"Albacete, the best city in the world."

The title for this entry is a quote from one of my good and first Albaceteño friends, Julian. Ironically though, he said it while eating lunch at Potbelly’s (or was it Poboys?) in Tallahassee over five years ago before I had ever even visited Albacete. I laughed at his comment because I had never heard anything about this Spanish city but for some reason the comment stuck with me after all these years.

Albacete is the name of the province and capital city where I live in Spain. It’s located in one of the country’s largest autonomous communities, Castilla La Mancha. The region is best known for it’s plain landscapes, being the setting for Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote and it’s Manchego cheese.

Albacete capital has a population of about 170,000 and is the most populous city in the region, size-wise though; it’s pretty darn small. I can walk from one end to the other in just under 40 minutes. Most people live in apartment buildings that are built one next to the other but there are houses in the outer part of the city called chalets.

I would describe the people here as middle-class society and being extremely social, hospitable and friendly people.

Although being one of the lesser-known capital cities in Spain, it offers most of the main necessities any city needs such as shopping malls, movie theaters, a variety of shops, a train station and not one but three McDonalds.

I can’t talk about Albacete and not mention la feria, the annual fair that takes place September 7^th – 17^th. This fair has beginnings dating back to three centuries ago. In fact the city celebrated its tercentennial fair in 2010. That’s over 300 ferias! For ten days the city takes a break from the daily routine of work and school and dedicates a good chunk of the day (or night in my case) spending it at the recinto ferial or fairgrounds to eat, drink and meet up with friends.

Over all, Albacete is a very comfortable city to live in and has most of the things I could ask for in a small city. I would like to give you a warm welcome to the place I now call home.