Send Gift Baskets to Albacete, Spain

Its origins are uncertain, but the first few evidences of its existence date back to the Moorish period, when it was a small village. The name comes from the Arabic Al-Bas, “El Llano” (“the plain”), referring to its flat terrain.

Albacete capitulated in 1240 to Ferdinand III, who had the support of the Order of Santiago and knights from the land of Alarcón. Alarcón was given the place in 1241 as a reward for the help provided by the monarch. A hamlet called Albacete was transferred by Alfonso X from Alarcón to Chinchilla in 1269.

Albacete became independent from Chinchilla in 1375 when Don Juan Manuel, prince of Villena, granted it the privilege of town (villa). In addition, jurisdiction was given at that time. Albacete received a weekly market license from the Catholic Monarchs in 1476 as a reward for supporting the Crown.

Following initial protests, Albacete supported the new emperor Charles V, who granted the town’s feudal estate to his wife, Empress Isabella of Portugal, in 1526 during the Revolt of the Comuneros (1520–22). Construction began on the church of San Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist), which later became a cathedral.

A strategic location between Madrid and the east coast of Spain led to Albacete’s growth during the next few centuries until Philip V granted permission for an annual fair (1710). After Charles III built the enclosure (1783), the fair was held there.

As part of the discussion to create a new province on territory belonging to New Castile and Murcia in the early 19th century, Albacete vied with Chinchilla for the capital status. Their populations were similar then, although Albacete probably had the edge in economic prowess. Albacete became the capital of the new province of Albacete after the definitive 1833 territorial division devised by Javier de Burgos displaced Chinchilla as head of the region during the liberal triennium before Ferdinand VII’s absolutist crackdown.