Teruel, with about 36,000 inhabitants, is Spain's least populous provincial capital, in southern Aragon, at about 900 metres where the Turia and Alfambra rivers meet. The province, one of Europe's most sparsely populated, became known through the slogan Teruel existe, "Teruel exists", which called for attention to rural, depopulated Spain.
History
Taken by King Alfonso II of Aragon in 1171, Teruel was home for centuries to a large Muslim community, the mudéjares, who went on working as architects and craftsmen. In the Civil War the Battle of Teruel, in the winter of 1937-1938, was one of the harshest, and the city was almost destroyed.
The Mudéjar
Teruel's Mudéjar architecture, of brick and green and white glazed ceramics, has been a UNESCO site since 1986 as part of the Mudéjar of Aragon:
- the San Martín and El Salvador towers, tall and decorated, with an arched passage running through them;
- the San Pedro tower, the oldest;
- the cathedral of Santa María de Mediavilla, with its tower and 13th-century painted wooden ceiling, called the "Sistine Chapel of the Mudéjar".
The Lovers of Teruel
Legend tells of Isabel de Segura and Diego de Marcilla, young lovers in the 13th century. Her rich father asked Diego to make his fortune within five years; he came back on the very day Isabel was married to another man. Diego died of grief after she refused him a last kiss, and Isabel died the next day, kissing him at his funeral. Their mummies lie in the Mausoleum of the Lovers, next to the church of San Pedro, beneath two sculptures by Juan de Ávalos whose hands almost touch. In February the Bodas de Isabel de Segura festival fills the city with medieval costumes.
What to see
- Plaza del Torico, with its column topped by a small bull, the city's symbol.
- The Escalinata, the neo-Mudéjar stairway linking the station to the centre.
- The Viaduct and Los Arcos, the 16th-century aqueduct.
- The Provincial Museum and the Diocesan Museum.
Food and surroundings
Teruel ham, Spain's first ham designation of origin, migas, ternasco and suspiros de amante, little sweets dedicated to the Lovers. From Teruel you can reach Dinópolis, a dinosaur theme park, the province's fossils and the medieval town of Albarracín, one of Spain's prettiest.
Getting there
Teruel is linked by train and bus with Valencia and Zaragoza, each about two hours away.