Alicante

Alicante, chief town of a province of the same name in Spain, situated on a bay of the Mediterranean Sea, 46 miles NE. of Murcia by rail. The castle of St Barbara commands the town and bay. The town with its background of mountains looks picturesque from the sea. It is the third seaport in the kingdom, and its harbour is spacious and secure. It is well known to be a centre of smuggling. The chief exports are esparto grass, lead, wine, almonds, and liquorice root; tobacco, railway material, petroleum, dried codfish, timber, and spirit for strengthening wine are imported. Value of imports in 1896, over £800,000; of exports, £1,540,000. Though helped by the railway to Madrid (282 miles), trade is inactive. Its climate is well suited for invalids. In 1331 the town was besieged by the Moors, and again by the French under Asfeld in 1709. In 1873 it was unsuccessfully bombarded by two warships manned by the Cartagena insurgents. Population, 40,916.—The province of Alicante, formed in 1834 of parts of the old kingdoms of Valencia and Murcia, has an area of 2098 sq. m. The surface is diversified with mountain-ranges in the north and west, but is more level to the south, with fertile valleys. The chief products are esparto grass, rice, sugar-cane, and fruits. The wine of Alicante has a high reputation, and attention is paid to the rearing of bees and silkworms. There are about twenty lead and copper mines. On the coast, the inhabitants are engaged chiefly in the tunny and anchovy fisheries and the carrying trade. Population, 433,050.