Alcúdia
L'Alcúdia is a town and municipality in the province of Valencia, Spain.
It is located on the left bank of the river Xuquer. It has an area of
some 24 km², and a population (2001) of 10,547.
The locality is named after a 13th-century Moorish farmhouse, granted in
1238 by the Aragonese king Jaume I (James I) to Pere de Montagut. On
January 17, 1252 this latter conceded the right to found a township upon
these lands to 54 Christian pioneers after the reconquista of the
Valencian Moorish territories. The town took active participation in all
the conflicts that shook Spain along the history: it was sacked during
the "Revolta de les Germanies" in the beginning of the 16th century; in
the 18th century, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bourbon
troops plundered it again, and finally, during the Peninsular War it
lodged a camp of French troops that looted everything from the
villagers, leaving them in the red. In the Spanish Civil War, it was
lucky to keep on the rearguard, although it did not spare the town being
bombed by the Italian fascist planes, supporting Franco’s uprising. A
former name for this locality in Spanish is Alcudia de Carlet, which was
in use during Franco's regime. After Franco's death in 1975 and the
institution of democracy in Spain, the name fell into disfavor and the
population unanimously voted to change it.
