Village
Castalla is a municipality of the Alcoià comarca, in the north-east of the province of Alicante, capital of the historic Hoya de Castalla sub-comarca. It has 11,908 inhabitants (INE 2025), and its centre, at 675 metres above sea level, spreads over the slopes of the hill crowned by the castle, between the sierras of Maigmó, Castalla and Argueña. Castalla was raised to a barony in 1362 by Peter the Ceremonious, who granted it to Ramón de Vilanova to reinforce the frontier during the War of the Two Peters. Two battles of the Peninsular War were also fought in its territory, in 1812 and 1813, the latter commemorated by Ferdinand VII with the Cruz de Distinción. The castle, built over settlements dating back to the Neolithic, gave rise to the walled centre that grew up around it.
Monument
A medieval fortress crowning the municipality of Castalla, in the comarca of L'Alcoià. It stands on a hill with Neolithic and Ibero-Roman remains and was built by the Muslims around the 11th century; the constructions preserved today date from the late Middle Ages and early Modern Age. In 1251 James I incorporated it into the Christian Crown, and from 1362 it was the seat of the barony of Ramón de Vilanova. The castle consists of a wall with cylindrical rammed-earth towers, the 16th-century Torre Grossa and a 14th-15th-century palace with a central courtyard and cistern. During the Peninsular War it was the scene of two battles, in 1812 and 1813, decisive for the end of the French presence on Valencian soil. It has been Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 1985.
Activity
Castalla's Moors and Christians festival, with more than two centuries of history, is held at the end of August in honour of the Virgen de la Soledad, the village's patron saint, whose image is venerated in the Ermita de la Sangre. It brings together more than 2,000 festival participants divided into seven comparsas.
Monument
Museum in Castalla devoted to the municipality's Moros i Cristians festival.
Nature
El Xorret de Catí is a rural mountain area between the towns of Castalla and Petrer, in the comarca of l'Alcoià (Alicante), at about 1100 meters of altitude, within the municipal area of Castalla. Its name, a diminutive of xorro or chorrito, comes from a small spring that rises in the rambla de la Puça. It lies within the sierra del Fraile, also called sierra de Catí, with a maximum height of 1261 meters, north of the sierra del Cid and west of the sierra del Maigmó. The vegetation is typically Mediterranean, dominated by pine woods and holm oaks and scrub of thyme, lavender, gorse, sage and broom. In 2004 a fire burned through 6300 hectares and destroyed almost the entire site.
Activity
Medieval fair held in Castalla every year since 1992 in honour of San Isidro.
Monument
The hermitage of the Sangre de Castalla is a building in early Valencian Gothic style, called “of the reconquest” because its consecrations were carried out by King James I of Aragon himself, which places its origin around the second half of the 13th century. It was the church of Castalla from the 13th to the 16th century, when the building of the present parish church turned it into a hermitage, seat of the Cofradía de la Sangre and repository of the image of the Virgen de la Soledad, patroness of the town. It has a single central nave formed by huge pointed arches, formeret arches and side chapels between buttresses, with a coffered ceiling; in 1436 it was extended by two bays owing to population growth, and in the 18th century a Rococo camarín was added to house the image of the Virgin.
Monument
Friary in Castalla built between 1750 and 1810 which, after the Mendizábal disentailment, was given over to community uses.
Curiosity
On 13 April 1813, during the Peninsular War, the Spanish side defeated General Suchet's French troops at Castalla in what is known as the second Battle of Castalla, recovering the territory lost in an earlier clash in 1812. Given its importance, King Ferdinand VII commemorated the victory by creating the Cross of Distinction.
Curiosity
Castalla (Alicante) hosts the gastronomic route of gazpacho sensato, a local variant of gazpacho manchego made with crumbled unleavened flatbread, mushrooms, snails, chicken and rabbit meat, and a tomato-and-onion sofrito. The dish, rooted in the traditional cuisine of the L'Alcoià district, is also promoted through gastronomic initiatives such as the Saborea Castalla days.
Historical milestone
Pedro the Ceremonious created in 1362 the barony of Castalla and handed it to Ramón de Vilanova to reinforce the defence of the frontier during the War of the Two Peters. The seigneury grouped together the castle and the lands of the foia until the liberal reforms of the nineteenth century.
Historical milestone
On 21 July 1812 the French army defeated in the foia the Spanish troops of General O'Donnell, who lost artillery and hundreds of prisoners. The occupation lasted until the combat of April 1813 returned the comarca to the allied side. The Spanish forces, about 10,000 strong, outnumbered the roughly 4,000 French troops of Generals Harispe and Delort, but after an initial advance with some success the French cavalry counterattacked from olive groves near Ibi and broke through the centre of the Spanish lines. After the defeat, the French took Castalla, while the patriots fled towards Alicante, protected by the English squadron. O'Donnell was replaced shortly afterwards by General Francisco Javier Elío, and his brother Enrique resigned from the Third Regency Junta.
Food and drink
Inland rice made in an earthenware dish with chicken, rabbit, ribs, beans and dryland vegetables, without any product of the sea. It is cooked brothy or unctuous according to the time of year and appears at the festival meals and at the May fair.