Calamocha is a town and municipality in Spain, the administrative capital of the Jiloca region in the northwest of the province of Teruel, in the autonomous community of Aragon, 70 km from Teruel.

It is located on the banks of the Jiloca River, at the bottom of the wide valley formed by this river in the Ebro basin, surrounded by the mountains of the Iberian System. It is situated in the Cantabrian-Mediterranean Corridor, one of the main transportation axes in Spain that connects Valencia, Zaragoza, and Bilbao, halfway between the cities of Teruel and Zaragoza.

Calamocha is the most important locality in the northwestern third of the province. It is the head of the judicial district of Calamocha, one of the three in the province. Its economy is mainly based on the service sector. It is the main commercial and service center in the northwestern area of the province. However, it also has a significant industrial sector, with a focus on the agri-food industry and the construction materials industry. Calamocha is one of the main producers of Teruel ham.

History

Calamocha is a crossroads in present-day Aragon, with the Roman road that connected Caesar Augusta with Corduba passing through its boundaries. From that period, a Roman bridge remains, built over the course of the Jiloca River.

The Arabs remained here for four centuries, during which they left much of their culture, developed a complex irrigation system, and even gave the town its name: Qal'at Musa (قلعة موسى), which means "fortress of Musa," after its founder, Musa ibn Musa.

El Cid Campeador established his quarters here, specifically on the hill of El Poyo. A short distance away, he fought the famous battle of Tevar against Ramón Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona. Alfonso I "The Battler" christianized these lands from 1123, repopulating them with his loyal Navarrese and Gascon subjects. In 1222, a dramatic encounter took place in Calamocha between James I "The Conqueror" and Pedro de Ahones, the latter reluctant to the Mediterranean expansion intended by the young monarch.

On December 16, 1706, a battle took place between the troops of Archduke Charles and the supporters of Philip V in the War of Succession after the death of the last of the Habsburgs, Charles II. Fortune favored the Austrians here, leaving the battlefield strewn with the corpses of both sides.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the railway arrived in Calamocha with the opening of the Calatayud-Valencia line. Decades later, in 1933, the Caminreal-Zaragoza line was inaugurated. As a result, the municipality came to have two railway stations, Calamocha-Vega and Calamocha-Nueva, with connections to Zaragoza, Calatayud, Teruel, Sagunto, and Valencia. Currently, only the Calamocha-Nueva station of the Zaragoza-Sagunto line remains in service.