Almendralejo
| Almendralejo | |||
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| Municipality | |||
Church of the Purification
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 Almendralejo
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| Coordinates: 38°40′59″N 6°24′33″W / 38.68306°N 6.40917°WCoordinates: 38°40′59″N 6°24′33″W / 38.68306°N 6.40917°W | |||
| Country |
 Spain
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| Autonomous community |
 Extremadura
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| Province | Badajoz | ||
| Comarca | Tierra de Barros | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | José García Lobato | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 164.5 km2 (63.5 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 337 m (1,106 ft) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 33,975 | ||
| Demonym(s) | Almendralejenses | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 06200 | ||
| Official language(s) | Spanish | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
Almendralejo is a town in the Province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. It is situated 45 km south-east of Badajoz, on the main road and rail route between Mérida and Seville. As of 2010[update], it has a population of 33,975. There was a battle and massacre here in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.
Almendralejo is situated about 45 km (28 mi) to the southeast of Badajoz on the railway line between Seville and Mérida. It is to the south of the River Guadiana on an extensive plain, with the slightly raised area to the south being known as the Tierra de Barros. The town grew rapidly at the end of the nineteenth century as the roads and railways were developed. It has broad streets and handsome buildings. The economy is centred on agriculture with extensive cultivation of cereals, fruit and grapes. There are many vineyards around the town, with a local red wine being produced, and the area is also known for the production of brandy.
The "Albero de ferria" at Almendralejo, constructed in 1747, was one of the earliest examples of a large scale hydropower dam. It was 122 m (400 ft) long and 19.5 m (64 ft) high. It was a rubble-masonry structure and had several buttresses to strengthen it. Some of these were roofed over to house a mill and it was the first dam to contain a water wheel actually within its structure.
There was a battle and massacre here in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.
The future Queen Letizia of Spain married Alonso Guerrero Pérez, a writer and teacher in Almendralejo in 1998. The marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1999.
Notable buildings include the church of the Purification, the Iglesia Parroquial de Nuestra Señora de la Purificación, finished in 1515, in Gothic style. It has a well-proportioned tower and a seventeenth century retablo (devotional painting). The Palacio del Marqués de Monsalud is a seventeenth century building now used as council offices. The building surrounds a central courtyard,and on the ground floor there are arches mounted on pink granite columns, and a pedestal decorated with eighteenth century Seville tiles; on the first floor there is a red ceramic balustrade supported by small granite columns with arches. It was the birthplace of the revolutionary poet José de Espronceda, and houses a museum of Roman antiquities found in the region.
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