Alcolea del Pinar, Spain

Alcolea del Pinar is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 406 inhabitants.InformationIts importance is related to its role as main crossroads. Its main street (Calle Real, Royal Street) was the old main road between Madrid and Barcelona, and Alcolea was the junction point to the road to Teruel and southern Aragon. Moreover, a little northward, in the municipality of Medinaceli, there is another main junction, this one heading north, towards Soria, representing the main access from Madrid to La Rioja and Navarre. As a result, Alcolea del Pinar has been an important hub for the road-related services, with a relatively large Guardia Civil (rural police)station, devoted to traffic control, and a base of the Ministry of Public Works, for the maintenance works of the A-2 highway (Madrid-Barcelona). Currently, the new high-speed rail line between Madrid and Barcelona goes just by side of the town, parallel to the A-2 highway. As a matter of fact, Alcolea del Pinar is situated in the highest point in the A-2 highway between Madrid and Barcelona ((Stone house