Alicante

“ Alicante (a ̇-lē-ka ̇n′tā) , a fortified town and Mediterranean seaport in Spain, capital of the province of the same name, picturesquely situated partly on the slope of a hill, partly on the plain at the foot, about 80 miles south by west of Valencia. The lower town has wide and well-built streets; the upper town is old and irregularly built. The principal manufactures are cotton, linen, and cigars; the chief export is wine, which largely goes to England. Alicante is an ancient town. In 718 it was taken by the Moors, from whom it was wrested about 1240. ”

“ There are two things to do in Alicante. One can walk under the palms of the Alameda which runs along the water's edge and be stared at by those who sit in the cafés, or one can sit in the cafés and stare at those who walk under the palms of the Alameda which runs along the water's edge. Only, if you are a Spanish woman, you will probably walk up and down with your grandmother, while your husband or your father sits at the cafés. ”

“ The morning was so pleasant for lazily sleeping, the afternoon so short for a decent run, the night so vibrant with promenading Spaniards, that—well—the morning was pleasant for lazily sleeping. But all this dalliance was to cease at Alicante. ”

“ I fixed my residence in Alicante, but for long spaces of time, indeed during almost half the year, I am in Valencia. And when I am there, I am looked upon at Cristina's house not merely as a friend, but as a member of the family. Nobody fails to show delight when I am seen arriving, but most of all does my coming please my god-daughter, an enchanting little girl of five years, with eyes as luminous as her mother's. ”

“ Its dry and equable climate renders Alicante a popular health-resort. The city is an episcopal see, and contains a modern cathedral.
The bay affords good anchorage, but only small vessels can come up to the two moles. The harbour is fortified, and there is a small lighthouse on the eastern mole; important engineering works, subsidized by the state, were undertaken in 1902 to provide better accommodation. In the same year 1737 vessels of 939,789 tons entered the port. The trade of Alicante consists chiefly in the manufacture of cotton, linen and woollen goods, cigars and confectionery ”

“ Alicante was formed in 1833 of districts taken from the ancient provinces of Valencia and Murcia, Valencia contributing by far the larger portion. The surface of the province is extremely diversified. In the north and west there are extensive mountain ranges of calcareous formation, intersected by deep ravines; while farther south the land is more level, and there are many fertile valleys. On the Mediterranean coast, unhealthy salt marshes alternate with rich plains of pleasant and productive huertas or gardens, such as those of Alicante and Denia. ”

“ The southern zone, to which the name of African has been given, embraces the whole of Andalusia as far as the Sierra Morena, the southern half of Murcia and the province of Alicante. In this zone there prevails a genuine sub-tropical climate, with extremely warm and almost rainless summers and mild winters, the temperature hardly ever sinking below freezing-point. The hottest part of the region is not the most southerly district but the bright-coloured steppes of the coast of Granada, and the plains and hill terraces of the south-east coast from Almeria to Alicante. ”

“ The Marques del Palacio had been appointed captain-general of the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia, and Murcia. He announced his coming in a proclamation from Alicante, of a very different character from those which had so greatly contributed to support the cause of Spain. “From the moment,” said he, “that I set foot in this country, and knew the fall of Tarragona, my spirit, far from being cast down, seemed as if it had taken fresh courage to run to danger as well as to victory. Do not hold me arrogant and vain, for my hopes are not rested upon the arm of flesh. ”

“ It is one of the most industrious cities of the peninsula; and its manufactures of silk and velvet are quite extensive. The city contains nothing very different from other Spanish towns. The students wandered over the most of it, looking into a few of the churches, nearly every one of which has a wonder-working image of the Virgin, or of St. Vincent, who is the patron saint of Valencia.
The next day the squadron sailed, and put into Alicante after a twenty-four hours’ run; the wind being so light that the steamer had to tow her consorts nearly the whole distance. The students went on shore ”

“ The journey from San Sebastian by Saragossa and Lerida turned out to be so easy and delightful that we ceased to tremble, and determined to carry out our project of going by steamer to Alicante and Malaga. You cannot do better than follow our example; I mean, so far as coming to Spain is concerned. Believe none of the fictions that bookmakers get printed about the horrors of Spanish hotels and cookery, or the hardships of Spanish travel—still less about the rudeness of Spaniards. ”

“ John’s Day, however, the sun flashes its rays too fiercely, and it is in late spring or early autumn{113} that the voyage is most enjoyable. A land journey can give no idea of the loveliness of these coasts, and towns such as Alicante and Almería lose much of their beauty if deprived of their background of mountains, which can only be seen fully out at sea. The sea and sky are unfailingly beautiful, and the life of the ports, full of colour and movement, never loses its interest. ”

“ It is of this and the neighboring portions of Spain that Castelar, in one of his recent writings, says: "The wildest coasts of our peninsula—those coasts of Almeria, Alicante, Murcia, where the fruits of various zones are yielded—compensate for their great plenty by years of desolation comparable only to those described in the chronicles of the Middle Ages, and suffered in the crowded lands of the Orient.... The mountains of those districts, which breathe the incense of thyme and lavender, are carpeted with silky grasses, and full of mines, and intersected by quarries. ”

“ Being resolved to our purpose overnight, we set out fairly early in the morning for Elche, which lies half a dozen leagues or thereabouts to the west of Alicante. Our way lay through gardens of oranges and spreading vineyards, which flourish exceedingly in this part, being protected from unkind winds by high mountains against the north and east ”

“ From Valencia we travelled five weeks (growing, I think, more lazy every day) , over very hilly country to Alicante, a seaport town very strongly protected by a castle on a great rock, armed with guns of brass and iron, so that the pirates dare never venture near. And here I fully thought we were to dawdle away another week at the least, this being a very populous and lively city, promising much entertainment. ”

“ Owing to the head of our hotel having the key to the case which contained the souvenir post-cards, we were delayed several days in Alicante. It was a point of honor with us that, in spite of our inertia over gasoline for the motor-car and such trifles, we had never forgotten to mail from each place pictured evidence that we were having a better summer than our friends. We had given up by degrees any serious following of art and architecture; we did not climb towers for the view, and we seldom entered a church except to cool off ”

“ The railway from Madrid to Albacete passes south-westward to Chinchilla, where it bifurcates, one line going to Murcia, and the other to Alicante. A large part of the province is only accessible by road, and even the main highways maintained by the state are ill kept. Education is very backward even in the towns; many of the inhabitants carry arms ”

“ We passed through the famous date palm groves of Elche and at last came in sight of the sea at Alicante, which was our terminus. The journey of about forty-five miles had taken us nearly four hours, and we were almost an hour and a half late. ”

“ There are Spanish steamer services from Gibraltar, and Malaga, to Alicante.
An overland traveller to Spain (it is presumed that none such will go as far as Portugal) has the choice of two routes to eclipse stations in Spain, both starting from Paris:— (1) viâ Bordeaux, [244] Hendaye, Vittoria, Burgos and Medina del Campo, to Madrid, and thence either W. to Talavera (84m. from Madrid) , or S. towards Alcazar de San Juan (92m. from Madrid) ; (2) viâ Lyons, Perpignan, Barcelona and Valencia to Alicante. ”

“ ALCOY, a town of south-eastern Spain, in the province of Alicante, on the small river Serpis, and at the terminus of a branch railway connected with the Barcelona-Valencia-Alicante line. Pop. (1900) 32,053. Alcoy is built on high ground at the entrance to a gorge in the Moncabrer range (4547 ft.) . It is a thriving industrial town, devoid of any great antiquarian or architectural interest, though founded by the Moors. It owes its prosperity to its manufacture of linen, woolen goods and paper, especially cigarette paper. ”

“ The squadron remained at anchor in the port of Alicante four days; and, when the students of the first party had told their story, the trip to Elche was the most popular excursion since they left Italy.
“Which is the best port on the east coast of Spain, doctor?” asked the principal, as they sat on the deck of the Prince while the third party had gone to Elche.
“I shall answer you as the admiral did Philip II.,—Carthagena,” replied the doctor.
“I find that the students are tired of sight-seeing, [318] and the lessons have been much neglected of late,” continued the principal. ”

“ Time-tables are more or less ornamental in Spain.
Outside the station at Alicante there was a horde of omnibuses surrounded by a fringe of touts. They were conducting their chaffering for passengers with a reasonable [Pg 173] quietness, until they espied us. But perceiving that we were English and, therefore, fair prey, pandemonium broke out. Gradually the omnibuses filled and the babel, for babel it was, consisting of Spanish, Valenciano, bad French and worse English, died down. ”

“ Novelda (pop. 8000) , a station on the Alicante and Madrid Railway, in a beautiful valley about 20m. N. of Alicante.
In addition to the above places it must not be [242] forgotten that both Oporto at one end of the zone of totality and Alicante at the other are within the track of the shadow, but the question of the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere at these places (on the seaboard as they virtually are) has to be considered.
A traveller from England to Portugal or Spain by sea has the following choice of routes:—
1. ”

“ Whether I shall ever bring it to maturity so as to satisfy myself sufficiently to print it is a question not settled; but it [8] is a work very near my heart. We have had perfect weather ever since the 27th of January—magnificent skies and a summer sun. At Alicante, walking among the palm-trees, with the bare brown rocks and brown houses in the background, we fancied ourselves in the tropics; and a gentleman who travelled with us assured us that the aspect of the country closely resembled Aden, on the Red Sea. Here, at Granada, of course, it is much colder, but the sun shines uninterruptedly ”

“ In addition to the cities of the peninsula on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the young travellers cross the country from Barcelona to Lisbon, visiting on the way Saragossa, Burgos, the Escurial, Madrid, Toledo, Aranjuez, Badajos, and Elvas. In another excursion by land, they start from Malaga, and take in Granada and the Alhambra, Cordova, Seville, and Cadiz. Besides the ports mentioned, the party vessels visit Valencia, Alicante,—from which they make an excursion to Elche to see its palms—Carthagena, and Gibraltar. ”

“ The value of the real is now about 21⁄2d. English money, but as a unit of value and computation it has been officially supplanted since 1870 by the peseta or franc of 93⁄4d. See Burke’s History of Spain, vol. ii. pp. 281–286.
[254b] Carlist leaders.
[257] There are at least three districts in Spain known as the Sagra: one in Alicante, one in Orense, and another near Toledo which includes 27 miles by 24 miles of country to the north of the city. Amongst the villages included in the district are Yuncler, Yunclillos, and Yuncos, whose names would seem to tell of some foreign origin. ”

“ Cereals are grown, but the inhabitants prefer to raise such articles of produce as are in demand for export, and consequently part of the grain supply has to be imported. Esparto grass, rice, olives, the sugar-cane, and tropical fruits and vegetables are largely produced. Great attention is given to the rearing of bees and silk-worms; and the wine of the province is held in high repute throughout Spain, while some inferior kinds are sent to France to be mixed with claret. ”

“ We now came in sight of Antiquera, that old city of warlike reputation, lying in the lap of the great sierra which runs through Andalusia. A noble Vega spread out before it, a picture of mild fertility set in a frame of rocky mountains. Crossing a gentle river we approached the city between hedges and gardens, in which nightingales were pouring forth their evening song. About nightfall we arrived at the gates. Everything in this venerable city has a decidedly Spanish stamp. It lies too much out of the frequented track of foreign travel to have its old usages trampled out. ”

“ The journey from Granada to Valencia, made all de un tiron (at one breath) , as they say in Spain, is one of those recreations in which a rational man indulges only once in his life. From Granada to Menjibar, a village on the left bank of the Guadalquivir, between Jaen and Andujar, is a night's ride by diligence; from Menjibar to the Alcazar de San Juan is a half-day's journey by railway in an uncurtained carriage, through a plain as bare as the palm of one's hand, under a blazing sun ”