Alcoy

Alcoy (Valencian: Alcoi) is an industrial city in Alicante province of the Valencian Community of 59,000 people (2018). It is best known for its large Moros i Cristians (Moors and Christians) festival.

Understand
Alcoy has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The name's etymology is unclear, but is believed to derive either from Arabic (al-Qawi – the fort/village) or from Latin (Arabic article al + Latin cola – cultivator/inhabitant). The town in its current incarnation was formally established after the Christian reconquista in 1256, and was the setting for repeated Arab revolts. The last of these was suppressed in 1276 and is still commemorated today in the city's annual Moors and Christians festival.

In the mid-19th century the city became heavily industrialized; most architecture in the centre dates from this period. Today the city is a regional commercial and financial centre.



By bus
Subus Alcoi operates six routes in Alcoy. A single journey costs €0.85, payable in cash to the driver on entry. If you plan to use the bus frequently it may be worth purchasing a Tarjeta Multiviaje card, which will give you ten journeys for €5 – these can be purchased at a number of convenience shops, shown on an interactive map here.

A route map can be downloaded here, and more detailed route maps with schedules can be downloaded here.

See
Despite the antiquity of the street layout, most buildings in the historic centre are Modernist in style and date from the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, when the city was completely modernised during the Industrial Revolution.

Eat
Alcoy and the surrounding region has a number of distinct dishes.



Drink
Alcoy, along with nearby Cocentaina, is known for its café licor ('coffee liquor'), not to be confused with the sweeter licor café in Murcia and Galicia. The drink is known to date to the early 13th century, and grew in popularity during the industrial revolution when factory workers would add it to their coffee thermoses. Today it has the Spanish denomination of origin of Bebidas Espirituosas Tradicionales ('Traditional Spirits'), and is consumed alone or mixed with other ingredients, such as orxata (Spanish: horchata), soda water, or lemon water.

Cervesa Spigha, the local craft beer, comes in three varieties: American pale ale, brown ale, and blonde ale.