Villarrobledo (Spanish pronunciation:[biʎaroˈβleðo]) is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Albacete, part of the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. It's better known for having the world's largest area covered by vineyards (more than 30,000 has., approximately 48,000,000 of vines) as well as the world's greatest production of La Mancha wine, called in Spanish Denominación de Origen. Also, it is an important center of Manchego cheese production and export and has other important industries like metallurgy and transportation.
The city celebrates a number of events, including the Carnival [es], the ViñaRock Music Festival [es], the Holy Week and the International Chess Open 'Ciudad de Villarrobledo'.
Villarrobledo has a climate that registers extreme temperatures: very low in winter (there have been produced values below −20°) and very high in summer (over 40°). The dominant winds are Solano (from the east) in summer, Cierzo (cold wind from the northwest) in winter and Ábrego (from the southwest) throughout the year. Regardless of these contrasts, the winter cold and the summer heat are dry. Spring and autumn are agreeable.
2005 CLIMATIC DATA (Juanaco place's observatory)[2]
Slight rainful takes place during spring and at the end of autumn. The annual rainfall average is 39.02 mm. In the summer, rains appear as large isolated storms. Snowfall is not exceptionally great and occurs in December and January, and occasionally in the spring.
Demographics
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1900
10,133
—
1910
12,702
+25.4%
1920
14,350
+13.0%
1930
17,641
+22.9%
1940
20,362
+15.4%
1950
21,432
+5.3%
1960
21,356
−0.4%
1970
19,963
−6.5%
1981
19,655
−1.5%
1991
20,396
+3.8%
1996
22,165
+8.7%
2001
22,936
+3.5%
2005
24,729
+7.8%
2010
26,686
+7.9%
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica de España (Spanish National Institute of Statistics)
Population: 26,686 inhabitants.
Demonymes: (In Spanish) Villarrobletano/a or Villarrobledense. Also correct are Villarrobledano/a and Villarrobletense, though they have minor use. Troyano (trojan) is colloquial and Agualubio/a is derogatory.[citation needed]
Neighborhoods: Asturias (Pío XII), Centro, Juan Valero, San Antón, Socuéllamos, Virgen de la Caridad (Casas Baratas) and Pintores.
At present, there is a notable population increase by the massive immigration of citizens of East Europe. A City Council study in 2006 found the number of immigrants to be 3,324 persons, of whom 2,011 (60.50%) are men, and 1,313 (39.50%) women, arriving from 43 different countries. The ten countries that contribute most to immigration are Romania, Ukraine, Morocco, Moldavia, Colombia, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Bulgaria and Peru.
Government
2003–2007 legislature
1. Pedro Antonio Ruiz Santos (Alcalde- Presidente) 2. José Antonio Cabañero Losa 3. Carmen Martínez Parra 4. Antonio Arribas Castillo 5. María José Parra Jareño 6. Juan Luis Íñiguez Perea 7. María Paz Saez Montejano 8. Juan Ramon Martínez Valero 9. María Rosario Herrera Gómez 10. Marco Antonio Blázquez Herreros 11. María Elvira Calero Nueda 12. Andrés Jiménez Collado
The present location of Villarrobledo dates from 1292, according to diverse historical sources. In its history, vestiges of almost all the historical cultures that have existed in the Iberian Peninsula have existed in Villarrobledo, all the way from the Paleolithic to the present.
Archaeological findings
Paleolithic
...nos atreveríamos a definir la industria lítica del yacimiento de La Jaraba dentro de ... la fase del Achelense Superior final con micoquiense...
— José Luis Serna López, Avance al estudio del yacimiento achelense de La Jaraba (Villarrobledo, Albacete)
Between La Jaraba and La Paradica, there are found remains of the first human civilizations in the province of Albacete corresponding to Upper Acheulean (Lower Paleolithic) people. In this place there have been found diverse stone tools, manufactured on nuclei or stone chips, which can be seen in the archaeological section of the Albacete Provincial Museum. There are other five archaeological deposits from the Middle Paleolithic.
Bronze Age
There are many fortified settlements from the Bronze Age, especially in the south zone of the municipal area, related to the Bronze Culture of La Mancha or Motillas Culture
Visigoths
...Ergávica, insigne capital de valeroso distrito en el extremo de la Celtiberia, y silla episcopal en tiempo de los godos con el nombre de Arcávica. Dilatábase ... su territorio, ... al Sur, en ... Casa de Lipa, cerca de Villarrobledo... Mi estudio..., ha puesto en claro estas reducciones geográficas...
— Aureliano Fernández- Guerra y Orbe, Una Tésera celtíbera. -Datos sobre las ciudades celtibéricas de Ergávica, Munda, Cértima y Contrebia