Village
El Camp de Mirra is a municipality in the Alto Vinalopó, in the northwest of Alicante, with 447 inhabitants (INE 2025), in the Benejama valley at the foot of the range of the same name. Beside the remains of the Castell d'Almizra, the Treaty of Almizra was sealed on 26 March 1244 between James I of Aragon and Alfonso X the Wise, which set the southern boundary of the Kingdom of Valencia and which the town commemorates every year. Its name, of disputed Arabic origin, was reshaped by popular etymology from Almizra into «el camp», by which it was known until Campo de Mirra was made official in 1849. The town centre, with low houses and wide streets, extends between the irrigated vega and the Cerro de San Bernabé, with the Sierra de Benejama, 982 metres high, to the north.
Monument
The petroglyph of Les Graelletes is a group of rock carvings located in the municipality of El Camp de Mirra, dated with some certainty to the Bronze Age, although some motifs could be earlier. It owes its name to its grid-like layout, which resembles a grill (graelletes, “little grills” in Valencian). Among its motifs, a labyrinth stands out, a design very rarely found in peninsular rock art outside Galicia, which makes this site a singular reference among the petroglyphs of the Mediterranean area.
Curiosity
The Treaty of Almizra, signed on 26 March 1244 between the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile, fixed the boundaries of the Kingdom of Valencia and is commemorated every year in El Camp de Mirra. It was agreed by James I of Aragon and Infante Alfonso of Castile —his son-in-law and future Alfonso X the Wise— and it stipulated that the lands south of the Biar-Busot-El Campello line would remain reserved for Castile. The pact replaced the treaties of Tudilén (1151) and Cazorla (1179), which had been breached by both sides: James I had conquered Villena in 1240, together with Caudete and Sax, which belonged to Castile, and Infante Alfonso laid claim to Xàtiva in 1244, a stronghold of the Crown of Aragon, thereby forcing a new agreement that would respect the boundaries of Cazorla.
Activity
Annual historical re-enactment, held every 25 August, of the Treaty of Almizra, the peace pact signed on 26 March 1244 between the crowns of Aragon and Castile that fixed the boundaries of the Kingdom of Valencia. It was agreed in person by James I of Aragon and Infante Alfonso of Castile, later his son-in-law and future king Alfonso X the Wise, and it established that the lands south of the Biar-Busot-El Campello line would remain with Castile. The agreement came after the repeated breach of the earlier treaties of Tudilén (1151) and Cazorla (1179): James I had conquered Villena in 1240, along with Caudete and Sax, which belonged to Castile, and Infante Alfonso laid claim in 1244 to the city of Xàtiva, part of the Crown of Aragon, which forced a new pact that would respect the boundaries of Cazorla.
Monument
Parish church of El Camp de Mirra, dedicated to Saint Bartholomew and one of the municipality's most notable heritage features. It stands on a hillock and has a Latin-cross floor plan, with the nave covered by a barrel vault. Its interior decoration is sparse, but notable features include the three altars of the transept and the presbytery, the old flooring, the pilasters of the nave and a large dome on a drum.
Activity
El Camp de Mirra celebrates the Relic of San Bartolomé on the last Sunday of May or the first of June, and its Fiestas Mayores from the 22nd to the 26th of August, with Moors and Christians and a reenactment of the Treaty of Almizra on the 25th.
Monument
Hermitage situated at the top of the San Bartolomé hill, in the municipality of El Camp de Mirra. The first documentary reference to the hermitage dates from 1494, when it is mentioned as Sant Bertomeu d'Almiçra. Attached to its walls stands the Conjurador tower, about ten metres high, the only remaining standing part of the old Almizra castle.
Curiosity
Megalithic structure of stacked limestone slabs on the hill of La Fantasmeta, in the municipal district of El Camp de Mirra, alongside Andalusi and Bronze Age materials.
Curiosity
The cuisine of El Camp de Mirra is based on dishes made with game or farmyard meats, as in the rest of the comarca of L'Alt Vinalopó. Notable dishes include stuffed meatballs known as fassegures, made with minced meat, breadcrumbs, blood, eggs and spices, and gazpachos or gaspatxos, prepared with an unleavened dough baked in the oven and cut into very small pieces, to which rabbit and chicken meat, onion, milk-cap mushrooms and pebrella (a local thyme) are added. Also typical of the local table are borreta, ollita and almond sweets. Herbero, a traditional liqueur of dry and sweet anise blended with a mix of aromatic herbs, completes this agricultural heritage of the comarca.
Activity
Traditional festival of El Camp de Mirra, held on the last Sunday of May or the first of June at the hermitage of San Bartolomé. It was first celebrated on 5 May 1918; it later became part of the August patronal festivities and was later moved back to the end of May to suit the climate. In the morning people have a meal at the sanctuary, and afterwards share a communal lunch in which paellas predominate, with popular games such as the standing long jump and bar throwing, as well as races and dances. The day ends with a small procession of the image of San Bartolomé.
Monument
The castell d'Almizra is a castle today almost in ruins, situated on the tossal de Sant Bertomeu, a few metres from the town centre of Camp de Mirra. It saw a notable historical episode during the wars between the crowns of Castile and Aragon: the signing of the Treaty of Almizra between James I and Alfonso X the Wise, on 26 March 1244, which set the southern boundary of the Kingdom of Valencia. The materials found show settlement beginning in the Bronze Age that continued into the Iberian period and, after a gap, into the Middle Ages; the castle may have been a border stronghold between those of Villena and Biar. About 34 by 15 metres, today only remains of the walls can be made out; the only structure still standing, a tower, dates from the 14th century. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2003.
Food and drink
The almond occupies a good part of the dry land and its fruit, above all of the marcona variety, is destined for home-made turrones and macaroons. Harvesting is done in August and September by beating the trees over canvases spread on the ground.