Carche (Spanish:El Carche[elˈkaɾtʃe];Valencian:El Carxe[elˈkaɾtʃe]) is a mountainous, sparsely populated area in theRegion of Murcia,Spain, lying between the municipalities ofJumilla andYecla. The mountains reach an elevation of 1,371 metres at thePico de la Madama and part of the region has the status of regional park.[1] Three villages border the park: Raspay, La Alberquilla and Carche, with a total of 182 inhabitants (2005).
The name also refers to an extended zone within the Murcian municipalitiesYecla,Jumilla andAbanilla with towns in which part of the population speaksValencian.[2] It covers an area of about 300 square kilometres and has 533 registered citizens (2005).
It is also the name of ahamlet, the largest town in the region in terms of surface area, but the smallest in population.
Following sociolinguistic research carried out byPere Barnils andAntoni Griera, who published their results inDialectes Catalans (1919),El valencià (1921), and inButlletí de Dialectologia Catalana VII, El Carche was recognized for the first time as an area whereValencian was spoken. Later,Manuel Sanchis i Guarner analysed in detail the distinctive traits of the dialect spoken there. Even though Valencian is not officially recognised in Murcia, theAcadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua organises classes in Valencian in Yecla upon request of the respectivemunicipality.
After theexpulsion of the Moriscos in the 17th century, large parts of Yecla, Jumilla as well asAbanilla have remained depopulated. These areas were used as pasture land from 1878 to 1887 and later for agriculture (mostlyvineyards).
Since then these areas have been the focus ofemigration of Valencian-speaking agricultural workers from the neighbouring Vinalopó valley in theAlicante province, especially from the area around the town ofPinoso, carrying their language with them. The greater bulk of Valencian speakers made it into the area in relatively recent times, by the 19th and 20th centuries, which explains why this piece of land was never a part of the historicKingdom of Valencia, and therefore it lies out of the boundaries of the modern dayValencian Community.
Those people settled in the plains forming the source for theAbanilla andRaja, in some cases—Carrascalejo, los Pinillos—also further north almost up to Yecla, and always within reach of the mountains of Carche, after which thecomarca is called. They founded about twenty small towns and places which never managed to reach administrative independency from either the municipalities of Yecla and Jumilla (the hamlets ofLa Arbequilla,La Raja,La Torre del Rico,Cañada del Trigo andLa Zarza or from Abanilla (the hamlets ofEl Collado de los Gabrieles,Cañada de la Leña andUmbría de la Zarza).
Due to substantialemigration, mainly caused by an agricultural crisis, the population of the region of El Carche, which was about 3,000 in 1950, currently numbers 500. Some of the hamlets, especially those with scattered settlements, are now completely abandoned. Most of the inhabitants, although still registered as residents in El Carche, live in the Murcian villages of Yecla and Jumilla or in the Valencian town of Pinoso and only commute into the area to carry out their jobs related to agriculture.
Population distribution:
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