Valencia de Alcántara

• Name — Valencia de Alcántara • Settlement Type — Municipality • Translit Lang1 Type — Spanish • Translit Lang1 Info — Valencia de Alcántara • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Spain • Subdivision Type1 — Autonomous Community • Subdivision Name1 — Extremadura • Subdivision Type2 — Province • Subdivision Name2 — Cáceres • Leader Party — PSOE • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Alberto Piris Guapo • Area Total Km2 — 595 • Elevation Footnotes — (AMSL) • Elevation M — 620 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Timezone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +1 • Timezone1 Dst — CEST (GMT +2) • Utc Offset1 Dst — +2 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 10500 • Area Code — +34 (Spain) + 927 (Cáceres) • Website — http: www.valenciadealcantara.es/

From the 16th century to the 18th Valencia was a celebrated border fortress; it was captured by the Portuguese in 1664 and 1698.

The Battle of Valencia de Alcántara took place in 1762 as part of the Spanish invasion of Portugal. Portuguese-British troops under John Burgoyne attacked and captured the town, which was a Spanish supply base, setting back the invasion and contributing to the British victory that year.

The beginning of the nineteenth century, traditionally associated with the beginnings of the modern age, is particularly troublesome in the case of Valencia de Alcántara as it was caught up in two important conflicts, including the fleeting conflict known as the War of the Oranges (1801) or the War of Independence. However, due to its location it became is the second most important custom house for direct traffic between the two kingdoms, after Badajoz, and had a flourishing trade in farm produce of all kinds.

There are Roman remains in the district, and the courtyards and windows of many houses are Moorish in style. Nuestra Señora de Roqueamador, the most important church, dates from the 14th century. The church of Encarnacion, the town hall and a fine convent date from the 16th. Valencia de Alcántara is a very important centre of dolmens in Europe.

• Valencia de Alcántara was the birthplace of Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador, who represented Spain at the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815). • Manolo Vital, the folk hero who 'hijacked' Barcelona's line 47 bus in 1978 to show authorities that busses could reach his mountainous neighborhood in Torre Baró district, Barcelona. Vital was born in Valencia de Alcántara, where his father was executed by Francoists, and in the 1950's immigrated to Barcelona along with many other inhabitants seeking work. His story is dramatized in the Goya award Best Picture, The 47. • Soraya Arnelas was also born here in 1982.