Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Alcubierre

What to see and do in Alcubierre (Los Monegros, Huesca): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Alcubierre

Church of Alcubierre 50 m
Mountain range of Alcubierre 8.3 km

Towns near Alcubierre

What to see in Robres 6.5 km · 4 places
What to see in Lanaja 11 km · 4 places
What to see in Senés de Alcubierre 11 km · 2 places
What to see in Leciñena 14 km · 5 places
What to see in Poleñino 14 km · 2 places
What to see in Torralba de Aragón 15 km · 2 places
What to see in Farlete 15 km · 2 places
What to see in Perdiguera 16 km · 2 places

Spain › Aragon › Huesca › Los Monegros › Alcubierre

What to see and do in Alcubierre

Alcubierre
Village
Alcubierre is a municipality of Los Monegros, in the province of Huesca, situated at 466 metres above sea level in the sierra that bears its name, whose place name, of Iberian origin, means separated hills or knolls. Emperor Carlos I passed through the town on three occasions between 1528 and 1537, and in 1812, during the Peninsular War, the guerrilla fighter Espoz y Mina had the traitor José Tris, El Malcarau, shot here. George Orwell fought in the sierra de Alcubierre in January and February 1937, an experience he recounted in Homage to Catalonia; today a tourist route bearing his name runs through the bunkers and trenches of that war. On the last Saturday of April a pilgrimage is held to the hermitage of San Caprasio, and every summer, since 2007, an International Chess Festival.
Mountain range of Alcubierre
Nature
The Sierra de Alcubierre stretches 40 km along the boundary of Zaragoza and Huesca, from the Llanos de la Violada to La Almolda, forming the most prominent relief of Los Monegros and the watershed between the Gállego and Flumen basins; it is protected as a Site of Community Importance and a Special Protection Area for Birds. Its highest points are the hermitage of San Caprasio, at 834 metres, and Monte Oscuro, at 824. It was once covered by dense forests of Spanish juniper (sabina), holm oak (carrasca) and common juniper (enebro), from which, according to tradition, the name Monegros would derive, meaning "black mountains"; today it is largely replanted with Aleppo pine, and a two-thousand-year-old specimen still survives nearby, the Sabina de Villamayor. It was also the scene of intense fighting during the Civil War, on the so-called Alcubierre Front.
Church of Alcubierre
Monument
Church of Santa Ana, whose dedication is also that of the town's patron saint (the fiesta mayor is held on 26 July); already mentioned in Pascual Madoz's geographic dictionary (1845).
Trenches of the sierra and George Orwell's stay
Historical milestone
George Orwell fought in the sierra of Alcubierre in January and February 1937, enlisted in the POUM militia, an experience he recounted in Homage to Catalonia. Bunkers, parapets and trenches of the front have been recovered and form the so-called Orwell Route.
Shepherd-style migas of Monegros
Food and drink
Dish of pastoral origin made with crumbled stale bread, water, garlic and oil, slowly fried and served with pork rashers, longaniza and sometimes grapes. It was subsistence food in the pens of the sierra and today figures as a starter in the restaurants of the comarca.