship mainly centered in the manufacture of mats, among other articles. But the greatest economic importance was obtained from the slaughtering and sale of esparto grass to populations that used it in the manufacture of fishing nets or ropes, as was the case of Callosa de Segura or the large espadrille factories of Elche.

The footwear industry from Elden did not evolve from that of espadrilles, since this footwear was hardly made in the village. The shoemaking activity appears through the sale of hand-made shoes in the markets of the surrounding villages. The creation of small workshops was due to the need to replace an agricultural activity, decimated by the salinization of the waters of the Vinalopó River, which evolved into the creation of shoemaking manufactures, which since the late nineteenth century broke out in the creation of a footwear industry on a large scale. During the second half of the 20th century, Elda came to be considered the Spanish capital of footwear, rapidly multiplying its population. Today, the manufacture of designer footwear and quality, remains the main economic engine and hallmark of the city, despite the crisis.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elda

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