SOC JO! A capite ad calcem
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La Mancha is an arid, fertile, elevated plateau (610 m or 2000 ft.) of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes (mountains) de Toledo and the western spurs of the Cerros (hills) de Cuenca, and bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north by the La Alcarria region. It includes portions of the modern provinces of Cuenca, Toledo, and Albacete, and most of the Ciudad Real province. It constitutes the southern portion of the Castile-La Mancha autonomous community and makes up most of the region.
The climate is continental, with strong fluctuations. Agriculture (wheat, barley, oats,wine grapes) is the primary economic activity, but it is severely restricted by the harsh environmental conditions.
Famous Spaniards like the cinema directors Pedro Almodóvar and José Luis Cuerda, painters Antonio López and his uncle Antonio López Torres, footballer Andrés Iniesta and actress Sara Montiel were born in La Mancha
Miguel de Cervantes gave international fame to this land and its windmills when he wrote his novel Don Quixote de La Mancha, later the inspiration for Dale Wasserman's musical Man of La Mancha. Some believe[citation needed] that Cervantes was making fun of this region, using a pun; a "mancha" was also a stain, as on one's honor, and thus a hilariously inappropriate homeland for a dignified knight-errant. Translator John Ormsby believed that Cervantes chose it because it was/is the most ordinary, prosaic, anti-romantic, and therefore unlikely place from which a chivalrous, romantic hero could originate, making Quixote seem even more absurd.
La Mancha has always been an important agricultural zone. Viniculture is important in Tomelloso, Valdepeñas and Manzanares, in Ciudad Real and Villarrobledo in Albacete. Other crops include cereals (hence the famous windmills) and saffron. Sheep are raised, providing the famous Manchego cheese. La Mancha includes two National Parks, Las Tablas de Daimiel and Cabañeros, and one Natural Park, las Lagunas de Ruidera |
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