Albolote

Albolote is a town located in the province of Granada, Spain. It is one of the thirty-four entities which together form Granada's Metropolitan Area. It is formed by several populations: El Aire, El Chaparral, and Parque del Cubillas y Pretel. There are also several residential areas throughout the legal borders of the municipality. Inside those limits you can also find Granada's Penitential Center (Centro Penitencial de Granada, in Spanish). According to Spain's Instituto Nacional de Estadística, the city had a total population of 15,563 in 2005.On 19 April 1956, Albolote and the neighboring town of Atarfe were struck by a 5.0 MW earthquake, Spain's most destructive of the 20th century. About a dozen people died from the earthquake and subsequent landslide, and many buildings were ruined.The Granada metro network, scheduled to open in 2014, will provide the town with a light metro link to central Granada.HistoryAlbolote was born as a town with the arrival of the Nasrid dynasty to the Emirate of Granada. The term comes from the Arabic term 'Qaryat al-Bollut', meaning 'Oak farm-house' It was planned to be a place of rest for the troops guarding the Royal Path of Jaén. Near Albolote took place the Battle of La Higueruela on July first 1431, where king's Juan II of Castille's troops defeated the Muslim armies. This battle was illustrated at the Monastery El Escorial.In the 17th century it changed to be an estate of Don Antonio Álvarez de Bohórquez, the first marquis de los Trujillos. In the year 1803 the king, Carlos IV gave the title of Duque de Gor to Don Nicolás Mauricio Álvarez de Bohórquez.